On the Waterfront Essay

Kazan does not only use Terry Malloy by establishing him a hero in On the Waterfront to value individual conscience or moral growth above community loyalty or sense of obligation, but also other characters like Edie and Father Barry. Unlike Terry, who has to gain individual conscience, Edie and Father Barry have never been really closely connected to the community, which allows them individual conscience. Their supporting role of Terry’s moral growth is used by Kazan to praise individual conscience, as it also liberates the waterfront. It should not be mistaken that Kazan does support individual conscience in the deaths of Charley and Dugan who had to die for the possession of a sense of justice. Their deaths were portrayed by Kazan as a type of martyrdom and also had a great impact on Terry, which resulted in his portrayal as a hero. Edie Doyle and Father Barry epitomise individual conscience, which Kazan attributes to how they are outsiders and allows this value to waver as both of them become more involved with actions of disruption and protest against the corrupt union on the waterfront. Father Barry was a â€Å"saint [who] hid in the church† believing that â€Å"time and faith were great healers†. It was Edie’s sense of justice which pushed Father Barry out of his passive role to work for social justice, as she bitingly scorned Father Barry’s inability with a close up used so that viewers can tangibly feel her resentment, when Joey had just been pushed off the roof of the tenement. Father Barry had transformed from being a â€Å"potato eater† (demeaning label of an Irish Catholic simpleton), to risk being â€Å"shipped off to Abyssinia† (a pun perhaps as the abyss is death) to break the mob’s corrupt grip on the waterfront. The attack on the church did not faze Father Barry despite the alarming clatter of baseball bats on the pavement and heads being using like baseballs, when the church was under attack by the union. Father Barry’s individual conscience grew as he firmly believed that â€Å"these people (the community) needed help†. This as well as going â€Å"right down to the wire† for Dugan, acted as a catalyst for Father Barry’s growth in individual conscience, which had made him a hero in his own right as he had to triumph over his own inhibitions and the conservative restrictions of and expectations of his role from the church. Edie unlike Father Barry, had already possessed individual conscience (she had contributed to Father Barry’s growth to provide justice), but she like Father Barry refrained from perpetually seeking an end to the corruption on the waterfront. Father Barry had sought to back Dugan as he talked to the crime commissioners so that they could charge the union of corruption, yet when Dugan died from an apparent ‘accident’ Father Barry shied away from taking an active role, preferring to be passive in his involvement, as seen when Terry came to ask for advice of whether he should go testify against the union where Father Barry in a bitter tone said that Terry’s â€Å"own conscience has got to do the asking†. This may suggest Father Barry’s guilt in pushing Dugan to take action which resulted in his death. Edie also refrained from the active role she had taken to find Joey’s killer and unknowingly fighting against the corrupt union, when she realised she loved Terry. Thus not wanting him to die but to â€Å"come to the country, where there is no Johnny Friendly†, who controlled the union, and threatened his life. She may have been trying to protect Terry but she did not consider the impact on those who work on the waterfront, including her own father, Pop Doyle, who would continue to be exploited by the union, thus perhaps compromising her morals to an extent. Unlike Terry, Father Barry and Edie were not empowered to stop the corruption of the union on the waterfront. It is in Father Barry and Edie’s inability to stop corruption that establishes Terry as the hero through his moral growth to individual conscience. Ultimately it is his triumph over the corrupt union to show that individual conscience is valued over community value, when comparing his moral growth to Father Barry and Edie’s. Kazan allowed the audience to follow Terry’s tumultuous moral growth allowing strong connection to form between the bodies. It was loss of Joey that had begun the transformation process that had reignited his bitterness for purposely losing in a boxing final to fulfil Johnny Friendly’s bet. Terry’s relationship with Edie had also contributed to his growth of moral conscience as an individual, as Terry wanted to protect as he confessed she was â€Å"the first nice thing that has ever happened to me† to Father Barry when he was seeking to know whether he should confess to the crime commission about Joey’s death. Father Barry had also encouraged Terry to be truthful to himself to develop individual conscience, allowing Terry to admit he was being used by Johnny Friendly (â€Å"it’s do it or else† when it comes to a favour from Friendly). Terry would not have been a hero with individual conscience if he had not the support from Edie and Father Barry. Terry had to struggle against community loyalty to achieve individual conscience. Kazan uses this struggle to humanise the character making him heroic. Terry had always been â€Å"one of theirs† or part of the union as he was the â€Å"brother of Charlie the Gent†, he was in a sense also an outsider like Edie and Father Barry from the workers of Hoboken on the docks yet he was driven by self-preservation, which led him to adopt the â€Å"D ‘n D† or Deaf and Dumb creed (not speaking up against anything the union did – keeping silent) from the dock workers, which inextricably created a superficial community loyalty as they shared the view that their â€Å"life was not worth a nickel†. It was Charlie’s death that had led to Terry going against community loyalty, as Charlie was his brother and shared a strong connection with each other. Charlie had looked out for Terry as he had sacrificed himself knowing â€Å"10 to 1 they (Johnny Friendly) won’t believe me†. This portrayed Terry as the tragic hero eliciting the sympathy of the audience who will celebrate as Terry topples Johnny Friendly’s position of power, as he stumbled battle worn after violently grappling with Friendly into the warehouse to take his position as the new spiritual leader of the workers, with trumpets in the soundtrack heralding his triumph. His growth to individual conscience had led to Terry’s redemption of Joey and Charlie’s death. Community loyalty would not have achieved this. Kazan valued individual conscience in Edie and Father Barry, but through them has shown that though it may motivate them to defeat corruption they may not be empowered to take action. It is through Terry that Kazan strongly values individual conscience by establishing him as an enduring hero, who had to undergo transformation and go against community loyalty, but also needed support to uproot Johnny Friendly and his corruption.