On the Waterfront

The characters in the film "On the Waterfront" are split in their beliefs regarding what makes up a whistle-blower or tattle-tale. In Edy and the priest's view, it is one's responsibility to come forth with any knowledge relating to the murder of Joey. For them, holding back knowledge makes a person just as bad as anyone that actually committed the crime. The mob on the other hand believes that since Terry and Doogan were in on the plan from the very beginning they are simply being tattle-tales by talking to the priest. They believe that since Terry and Doogan were in on the plan from the start, they had an agreement to be "D and D". The result of Terry or Doogan telling on the mob would result in the loss of their strong dock position and a gain a place in jail. Terry is stuck in the middle of this situation and has to decide whether he will condemn his brother or not. The decision for him is hard, because he knows whatever move he makes, a group of people won't be happy with him, and he needs to find out which group is more important.

I believe that a person is usually both a tattle-tale and a whistle blower in most situations, and what they have to decide is which side is appropriate to go along with. If the situation is small and doesn't negatively affect the society or anyone involved, telling people about some bad judgement I would consider being a tattle-tale. If the situation hurts others or the society than a person needs to be a whistle blower when they are tell about what is going on. I also think that a person is a tattle-tale when they fully involve themselves in the situation before stepping out and speaking to others on what is going on. If a person only is slightly involved in a situation and see corruption, they are being a whistle blower by reporting their observations. The reasons for this is a person must get out of a situation by being a whistle blower before gaining the trust of the other people involved, therefore turning yourself into a tattle-tale.