Topic #5: Personal Review

I thought this book was fantastic. I can see why it is a classic and was made into such a successful movie. The book portrayed the underworld of the 1950s with great detail and an eye for the subtle intricacies that govern personal relationships. The storyline was interesting and it moved through a long period of time without creating too much confusion, something that most novels cannot accomplish. I especially enjoyed the chapters relating to Don Vito Corleone, Michael, Sonny, and Johnny Fontane, but the other characters and their chapters were entertaining as well.

The only problem I had was the occasional divergences in the plot that talked about the lives of less important characters. Towards the end of the book, Puzo did seem to wander off topic a bit and write about some events that were not central to the plot, like Lucy Mancini’s surgery or Nino Valenti’s suicidal drinking. I suppose these may come into play in the next book, or maybe Puzo felt they were necessary to set up Michael’s ascent to head of the family; however as a reader I felt that these chapters were a little unnecessary and distracted from the main storyline of the mafia war.

I am most definitely reading the second book on my own time when I get the chance, as well as watching the movies. It will be interesting to see how Puzo continues his plot; the end of this book seemed pretty final, with Michael moving the family out to the relatively mellow setting of Los Vegas. I would also be interested to see how the director of the film was able to portray all the vivid scenes from the book, and to see how the actual movie matched up with the extraordinary images that Puzo’s story created. Reading this classic novel was quite entertaining, and I thoroughly enjoyed Puzo’s in depth description of the Italian mafia.

Topic #4: Text Connections

Text to self: This book resonates with me mainly because I am of Italian heritage. I can closely relate to all of family situations in this book. The way Puzo describes all the family relations between the Corleones’ and their friends and family is very similar to how my family functions. When Puzo describes fresh sauce over steaming pasta or a sausage and pepper sandwich dripping with oil, I could practically taste the food because I’ve had it so many times. Not only was the food similar, but the way that everyone treated each other within the family resonated with me. The idea that family is forever and is a closer bond than any other one could ever create is an idea that has been ingrained in me since I was very young. The Don’s utter commitment to his family and those he has sworn to protect is closely related to the way my Grandfather treats my family and me. As an Italian, the ethnic themes portrayed in this novel really struck home.

            Text to text: The setting described at Connie Corleone’s wedding, with all the guests coming and paying their respects to the Don, is mirrored in the end of the book when all of the same characters come to the Don’s funeral and also pay their respects to Michael, the new Don. Specific people, such as Amerigo Bonasera or Nazarine the Baker, show up like clockwork to these two major occurrences in the Corleone family. This repeat of events serves to bring the novel full-circle and to show the transfer of power from Don Vito to Don Michael.

Topic #3: Syntax

Puzo’s main purpose in his literary style is to create a flow in the story that corresponds to the mood and feel of the book. Although he is eloquent, his syntax never reaches the disproportionate lengths that some classic authors’ (such as Nathaniel Hawthorne) do. When a character is thinking to himself, Puzo normally uses short, choppy syntax to convey their thought process. When Johnny Fontane is considering the Don’s offer to help him start his own movie studio, he thinks that “He could be a king. Hell. He could even be a Don” (179). By breaking down the character’s mind, Puzo succinctly conveys their motives and intentions. About the only character for whom Puzo does not do this is Don Corleone, but this is because the Don is supposed to be the one character that is mysterious and seemingly all-knowing.

            As many of the events in The Godfather cause other things to happen, many of Puzo’s sentences are cause-and-effect. By having two parts to his sentences, he can create a duality that shows the order of events. With so many things happening in the book and all of them relating to each other in some way or another, it is important for Puzo to quickly convey events to the reader as briefly and clearly as possible. As for describing a character’s actions, Puzo often gives their motives in the same sentence if he wishes the reader to know why the character acts the way they do. For static characters such as Captain McCluskey, reasons for why “The bookmakers in his district paid more protection money than the bookmakers in any other part of the city” are simply “because of the expense of putting four boys through college” (142). Such characters are not important to the changing dynamic of the book, and therefore Puzo wishes the reader to fully understand their motives.

Topic #2: Diction

Mario Puzo’s masterful command of language in The Godfather serves to render a portrait of the struggles between the New York Italian mafia families in the 1950s. Puzo is able to draw the reader with his blunt yet flowing diction that he uses to chronicle the events of the Corleones. He also uses his diction to get his dangerous tone across. The whole novel is fraught with danger for all the major characters, and Puzo expresses this through his diction. His word choice serves to keep the reader hanging and expecting that something could turn deadly any moment, as is the case when “in the fraction of a second before anything actually happened, Santino Corleone knew he was a dead man” (283). By using Sonny’s fully name, Puzo creates the classic parental tone of danger. The formality of the full name makes the reader sit up and pay attention, because their brain knows something is about to happen, in this case it is Sonny’s assassination.

As well as forewarning of actual danger, Puzo also foreshadows potential danger in the form of veiled threats, conveyed through his characters’ diction. The Corleone practice is to never actually threaten their opponents, though their words make their intentions clear enough. “‘Do me this favor and I’ll take care of you in the times to come. You got that?’” (287). Here Tom Hagen, the Corleone Consigliere, hints to his victim the implications of disobeying his orders. By seeming to be concerned but still using short, punchy words, Hagen lets his man know what can happen if he fails to do what is asked of him. The reader can pick up on this tone and will then understand the implied message behind the character’s words.

If not for the word choice of Puzo’s characters and his actual narrations, the

Reader might not understand the dangerous implications of all the going ons in the book.

Topic #1: Rhetorical Strategies

-dialogue: ‘His mother looked at him steadily for a moment and then asked in Italian, “Have they shot him?” Sonny nodded’ (83).

            Mario Puzo’s chief method of conveying the mood of the book is through dialogue. Although actual events are portrayed through narration, it is through dialogue that the characters interpretations of these events are conveyed to the reader. These interpretations are vital to the book, as there are many main characters all of whom play an important role in the final outcome. This dialogue is especially potent in revealing discrepancies between the three leaders of the family, Don Corleone, Sonny, and Michael.

-colloquialisms: “He was not the Don and only the Don could replace the caopregimes and the Consigliere” (268).

            The Godfather is very ethnic novel, and to exemplify the Italian heritage that is a main theme of the novel, Puzo uses many Italian colloquialisms throughout the novel. These words are often actual Italian words, and the make the book seem much more authentic. Mario Puzo, being an Italian, is qualified to write about the Italian culture of his time period, and he expresses his familiarity with the topic through his use of Italian colloquialisms.

-metaphor: “…the Turk Sollozzo broke the peace and plunged the Don’s world into its own war…” (239).

            Puzo uses metaphors to exaggerate certain aspects of the book. In this quote, he refers to the battle between the Italian mafia families as actually “plunging the Don’s world” into war, when in fact they are really just conducting an underground gang fight. By exaggerating parts of the story, Puzo adds interest to his novel and brings the plot a heightened sense of anticipation and suspense.

-imagery: “On the embalming table was the bullet-smashed face of Sonny Corleone. The left eye drowned in blood had a star fracture in its lens. The bridge of his nose and the left cheekbone were hammered into pulp” (275).

            As this novel is based on much violence, imagery is a key aspect to Puzo’s style. By gruesomely describing the victims of the mafia war, he is able to bring a sense of horror and dark interest to his readers, as was his intent. The imagery also serves to give color to the story and paint a bloody picture for the reader, which is one of the book’s most notable aspects.