Week Four:
Text Response - On the Waterfront
It is Terry’s anger that leads him to testify against Johnny, not his newly awakened conscience. Discuss.
As Terry Malloy undergoes his emotional and moral journey in Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront, numerous influences contribute to the choices he makes along the way. He is torn between his obligation of loyalty to Johnny Friendly’s corrupt union and his guilty conscience, which is amplified by the pressure put upon him by Edie Doyle and Father Barry to “let [his] conscience tell [him] what to do”. Terry desires redemption, but his sense of moral right is not enough to make him “stick his neck out”. Ultimately, his anger and desire for revenge are the driving force that push him past the tipping point and gives him the strength to defy the code of remaining “D and D” by testifying against Friendly, thus securing the downfall of his tyrannical dominion.
Terry is initally presented to the audience as an uneducated “bum”, who blindly follows the orders of the unscrupulous mob which monopolised the “fattest harbour in the world” in the 1940s through oppression and exploitation of the dockworkers. Having grown up in a society where “ratting” to the police earns you the title of “stool pigeon” or “canary”, Terry is ill-equipped to deal with the moral conflict and the tumult of emotions that arises from his involvement in Joey Doyle’s murder. His uncertainty is depicted visually through the motif of smoke, mist and fog which pervades the film during times when Terry faces a moral choice, for example, when he chooses to confess his participation in Joey’s death to Fr. Barry.
Edie and Father Barry both arrive on the waterfront as outsiders with very different world views to the longshoremen. Often fully lit and shot from a low-angle to emphasise their moral superiority, they become the catalysts for change in a society afraid to stand up against corruption. Edie’s reaction to Joey’s death exacerbates Terry’s sense of guilt, and motivates him to protect her from the threat posed by Friendly’s gang. His love for her accentuates his emotional turmoil,and a schism forms between Terry’s longing to help her and his sense of self-preservation; an ideal that is deeply entrenched in Hoboken’s culture. Once he has seen for himself that the waterfront “ain’t a part of America”, Father Barry appeals to the longshoremen to stand up for what is right. In particular, after hearing his confession, he implores Terry to listen to his own conscience, either out of concern for Terry’s spiritual wellbeing or simply to overthrow Friendly’s corruption.However, this alone is not enough to convince Terry to risk the “crucifixion” that Joey Doyle and “Kayo” Dugan underwent before him. He is not yet ready to shoulder the burden of responsibility and testify.
Through the influence of Edie and Father Barry, Terry begins to consider testifying against Friendly, but he does not make up his mind until he realises that Friendly “owns” “a piece of [him]”. In his decision to confess, Terry facilitates his redemption, but it is not until his discussion with Charley in the back of the cab that he has his epiphany. In admitting that he is “a bum”, it dawns upon Terry that he “could’ve been a contender”, if Charley had cared enough for him to prevent Friendly from destroying Terry’s boxing career for the sake of “a lousy buck”. Soon after, Charley is murdered by Friendly’s thugs as punishment for protecting Terry, an act which further fuels Terry’s determination to undermine Friendly’s authority. His ensuing desire for revenge becomes the tipping point at which he overcomes his inhibitions and decides to testify against Johnny Friendly and his authoritarian regime. Though his newly awakened conscience does lead him to make his confession, it does not provide Terry with enough motivation to testify. This is visualised through the motif of Joey’s jacket; though he is presented with Joey’s jacket after Dugan is murdered, he is not ready to, or perhaps not worthy of, wearing it until he has testified against Friendly and righted his wrongs. Terry both literally and figuratively takes on the mantle only when he is ready to fight back against Friendly.
Terry Malloy is lead to testify against Johnny Friendly by his newfound conscience and his anger at Friendly for using him. Although troubled by his guilt at his part in luring Joey Doyle to his death, Terry is hesistant to testify until he realises that he has been exploited by Friendly. After his brother Charley is murdered by Friendly’s thugs, Terry lets go of his hesitation, and makes the decision to testify, thus overthrowing Friendly’s reign.
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