Terry is shunned and rebuked by the dock workers for testifying. This, despite the workers being exploited by the mob. Also, why would they imagine Terry had any sense of loyalty toward Johnny Friendly after he'd murdered Charley?
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
Because he was a rat and no-one respected a rat
shareI had the same thought. The first 1,5 hours makes it clear that the workers don't speak up out of fear, not loyalty. Doesn't make any sense that they would shun Terry.
shareProbably shunning him out of fear knowing that he'd be a marked man and anyone being too friendly with him would too.
share^Yep. Apart from it being a reflection of what happened to Kazan, I imagine it's how it actually went down in real life. You probably found yourself on the mob's bad side if you were seen being friendly with the person who ratted them out.
You want something corny? You got it!
But he won in the end didn't he? Down with Friendly, up with the union for the workers!
shareThis kind of thing happens all the time in real life. It's basically the grownup version of the mentality behind schoolyard bullying: better to shun the victim or join in the bullying than paint a target on your own back. Even Joey's father says right at the beginning that Joey should have just kept his mouth shut and that he basically brought his death upon himself. The murders weren't just punishment for the people who talked, they were a fear tactic designed to try and keep anyone from talking. Also, there's an element of "better the devil you know" at play too - it's unclear exactly how accurate Friendly's description of the state of things before he took over is, but it clearly hadn't ever been an exactly fair and non-exploitative system. The majority of workers had probably rationalised the conditions by thinking "sure this sucks but it could be a whole lot worse"; if Friendly goes, there's no telling what kind of system could take his place.
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