The Godfather and Mario Puzo Research Paper
Americans possess a certain strange fascination with sordid stories of malicious and violent acts of crime. Some even argue that man is naturally disposed to succumb to the dark side, in order to satisfy his inherent greed and selfishness. While most people control or resist the urge to deviate, everyone is intrigued by evil. The immense popularity of The Godfather, a mafia themed novel detailing the life and crimes of the Corleone family, highlights the American public's fascination with crime and deviant behavior. Mario Puzo's desperate need to provide financially for his family, combined with his intellect talent and harsh upbringing in an area controlled by gangsters, provoked him to write The Godfather, a novel in which Puzo exposes the violent and malicious ways of the Mafia. However, as the novel illustrated how power, wealth and success can be gained through illegal actions, it gave the wrong impression that some Mafia families are respectable. When considered against the corrupt and unjust world of modern American society, the Mafia's illegal power seems justifiable and necessary. While Puzo's work is by no means considered a literary masterpiece, the book's compelling plot, as well as Puzo's exciting style of writing, ma
Don Vito refuses to engage in the drug cartel. Michael uses the morality and intelligence that initially kept him out of the Mafia to help him run the family in the same successful way his father did (Cawelti 328; "Godfather" 5). Michael, accepting his destiny, assumes the power designated to him by his father, and, following his father's death, immediately executes his father's plan of exterminating all his enemies and emerging as the undisputed godfather. Puzo made the Don a respectable, honorable, lovable character only by going to extremes to shade the world in which he lives. While constantly changing the narrative is fine, it confuses the readers and tricks them into placing importance away from the characters that can degrade the novel (Kelly 3). Puzo's response to the numerous flaws in The Godfather is that it "isn't an expose; it's a romantic novel" (Green 340). It takes time and effort to maintain a consistent point of view, and it is evident that Puzo did not want or did not have the patience to do so. This shows the hypocrisy of the law, saying when a judge rules, America rules, and accepting his judgment is approving the ethics of a judge, "who sells himself like the worst whore in the streets" (Puzo 32). While critics praised each book, he earned a meager $6,500 for both novels combined. Puzo shows the Mafia as a greedy family who does not believe in the law: they live by their own rules. The idea that one must commit illegal actions to gain power implies that there is no other realistic route to achieving influence. The mob's willingness to break the law to gain power is something that all men might do if they did not fear the consequences. Michael, the youngest of the Don's three sons, who has stayed out of the family business and dates a very American girl, Kay Adams, is the only one who can get close enough to Sollozzo to kill him. Later in plot, the dominance of the Corleone family, who follow no laws and commit treacherous crimes, is threatened by the rise of modern criminal activities, namely the drug trade.
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