Tools of Characterization
Characterization in On the Waterfront
Actions
Johnny Friendly orders his gangsters to push an innocent man off a roof: not so great. This is a burning neon sign that Johnny is awful and you should dislike him. Also, his gangsters exhibit other anti-social behaviors like attacking a church and crushing a guy with whiskey crates. They don't play well with others. We get it: they're bad guys.
But the good guys do the opposite. Terry decides to spill the beans on Johnny—which hurts him in the short term, but redeems him long term. He takes the hard option, and turns against his former comrades. Edie is relentless in questing to right the injustice of her brother's murder, pestering Barry and Terry to help her, and Father Barry nobly puts himself in the middle of things in order to help the people in his neighborhood, holding a meeting in the church and giving a speech over Dugan's dead body. So, it's equally clear: these are the good guys.
Family Life
Everybody's got a dead parent in this movie. Terry and Charley's dad was killed—Terry won't say how—and they had to live in an orphanage. It clearly wasn't such a nice experience, and it makes us realize why Terry feels so conflicted about going against Charley and Johnny—Charley's literally the only family he has, and Johnny has been in his life the same way an uncle would be. (Based on this rough upbringing, we can also understand why Charley is not a particularly good person—he's willing to do anything to survive and prosper).
Edie's mother is dead, but she's had an easier family life than Terry. Her father really loves her and he's worked hard for the money needed to help her go to school. In fact, he's worked so hard that one of his arms is shorter than the other. We can see his integrity reflected in Edie herself. Clearly, this upbringing has made her a good person, living a life based on compassion and truth.
And then there's Johnny. He complains about his lousy childhood, and blames his current criminal ruthlessness on the way he was raised:
JOHNNY: Listen kid, I'm a soft tough too. Ask any rummy on the dock if I'm not good for a fin any time they put the arm on me. But my old lady raised us ten kids on a stinkin' watchman's pension. When I was sixteen I had to beg for work in the hold. I didn't work my way up out of there for nuthin'.
Hmm. This doesn't sound nearly as bad as Terry's childhood. Maybe Johnny was just a bad egg.
Names
The names don't indicate much about character, but they're mainly Irish names: Terry and Charley Malloy, Kayo Dugan, Edie and Joey Doyle. Father Barry's probably an Irish-American priest too.
This helps underline the fact that this is a connected, close-knit community…which makes the fact that it's being torn apart by mob activity even harder.
Occupation
Terry "coulda been a contender"—but he is a contender, in a way. As a boxer who missed his shot, Terry thinks he's just a "bum." But when he decides to go against Johnny, all that boxer energy comes out. When he testifies against Johnny in court, it's like getting in the ring again.
Also, Father Barry's a priest—he's all about serving the Lord and serving his community. After Edie chides him for staying in the church instead of going out and talking to people, it bugs him. He goes out into the world, and starts applying his Catholic faith to the social problems on the waterfront. It's a force that actually helps
Additionally, Johnny's job—being a criminal overlord—makes him something of a jerk.
Speech and Dialogue
Most of the longshoremen and gangsters speak in 1950's slang style. Just hear how Terry talks:
TERRY: He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money.
"Palooka-ville"… "shoulda"…"take them dives"—he has his own colorful way of talking. It tells us that he comes from the working class, and also indicates his boxing background.
On the other hand, if you look at Edie, she comes from the same background as Terry, but she speaks differently. She says to him:
EDIE: There's not a spark of sentiment or romance or human kindness in your whole body.
Terry would never use the word "sentiment." He probably wouldn't even say "romance," honestly. Edie might've ended up speaking the same way as him, but she's going to college. So, she's more educated, and her speech reflects that.
Thoughts and Opinions
Terry acts like he's got a really cynical outlook on life:
TERRY: You wanna hear my philosophy of life? Do it to him before he does it to you.
But that's not something he really believes. Actually, it's the way Johnny thought about Joey—he killed Joey before Joey could snitch on him. And Terry's deeply troubled by that. He just affects these hardboiled opinions because it's part of his self-image.
Edie, on the other hand, isn't shy about her ideals. She and Terry argue:
EDIE: Shouldn't everybody care about everybody else?
TERRY: Boy, what a fruitcake you are!
EDIE: I mean, isn't everybody a part of everybody else?
Terry pretends he doesn't agree with this, but, secretly, under the surface, he does. And Father Barry definitely agrees with the same sentiment. He sees every act of injustice against good people as a version of the crucifixion:
BARRY: And every time the Mob puts the pressure on a good man, tries to stop him from doing his duty as a citizen, it's a crucifixion.
Barry sees all of humanity as being united in Christ—and if they don't live up to that, defending and helping each other, then they're betraying Christ and their fellow humans. It's a high stakes battle, and it gives a sense of how passionate Father Barry is when it comes to spiritual matters.