Males were seen as physically powerful and masculine, and showed little emotion thus, as Eddie begins to struggle with his emotions. .
"He feels the threat of sobs, and with a helpless wave.".
He feels he is losing power as people would see him less of a "man". To gain back his "power", Eddie feels the need to be seen as the household patriarch, even though he has enough trouble coping with his emotions himself. The audience is aware of how he sits on the rocker "twisting the newspaper into a tight roll" (p 55). Through this antagonistic action, the audience observes his anger towards Rodolpho, as he dances with Catherine. Although Eddie does not show this verbally, his actions are unconsciously revealed, as he is lives in a patriarchal society, and hence must hide his emotions. .
Eddie shows a sense that he is losing control as he "quietly, almost inaudibly, as though drained" (page 80) shows his fears to raise his voice, as he conflicts with himself internally. He soon loses respect from Beatrice and the household as everyone now recognizes that Eddie was the one who "dobbed" Rodolpho and Marco in. Not only does he lose control over other people, he also seems to lose control of himself, as he cannot handle the emotions he feels for Catherine. His pride did not allow these feelings to be exposed, including to himself. However, due to his gender, it was expected for males to hide their emotions, proving their masculinity allowing the narrow perspective on male behavior to overcome these perceptions. Thus, Eddie cannot show his emotions to the public and sometimes this makes Eddie go for walks, "I"m goin", I"m goin" for a walk"(p71), illustrating how Eddie does not want to show how sad he feels when Catherine is about to get married with Rodolpho. .
Eddie's jealousy over Rodolpho causes him to struggle with his emotions as he wants to provide information to the immigration department on Rodolpho.
