‘On the Waterfront is a story about the battle between good and evil.’ Do you
agree?
Kazan’s On the Waterfront enriched by in-depth characterizations and background that reflects 1950s Wharf side America, New Jersey, is a story that is not centered on the battle between good and evil, but the symbolic importance of the quintessential fence that is seen throughout the film. Linked by the use of direction, the fence is encapsulated to engulf the docks, emotionally and physically. This is accentuated by the placement of characters, their manner and music in which draws upon a wider concern of the Waterfront being an inescapable cultural society, forever entrapped in the Wharfside. Thus, Kazan’s adept use of setting and story-telling lifts the fence as epitomizing the very essence of humanity’s confinement.
From the onset of the film, the background of the introduction, a carpet-matted like fence bars the audience from entering into the film’s narrative. The subtle darkened vertical lines allude to steel rods and this conjures a jail-like atmosphere. This sense of despondency and nullity is accentuated by the ominous music within the backdrop, evoking fear and ambivalence within the audience. Heightened by vampire-like fonts, it foreshadows the fence as a vicious and entrapping force. Thus, the fence is embodied to be omnipresent, subtly dangerous and potentially destructive.
The audience is reminded of the existence fence through its presence between the interactions of characters throughout the film. This is exemplified in the scene of the emotional romance between Terry Malloy and Edie Doyle by the swing. The scene ends in front of a fence. Terry and Edie do not gaze beyond the fence to the skyline encapsulating their emotional surrender and resignation to a life on the piers. The “blackness” of the fence is clear and vibrant; combined with its stout and tall appearance suggests its overpowering nature over the community and the docks. Emphasized by Terry, placing his hands on a blunt pole of the fence and not its sharp edges describes an emasculation of Terry’s courage and masculinity. Humanity’s physical and emotional strength falls beneath the might of the fence, its presence both domineering and authorative.
Despite, the fence not being apparent in all scenes, it is symbolically represented by the claustrophobic air created from the presence of buildings. From the introduction, the scene where the mobsters and Terry Malloy exit the shack, are surrounded by boats, water and boxes depicts a confined space; and therefore an entrapped society. The miniature men in sharp comparison to the symbolic fence that imprisons them alludes to the fence as an entity that prohibits the community of the long shore men from obtaining ambition to go beyond the docks. Reinforced by surrounding environment of boats and water, the mobster is seen trailing to the cars, not gazing afar, suggesting their subconscious submission, and by extension the community to be imprisoned on the docks. The power over the subconscious mind is manifested by the overpowering presence of the fence, both in its physical and non-physical state.
By the denouement of the film, the warehouse gate is symbolic of the fence, in its feature of entrapment. The subtle allusion from the start in its background of a carpet-matted like fence to a warehouse gate reminds the audience of the omnipresence of the fence. For the audience, as the gate closes and the long shore men begin their work, depicts the inevitable reality that the Waterfront society cannot evolve. Indeed, the fence divides the community from the metropolitan city and this conjures a sense of pity and sympathy to the plight of the community being condemned to working class. As the film ends, the camera in mid shot shows a gate shut; the longshore men eternally condemned to a life of poverty. Within On The Waterfront, the fence is a haunting entity that foreshadows the entrapment of one’s being.
Kazan’s On The Waterfront is much more than a story about the battle between good and evil. Transcending above moral values and beliefs, Kazan centralizes on the symbolic nature of the fence and what it represents. It is through this, that he truly examines the nature of human condition and emotions. Like a boss, Kazan genuinely is the master of directing and subtle symbols; beckoning his audience to watch out for the fence.
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