Why Miller Included the Character of Alfieri in A View From A Bridge :: Papers

Why Miller Included the Character of Alfieri in A View From A Bridge The character Alfieri has a very important role in the play " A View From The Bridge." Alfieri acts both as a narrator and commentator but his main function is to offer ideas to the audience to set them thinking about the message of the play. Alfieri is a character in the play and yet his advice is objective and sympathetic. Alfieri is the first character to speak in the play; he therefore sets the scene and informs the audience the background to the action. He is a lawyer but in this area of Brooklyn the people distrust the law, he tells us "A lawyer means the law, and in Sicily, from where their fathers come, the law has not been a friendly idea since the Greeks were beaten". This speech immediately sets up tension between Alfieri, a representative of written law and the Italian immigrant community, who prefer to follow their own 'law', the Italian law of natural justice! Alfieri was born in Italy and tells us in his first speech that "I only came here when I was twenty-five." Because he grew up in Italy, Alfieri understands the other characters very well. They are all Italian immigrants and have a very similar background. The audience understands how fatalistic Alfieri is when he says "another lawyerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. sat there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course." He is telling the audience that he can sense that a terrible event is about to happen but knows he is powerless to prevent this. He understands that in such a community it is better to "settle for half." Alfieri is a realist who is prepared to make a compromise between two cultures. He knows that there will always be injustice no matter how hard he tries to help the citizens of Red Hook. He is happy that he "no longer needs to keep a gun in my filing cabinet." Alfieri acts as a witness to the events as they happen and he makes comments