The Godfather and the Meaning of Family

The Godfather A family is a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, and is considered a group, whether they roost together or non the traditional family, which usu aloney consists of family entertains and beliefs. In American literature family serves as a base in our baseb each(prenominal) club which can be shaped and molded into many different forms. Mario Puzos The Godfather demonstrates family as a successful business, with strict and traditional Italian roots. The grade is focuses on the Corleone family, a really close knit traditional Italian-American family, who all live on the same cul de sac and are neighbors to apiece other.Their business is based on the familys mafia operations. They live their lives in the midst of demonic. Some takes the law into their own hands, by avenging a crime to protect the weak man others use it to rise into a prepare of wealth and power. The executive or head of the Corleone family is the decision maker or shot call er he is like the Robin Hood of the Sicilians spate. To all those who turn over a penny proven their loyalties to him are entitled to help from their Godfather. He is unforced to help anyone who calls them his fri determination be set out he trusts that Friendship is everything.Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. It is close the equal of family (Puzo 38). The executive or head of the Corleone family is beginner Vito and after his death, Michael his youngest son, who subsequent takes the role. In a sense, both in the sweet and film pay back and ends with the Godfather and some may call him the break. Through they both have very different experiences, they are believed to be infinitely more intelligent and less(prenominal) obviously corrupt than any of the other characters developed in the point (Williams 77).Both are willing to accommodate their competitors, take a step back, and not get involved unless necessary, for they believe to never ha te your enemies because it affects your judgment and to nourishment their friends close and their enemies closer However, they are considered to be the most powerful unionised crime family in the United States. Great men are not born great, they climb up great, and so it was with Vito Corleone. Vito Corleone made the final step from a quite ordinary, somewhat ruthless businessman to a great Don in the world of criminal enterprise.It did not happen in a day, it did not happen in a year, but by the end of the Prohibition period and the start of the Great Depression, Vito Corleone had become the Godfather, the Don, Don Corleone (Puzo 213). A family of organized crime that is some measure portrayed as so lovingness and helpful, that we dont always think of them as bad guys per say. They have respect and are behaved in a way that is very elegant. just now of course there are times when they must take carry out upon themselves even if it is against the law.It is a known that the m ain focus of a stereotypic Mafia family is centered around the use of violence. For instance, in both the novel and film, Connie Corleone the daughter of the Don Vito gets married to an abusive and gets beaten down while pregnant, which later becomes one of the reasons for his death. Aside from that we also master many deaths cause by the vengeance and business. Another example is the opening of the movie, when Bonasera states I believe in America. America has made my fortune. And I raised my daughter in the American fashion.I gave her freedom, but I taught her never to dishonor her family as he tells Don Vito, his grief about what had happen to his daughter (The Godfather). The family is cruel notwithstanding respectable, violent yet sophisticated and heartless, but not without rules. We as a viewer or a reader can fell the evil and come to sympathize with the Corleone family. The Godfather permits an audience to support the mafia lifestyle and the sins theyve commit. We overl ook what is supposed to be right and sympathize with the lifestyle of these mobsters.We side with Corleones crime because of such quotes like A man who doesnt spend time with his family can never be a real man, when Don Vito Corleone says this, we as the audience find ourselves liking a character they dexterity not otherwise like. In America we tend to sympathize with people who are compassionate and are family oriented. Those who make their family priority number one, who shows and submit true respect and defines a man by the amount of time he spends with those he loves. The Godfather narrative was able to supply the idea of a strong and benevolent father to take care of both family and an unimpeded business life, as stated in the MELUS Article, The Godfather and American tillage How the Corleones Became Our faction by Mary Ann Mannino. This simple image of a genuine family value allows for anyone to relate and understand the character even though at times the character may be immoral. Towards the end, Michael states if I can die saying, conduct is so beautiful, then nothing else is important.If I can believe in myself that much, nothing else matters. He would follow his father. He would care for his children, his family, his world. But his children would grow in a different world. They would be doctors, artists, scientists. Governors. Presidents. Anything at all. He would see to it that they joined the general family of humanity, but he, as a powerful and wise parent would most certainly keep a wary centerfield on that general family when family again is reconfirmed (Puzo 411). Works Cited Mannino, Mary Ann. The Godfather and American Culture How the Corleones Became Our Gang. . MELUS 28. 3 (2003) 218-232. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. Puzo, Mario. The Godfather. Greenwich Fawecett, 1969. Print. Simon, William. Analysis of the Structure of The Godfather, lift off One. Studies in the literary Imagination 16. 1 (1983) 75-90. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Detroit Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. The Godfather. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. prevalent Pictures. 1972. DVD.