A View from the Bridge

How Arthur Miller uses dialogue to bring out the theme of abandonment

The theme, fear of abandonment, is evident in the dialogues of Eddie and Catherine in A View from the Bridge. He is terrified of his niece, Catherine, growing up and moving away. On the other hand, Catherine is terrified of leaving him.

Eddie's fear is evident by his constant protection of Catherine from having any relationships with other males such as Rodolpho. When Catherine has no male whom she has a relationship with, she would not move away, and would continue to stay with Eddie, who fears that Catherine would move away. This is further backed up by the way he talks to Catherine about others. This means that he would not be abandoned as Catherine would stay with him.

Arthur Miller uses dialogue to bring out the theme of Eddie's fear of abandonment. When Eddie finally gave in and allowed Catherine to work there, he said: 'I wish you the best. You know that, kid', and Catherine replied: 'You sound like I'm goin' a million miles.' To Eddie, Catherine beginning to work seemed to him as if she were really going so far away, as Catherine beginning to work signified her turning into an adult. This shows that Catherine means a lot to him, that her starting to work was as if she was leaving.

Catherine is also fearful of leaving Eddie, because she has been with him for so long. It is noticeable when Catherine says to Rodolpho: 'I can tell when he's hungry or wants a beer before he even says anything. I know when his feet hurt him, I mean I know him and now I'm supposed to turn around and make a stranger out of him?' In this quote of her conversation with Rodolpho, it is obvious how well she knows her uncle and her unwillingness to leave him due to her deep feelings for him.

These paragraphs above show Eddie's and Catherine's unwillingness to leave each other due to the feelings they have for each other.

Another form of abandonment

Eddie, still unwilling to let Catherine go, decides that the only way to stop Catherine from moving away after realising that she had sex with Rodolpho was to get him away from her, and told him to 'pack it up. Go ahead.' This resulted in Catherine finally saying the words 'I think I have to get out of here', while 'trembling with fright', indicating that she was going to follow Rodolpho while frightened that she had the courage to tell Eddie that she could not stay with him anymore. Eddie, still unable to leave her, tells her that she 'ain't goin' nowheres, he's the one.' This displays the theme, fear of abandonment as Eddie's fear of Catherine abandoning him causes