“In this neighborhood to meet a lawyer or a priest on the street is unlucky.”

At the play’s start, Alfieri comments on how two longshoremen, Mike, and Louis, uneasily nod to him. On one level this unease is a result of the fact that lawyers, like priests and doctors, are associated with death and disaster. On a deeper level, this unease at the sight of a lawyer, suggests Alfieri, is the consequence of a deeply ingrained sense on the part of immigrant communities that the law is an alien and hostile force.

“[A]s the parties tell me what the trouble is, the flat air in my office suddenly washes in with the green scent of the sea.”

Alfieri explains how most of the cases he deals with are humdrum and dull, revolving around minor work or family issues. However, occasionally he gets a case that puts him in mind of something more ancient and tragic. The sea here symbolizes the idea of new and exciting possibilities but also the Mediterranean world of Alfieri’s past, with its links to Greek tragedy.

“When your father’s house burned down I didn’t end up on the floor?”

Waiting for Beatrice’s cousins, Eddie reminds Beatrice of the time they had to sleep on the floor after her father stayed with them and took their bed when his house burnt down. In one sense, Eddie’s comment is a warning to Beatrice about the dangers of being too hospitable. On another level, this remark reflects Eddie’s fears that Beatrice’s cousins will take advantage of him and that his life will be disrupted.