The theme for On the Waterfront took place in the late 1940’s and 50’s. There was a conflict between John Corridan a priest and Joseph Ryan the head of the ILA (International Longshoreman’s Union). Corridan’s problem was with the labor union because the union dominated the docks and he felt that the conditions which they worked in were dangerous and crude. On the docks there were plenty of workers to fit the job, but the only ones who worked were the ones that worked for the cheapest wages. The workers were treated like slaves and worked in horrible conditions. Corridan had a conflict with the ILA because he knew that the union wasn’t going to reform the waterfront labor practices. Men desperate for work gave the bosses kickbacks. Loan sharks gave high interest loans to desperate longshoremen just looking to make a buck. After some time there was a rivalry between two Catholic sub-cultures. The conflict was between Corridan a Jesuit priest and the Catholic dockworkers that began to accept the fact that poverty and suffering were an inevitable part of life.
To encourage people to testify against Ryan and others, Corridan went to get the publics attention. He met with Budd Schulberg a screen
Biases are a plague in our society but with work there are cures for it. Some cures are: awareness, intelligence, and love. Awareness is expanding your horizons and looking at a situation from a different point of view, realizing that even though you are in a bad position now you can change it. Intelligence is being educated about a topic before you make a decision, learning all there is to know about that topic. Love is the most important cure because faith and forgiveness is the key in abolishing biases. Love cured Charlie because he was supposed to kill his brother Terry. He found love for his brother and realized that was not a good decision. By not going through with killing Terry Charlie’s life was ended but, he did it for love. The group bias was cured by Terry who was the one man who was willing to stand up against the labor union. The workers started thinking about what the right thing to do was and they decided to stand in unity against the union owners. By doing this they went on strike and put the bosses out of business. Terry showed his strength for his beliefs by going to work battered and beaten. During Terry’s attempt to work his fellow workers followed his lead and that ended the unions control on the dock. The union was defeated and a rightful order
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