The Italian American in the 1950’s were not living in a very stable community but it was a lot better than the conditions in Italy. At that moment in time people were dying of starvation and not enjoying life because they couldn’t eat when they want to. Their life was very restricted and so a many Italians were trying to seek a better life by coming to America because they heard that conditions were a lot better but because of the sudden population increase America wasn’t allow any more migrants in the country so they had to be smuggled into the country by boats. Most people that wanted to come to America was trying to achieve the American dream which was as the time having cars living a life of luxury and having money. Most of the migrants were fully aware of the risk of getting picked up by the authorities and sent back to Italy.
When the two brothers Marco and Rodolfo are introduced on the stage there is a clear description on them. Wee see Marco as the strong silent type and Rodolfo has a cheery, chirpy attitude and is very talkative. Some are immediately drawn to Rodolfo. As there standing out side of the house Marco is described as “a square built man” and Rodolfo is described by Catherine as a practically blonde light skinned man. The two of them are surprised when they saw the small flat in their eyes it was like a palace as Rodolfo says” imagine they said they were poor “. This shows that what they regard as normal must be very low standards showing us again how bad the conditions are in Italy.
The first meeting Eddie had between Rodolfo and Marco showed the gratitude and how grateful they were to Eddie to allow them to stay in his house. As Marco enters the house he shakes Eddie’s hands he says to Eddie “when you say go we go” and this tells us how thankful he is for allowing him to stay. Marco is very courteous he always saying thanks and trying to calm down his little brother down the atmosphere in this point of the play is stiff all they know is each other’s name. Then it breaks down when eddies says “look kid; you don’t want to be picked up, do ya” while Rodolfo was singing to Catherine and this brings a feeling of uneasiness back to the room
Catherine is immediately in love with Rodolfo the first time she sees him she’s attracted to his light skin and “practically blonde” hair we can see this because the first thing she says to him is “how come your so light and he’s so dark”. She is astonished by him she just sat there and was staring at him, she obviously likes him and because of that Eddie shows resentment towards him. Every time that Rodolfo addresses Eddie he gives him a short answer and then direct the conversation to Marco as the conversation continues Eddie tries hard not to talk to Rodolfo and I think he does it carelessly.
Another point about eddies behaviour towards Rodolfo is that he always laughs when Rodolfo is calmed down or told to stop doing what he’s doing by Marco for instance Marco says “yes be he will be quiet . Eddie has risen with iron control even a smile”. He feels happy to know that Rodolfo can be reprimanded and he can induce it by saying the right things to Marco. Marco mostly interacts with Rodolfo with gestures he hardly needs to say anything to get his point across to his little brother “shh come “as they entered the house he showed that he is the eldest and wiser of the two.
Rodolfo is a dreamer and enjoys telling people his stories like his hotel story he over exaggerates and make it sound like an amazing tale for instance when he says “we lived six months that night ” to try and make it seem like they had a brilliant time then we find out the he was over exaggerating when Marco contradicts him and says “more like two months. He is also very poetic in his speech, he uses similes “money was falling like a storm in the treasury” he’s sensual in his speech.
