Edie Doyle is by far the most powerful agent of change in ‘On the Waterfront’. Do you agree?
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| Edie Doyle is by far the most powerful agent of change in ‘On the Waterfront’. Do you agree?
‘On the Waterfront’, directed by Elia Kazan, explores the issues of corruption, love, truth and justice. Edie Doyle, the protagonist, Terry Malloy’s love interest and the major female role in the film, proves to be the most powerful agent of change. Her determination, feminist action and influence on key characters reflects her power in producing change on the corrupt waterfront, ruled by Johnny Friendly, the money-loving antagonist, and his Mob. It can be seen that every one of Edie’s actions and words have an impact on the changes and development of events and characters throughout the film. Edie’s determination and feminist outlook may be the key factor to the changes that occurred on the waterfront. At her brother Joey’s death she is the only person willing to speak, while the others, all namely men, act “D and D” (deaf and dumb). The body language of these men who stood around shamefully with their head hanging portray the power and domination of Johnny Friendly. It was their fear and loss of life that encouraged this silence. “You don’t ask no questions, you don’t answer no questions.” – Dugan. Edie, on the other hand, was the brave person in this event, not falling under the wing of Johnny’s corruption. “I wanna know who killed my brother!” her determination even drove her to give up her nunnery and dreams of becoming a teacher. Her father, Pop Doyle, reflects the duties and implications of what being a woman was expected to have in the 40s: “Now get back to the sisters where you belong”. Edie’s thirst for justice and the truth led her to “stay and find out who’s guilty for Joey.” This is shown through the symbolism in her hair. At the beginning of the film, Edie’s hair is tied up but in the scene where she decides to stay after seeing the injustices occurring in her own town, she lets her hair down as a symbol of giving up her nunnery. ‘On the Waterfront’, being a film, Kazan uses cinematography to highlight Edie’s character and the influence she had in the changes throughout the film. At the ‘Shape-up’ as Fr Barry, an inspiring priest and the longshoremen’s voice, preaches about safety in the church, a low-angle shot of Edie is used to reflect her influence and her power in the changes of Fr Barry. Edie’s determination, courage in speaking up when even the men couldn’t and breaking away from her expectations as a woman proves her to be the icon of feminism within the film. It was these qualities that allowed her to afflict further changes in development and decisions of other characters on the waterfront. Terry Malloy, the film’s conscience-disturbed protagonist, becomes Edie Doyle’s love interest. It may well be this love that prompted the changes in his character and his conscience. Terry’s philosophy in life was “hit him before he hits you”. Edie proved to be Terry’s counterpart in the sense that while he represented the thrive to live and “stand in with the right people to get a little change jingling in your pocket” to survive, she showed the goodness of her character through her faith in truth, compassion and love: “Shouldn’t everyone care about everyone?...isn’t everyone a part of everyone else?” Her innocence may have been what encouraged Terry to protect her and love her. This love may have also been a product of the guilt that he felt for being involved in her brother Joey’s death. Joey’s pigeon coup, which Terry takes the liberty of looking after may represent freedom: freedom in the truth and freedom from the waterfront’s corruption. Terry conscience was heavily affected by Edie and the desire for the truth: “Quit worrying about the truth all the time and worry about yourself” – Terry. Edie’s loyalty to the working class and their rights, may have inspired Terry to decide where his loyalty belonged: his brother Charley, Johnny’s right-hand man and the Mob, or the working class to which he belonged with but did not want to get involved with. Edie helps Terry to differentiate between what is wrong and right, the freedom of the truth and hope in love: “She’s the first thing I’ve ever loved”. Terry was a major source of change as he was the first to testify against Johnny Friendly and the injustices that occurred on the waterfront but it was Edie’s love, loyalty and goodness that gave him the faith in himself to stand up for what is right and just. Father Barry, the ‘moral-backbone’ and devout priest of the film, was another character who was changed by Edie’s words and actions. At Joey’s death, her determination for the truth and standing up for justice proved to be a wake-up-call for Fr. Barry. This is evident in the lines: “I’m in the church is you need me” – Fr Barry. … “whose ever heard of a saint hiding in a church?” this is the beginning of Fr Barry’s change. His determination for the truth is obviously prompted by Edie and through this determination, he provides the longshoremen with a voice. This is evident in his ‘sermon in the hole’: Everytime the Mob puts the crusher on a good man – tries to stop him from doing his duty as a citizen – it’s a crucifixion!...boys this is my church! If you don’t think Christ is down here on the waterfront, then you’ve got another guess coming!” – Fr Barry. Father Barry encouraged the workers to speak up and stand up. He proves to be the symbol of faith in goodness through the fact that he is a priest and also because of his encouragement for the truth. His actions eventually (“You’ll stand up and I’ll stand up with you) lead Kayo Dugan, working class citizen, to ‘rat’ to the crime commission about Johnny. At the beginning of the movie Father Barry is a normal-working class priest, shown through the fact that he smokes and drinks with the longshoremen to show that he is a part of them. He inflicts guilt for the men’s silence but still continually highlights the injustices occurring to and around them to show them that they are the only ones who can bring down Johnny Friendly, imprinting unto them the spirit of working-class solidarity, all made possible by Edie’s influence on Father Barry. In conclusion, Edie Doyle is by far the most powerful agent of change in ‘On the Waterfront’ because of her desire for the truth and her willingness to show her feminist outlook in life through her actions and words. Her loving, loyal, brave and innocent character are what create the changes in Terry Malloy and Father Barry who both prove to be the major sources of change. These two men may have revolutionised the changes occurring on the waterfront but it was Edie that revolutionised the changes in them so that they were able to stand up for the truth and justice the working-class deserved. Directory: file -> view view -> Shanna Lehman Cultural Identity Reflection Paper view -> The pursuit of romantic love is painful and ultimately futile view -> Quality of Education view -> Quoting and Paraphrasing (apa format) view -> Literary Analysis Essays view -> Reflection Paper 1 &2 Denise Eberhart view -> Memories can be helpful to some and hinder others. I believe that memories from different aspects of ones life have different consequences. One memory may be bad and it may be best forgotten about, when trying to succeed view -> Memories can be helpful to some and hinder others view -> Example entry requirements view -> 2004 ap english Literature Sample Essays Scores Essay #1-Night Poems Sample f 4 Share with your friends:
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