Changing Attitudes of Eddie Carbone
...in his family. Miller’s chief characters, whether they eventually revise their objectives or remain rigidly defensive, are motivated by an obsession to justify themselves; they fix their identities through radical acts of ego-assertion. (Moss 101-2) This example of Miller’s style is one that fully describes Eddie’s character. In the novel, Eddie struggles to maintain social order in his home and community. Throughout the whole novel, Eddie partakes in events that help him justify himself to his community, however, in reality, the activities only boost his self-image and not his relations. In reality, violence is typical of any Miller play and Eddie’s violent attitudes symbolize a uniting force within every Arthur Miller play. Davis 3 The relationship with that of your community is the most important relationship of all. Eddie, because of his behavior, diminishes this relationship. Eddie Carbone is a violent tempered man. His violence and negativity is said to be caused by anxiety towards the decisions and changes that endure his adopted niece Catherine. When he does not see things going his way he is prone to question the fact and is often angry. “He’s [Marco’s] wipin’ the neighborhood with my name like a dirty rag” (Eddie 84). This statement foreshadows Eddie’s violent attitudes as they develop throughout the play, because Eddie is prone to lash out in anger at those who provoke him. Eddie’s violent attitude creates fear in his community. Eddie is described as a “mentally ill man, whose violent attitudes dig his own grave” (Corrigan 4). Eddie, a longshoreman, is very hostile towards his co-workers. He is often found talking about many different men behind their back and in almost every instant, they figure out what he has said and thus, they dislike him. Eddie is also described as being “…perhaps the most violent of any of Davis 4 my [Miller’s] characters (Miller, AM). This statement is a powerful one because of Miller’s history of violent characters. Eddie’s extreme violence lays the foundation of the tragic conclusion of the novel (Corrigan 5-6). As any person who is not liked, Eddie is miserable, and tends to take out his anger on the wrong people. Eddie’s constant negative attitude affects his relationship with his family; he is often witnessed being hostile towards his own wife and his niece. “Whenever I come into the house,” proclaims Eddie, “I don’t know what’s gonna hit me. It’s a shootin’ gallery in here and I’m the pigeon”(49). Eddie’s response to his attitude is typical of a mentally ill man, he always blames his behaviors on others and not himself. Eddie, on another occasion, grows tired of his illegal immigrant brothers-in-laws and turns them in to the police. “When Eddie denounces his brother-in-laws to immigration…his family denounces him” (Book...