Honour and justice are two very important issues in the play "A View From the Bridge" by Arthur Miller, how does the author present these issues through the characters and action in the play?
Wikipedia says honour is the concept of a direct relation between one 's virtues (or "values") and their status within society and that justice is the ideal, morally correct state of things and persons. Honour and justice are in fact the two main issues surrounding Arthur Millers A View from the Bridge. We can see these two elements right at the start of the play, with the story of Vinny Bolzano: the boy who betrayed his family and lost his honour within it. Vinny is in fact the perfect example of the connection between justice and love:"The family had an uncle that they were hidin ' in the house, and he snitched to the Immigration [] he had five brothers and the old father. And they grabbed him in the kitchen and pulled him down the stairs - three flights his head was bouncin ' like a coconut. And they spit on him in the street, his own father and his brothers. The whole neighbourhood was crying." (p.13-15)The importance of honour in this play prevails the law, creating a connection with respect: to be honourable is to be respected. If you do anything dishonourable, you lose respect. That is why Marco and Eddie are so keen to protect their names and reach a 'just ' conclusion. Codes of honour bind families and the whole neighbourhood with a sense of community. Everyone should look out for one another, to betray someone is the most dishonourable action imaginable.
The next part where we see clear evidence of the importance of honour in the Red Hook community is when Eddie tells Beatrice, "It 's an honour, B. I mean it."(p..) when discussing the imminent arrival of the cousins in America. Here Eddie is saying he is honoured of letting Beatrices cousins sleep in his house because he knows they would do the same to him. This is a typical immigrant feeling because here Eddie is probably remembering when he too had come to America. Also, already from this point in the story we can see that his feelings for his Italian traditions overcome the American Law because even
The next part where we see clear evidence of the importance of honour in the Red Hook community is when Eddie tells Beatrice, "It 's an honour, B. I mean it."(p..) when discussing the imminent arrival of the cousins in America. Here Eddie is saying he is honoured of letting Beatrices cousins sleep in his house because he knows they would do the same to him. This is a typical immigrant feeling because here Eddie is probably remembering when he too had come to America. Also, already from this point in the story we can see that his feelings for his Italian traditions overcome the American Law because even
Bibliography: ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_View_from_the_Bridgehttp://www.sparknotes.com/drama/viewbridge/http://www.eriding.net/amoore/gcse/viewfromthebridge.htmhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/dramaviewbridge/http://www.aresearchguide.com/a-view-from-the-bridge.html