On the Waterfront

In the film On the Waterfront there are three main social groups involved. There are the mob members, the dock workers, and the cops. To the mob bosses, any worker who speaks out agains what the mob is doing is a traitor or a "stool pigeon." They believe that the workers owe them loyalty, after all they are the ones who proviede them with work and money so that they can provide for themselves and their families. Therefore exposing their secrets and revealing what they have done is a staunch betrayal. The bosses constantly push the workers around and make them do things they don't want to do but the workers are just suposed to take it because they "owe the mob" for everything that they have. The workers hate the way the mob runs the docks and they despise how they are treated but they are to affraid of the consequences they would face if they revealed the truth about the mob activity. However, at the same time they feel a certain loyalty to their fellow workers and even to the mob bosses because they have all leaned on each other and provided for each other for a long time. After Terry stands up against the mob, all the men who used to be his friends refuse to talk to him, they don't want the mob bosses to think that they are associated with Terry. However, after a time they come around and realize that all their loyalty should be to Terry and their fellow workers NOT to the corrupt mob. Meanwhile the cops are just trying to find out the truth about the mob which, until Terry testifies, is extremely difficult because noone will betray the mob and be an "infomant on criminal activity."
I believe that what Terry did, which was reveal what the mob had done, was the right thing to do. He ended up losing his brother and was beat almost to the point of death because of it but in the end it bennefited all the dock members and made the mob pay for the years of abuse they had inflicted on the workers. I believe that when you see any sort of injustice it is your duty to speak out against it. When people in power are taking advantage of the little people, if all the little people would stand up and unite against the people in power they would be able to overcome them. But often everyone is to afraid of the consequences to stand up and do anything so they let the unjust behavior continues. However if you stand up and make a stand, then others will be able to follow suit and you can change the world for the better. On the same note though, it is not ok to stank up against society or be "a tattle tale" if you are doing it only for your own good. The fundamental differents between a "stool pigeon" and an "informant on criminal activity" is that a "stool pigeon" is one who betrays their friends for their own good while an "informant on criminal activity" stands up against what they believe is wrong for the good of the society as a whole.