“You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” Ah, there it is, the infamous Brando (as Terry Malloy) line delivered in the legendary nasally mumble during a conversation with his on-screen brother Charley. Terry continues by blaming Charley for his current position as self-proclaimed “bum,” accusing his brother of sucking him into the crime life of Johnny Friendly’s mob-like waterfront union. Terry’s alternate life, the one he wished he would have pursued instead of getting caught up with Friendly, would have been to be an elite boxer—an opportunity he sacrificed when he listened to Charley’s guidance and took dives in the ring at Friendly’s bidding so he and his cronies could capitalize on their bets. For Terry, all the talent and drive to be successful at boxing is within him, but he has missed his prime as a boxer and now has nothing useful to do but tag along with Friendly’s crew in order to receive cushy dock work…and tend pigeons on the roof, of course.

Terry and his young sidekick Tommy show Edie the pigeons Terry keeps.

The thing is, Terry isn’t the only character in On The Waterfront to have “missed his calling in life” and be struggling with his destiny because of that. Charley himself, a man far from unintelligent, does not live up to his potential. We can assume that, like Terry after him, Charley was scooped up by Friendly after having been orphaned after their father’s murder and dumped in a children’s home that was anything but nurturing. Friendly fills a void in both Charley’s and Terry’s lives—a father figure of sorts who provides monetarily for them and seemingly gives their lives a purpose, albeit a sinister one. Although Charley seems to be “all in” with Friendly, his iconic conversation with Terry in the taxi reveals the contrary: Charley also possesses guilt about not providing a better role model for his younger brother and for entangling Terry in Friendly’s web of racketeering and murder. In the end (spoiler alert!), Charley’s love for Terry triumphs over his loyalty to Friendly, but it costs him his life. What Charley “coulda been” (perhaps a lawyer representing the impoverished and cheated longshoremen) will never be known because Friendly eliminates him before he can reach his real potential.

Charley and Terry discuss how Terry “coulda been a contender.”

Edie Doyle, Terry’s love interest and the sister of Joey (the young dockworker whom Terry unwittingly lures to his death in the film’s opening scene), also vacillates between hanging around with Terry, a lackey of her brother’s murderers, or returning to the Catholic college where she is studying to become a teacher, a profession which would allow her to escape the turmoil of life on the waterfront. Edie’s father, also a dockworker, has sacrificed and saved for years in the hope of giving Edie a better life. Edie’s love for her brother and her determination to see his murderers come to justice leads her to put her dream of becoming “more respectable” on hold. This, combined with her love for Terry, leads viewers of the film to wonder about Edie’s fate. What happens to Edie after the close of the film? I think she will remain “on the waterfront” to be with Terry, but would that decision relegate her (and him) to a life of poverty and negate any possibility of her fulfilling what was supposed to be her life’s calling, teaching?

Lastly, we are perhaps most shockingly presented with a character whose life does not lead/end where it should in the character of Joey Doyle, Edie’s brother. On the Waterfront’s audience hardly meets Joey before he is hurled off the roof to his death by two of Friendly’s hit men. What we do learn about Joey as the film progresses without him is that Joey was different from most of the men who worked the dockyards. He saw the wrongdoing on the docks and determined to speak up about it. He became a martyr for his cause of reforming the waterfront. Just what someone like Joey could have accomplished had he lived longer is unclear in the film. But as Terry wrestles with his own conscience regarding Joey’s death, his role in it, and the evil conduct that goes on under Friendly’s rule, we get an inkling of what Joey “coulda been.”

For Me Then…

Sometimes in life the way forward isn’t very clear, and one’s “fate” is difficult to determine. What is certain is that doing what is right is always the correct option in moving forward in life. This is something that Terry struggles with in On the Waterfront. He knows what’s right, and he knows the risks in pursuing that right. But he also feels like his correct life path has been diverted by his throwing in his lot with Friendly. Joey is already dead and Terry’s boxing career is over when he experiences his change of heart. Therefore, he continuously asks himself if it would even be worth it to “squeal” on Friendly and co. What good could it do now? But Terry finds a new calling, a different worthwhile path in life. (Spoiler alert!) He goes from a “coulda been” to an “is,” boldly leading the other dockworkers to their task. So it would seem that Terry misread his destiny, not missed it.