Essay About Dark Skin And Illegal Alien

Character Essay
Character Essay
After reading Arthur Millers play “A view from the bridge,”
I am convinced that the most striking character is Marco. He is
an Italian immigrant that moved illegally to the United States
with his brother Rodolpho to work as longshoremen, since at the
time (the play was written in 1955) his country of origin, Italy,
was going through a major economic depression because of the
outcome of World War II. In the play, we are told that Marcos
plan is to make enough money to survive and be able to send some
of that money to his wife and his three kids back in Italy, who
are starving. Marco physically resembles the Sicilian stereotype,
with dark skin and dark hair. He is also very strong and he could
easily “load the whole ship by himself.”(pg.541) In this play,
the author uses plot, dialog, actions and symbolism to emphasize
Marcos honor which, in my opinion, is his prominent
characteristic.
Throughout the play, we can clearly see that the plot helps
us develop Marcos character in our imagination. For example, he
is an illegal alien, and this might give the reader a less
honorable view of him, and it might justify Eddies action. But
the fact that Marco left his family to give them support and to
save his oldest son who is “sick in the chest,” (pg. 535) makes
the reader forget about his illegal stay and makes his status
rise to the one of a hero.
In this play, Marcos actions lead us to the discovery of a
violent side which he uses to defend his honor in a number of
occasions. For example, when he challenges Eddie to lift the
chair at the end of the first act, we understand that he did it
to save his brothers face and his familys honor. In addition,
the killing of Eddie by Marcos own hands at the end of the play,
is the final display of his character. Marcos character is
definitely expressed more by his actions than by his words. He
is very strong, and he is obviously aware of that, but doesnt
like to show it in words, or brag about it. In fact, when Eddie
was making fun of his brother Rodolpho, instead of replying to
him in words, he chose to use his strength
to get his point
across by lifting the chair. In addition, Marco doesnt talk
about his family much; instead, he works as hard as he can, and
that is enough to show everybody how much he cares about them. As
a final insult to Eddie, Marco chooses to spit in his face in
front of everybody. This is because in the Italian culture, that
act is considered as an extreme expression of anger toward a
person, and it is rarely left without punishment. In addition,
the action of going to the church before facing Eddie shows us