How Does Kazan Convey Ideas About Good and Evil in ‘on the Waterfront’? Essay

Elia Kazans portrayal of good and evil in On the Waterfront is more than it meets the eye. Good and Evil appear in seperate characters and besides at different propagation on the same characters. More importantly, Elia Kazan gets an important message across No character is rightfully evil. Good is symbolised in numerous ways throughought the film. The church is one much(prenominal)(prenominal) example of this. It represents the highest order of uprightness and chastity, yet it is unceasingly on the background of the film.During Edie and terrycloths walk through the playground, the Church could be seen in the background, yet unlike other structures in the film such as the docks, the Church cannot be seen prominently, nevertheless rather it is mostly present in the background. Elia Kazan had perhaps used the Church to absorb goodness as something present in all the characters, yet, much like the Church it is not always so prominent. Johnny Friendly is the primary antagonist O n the Waterfront, however a question to be considered is that is he nicely evil?Friendlys name is not as ironic as it seems. It is true he is wicked enough to order chilling homicides and remain unperturbed afterwards, however he has a affection towards his underlings. After Friendly observes Terry being deeply shaken by his manipulation in Joeys death, he hands Terry a note of cash as a present from your uncle Johnny. This shows that Friendly has some level of compassion over his minions and appreciates their good work. Despite some goodness inside him however, Friendly is thus far clearly a cold-blooded killer.Johnny Friendlys black figure represents dictatorship in On the Waterfront. With a whole community of ks working for him, Friendly still finds the need to murder the minority who disobey him despite having the fattest piers and the fattest harbour in the world. Although he has two thousand deuce paying members at his disposal, Friendlys overpowering evil lusts for mor e dominance and this leads to the last-ditch act of evil the murders of multiple people. Although there is a flicker of goodness in him, Friendly remans a major source of evil in On the Waterfront.To the observant viewer, the presence of good and evil whitethorn be clear to see, yet it is the struggle between good and evil influence that is the platform of the film. The takeoff rocket Terry Malloy is the tragic hero is entrapped in a battle between good and evil forces. The pure hearted Father Barry ad Edie Doyle attempt to rescue Terry from his conscience which constantly torments him by urging him to come up to out the truth while the mob on the other hand attempt to influence him by providing threats and intimidating him.The mob goes so far as to murdering his brother in an attemt to break his spirit and also lure him to end his life too. In the end, the influence of good prevails and Terrt finally gives witness to the crimes of the mob. With his conscience cleared, Terry is now fianlly able to speak out against Friendly and the mob without loathing himself as he is no longer a bum in his own eyes. On the Waterfront is no film about Angels against Demons, but rather sheds light on the fact that good and evil are out there, yet is is upto us to allow either one to influence us.Similar to Edie, an individual may allow good forces such as the desire to uncover truth to affect them or they may allow evil forces such as greed to manipulate them and cause them to carry out needless, henious acts like Johnny Friendly. As viewers witness through Terrys actions, in the end, good and evil are simply options. It is at long last our choice to pick one to allow it to influence us. The choice is always ours to make.