The Godfather Series- Character Analysis

One of the greatest series ever written was the Godfather series. Even the number 1 movie of all time is The Godfather. I was at my local bookshop today when I noticed that there’s a new series on the Godfather written by a certain Mark Winegardnr (that’s how his name is really spelt). So obviously being a Godfather buff I picked it up, I am yet to read it though but I thought I should write a post on the Godfather character analysis.

When one mentions the Godfather, you have 2 images that stir deep emotions. One is of the father, Don Vito Coreleone, and the other his erstwhile son Micheal Coreleone. I’m not going to spend time talking about the history of the series and if you haven’t seen it, pick it up already :)

What makes the 2 Godfathers different?

Vito Coreleone, or the original Don, is the one potrayed in the center of the first series of the Godfather. He is what I would call a pragmatic unruflled Mafia don. Even his son Michael, despite tremendous successes, loses in such a comparison, as he lacks the one thing that makes Vito the Don to emulate, the warmth, compassion and sheer predictibility of the future. If there was a difference between Micheal and Vito, it would be that of a certain touch of class. Just as the case is between Jordan and Bryant. He is the Godfather par excellence. Establishing himself at a time when class was rare with particular hindsight. I would closely relate this to the Ambani brothers of India. While Dhirubhai played a lot of particular notes and pulled strings, he rose from nothing, he inherited nothing and built everything from scratch. An amazing parallel is Vito. Wise , intelligent, an excellent reader of others' intentions, and a smooth, subtle talker, able to convince with words, not having to rely only on bullets. The most exceptional thing about Vito, and the way in which he most outshines his son, is the manner in which he conducts his personal life. Though a ruthless, violent criminal, Vito is also a warm, loving father and husband, and the paradox of his character is that it is precisely the warmth of his humanity that makes him appear superhuman. In his later years, Vito comes across as relaxed and playful, even mellow and the death scene in which he’s playing with his grand kid even though he’s the Don and chasing them around is what shows him to be not only a great individual but also a pillar of the family / social society.

He was at the top when needed, astute when required and lived a rich, full life and settled into a quiet retirement. You’ll notice that in part 2, where as a younger man, when he is played by Robert De Niro, he is caring and devoted but also silent and intense. It’s the intensity and the insane pauses while thinking that manifest the power in Vito Coreleone. Michael lets his intensity eat away at him, Vito does not. There is never any tension for Vito between the two meanings of "familyâ" (i.e. blood relations and crime family), and he doesn't feel conflicted about what he's doing. His intensity is that of a hard-working man, though one who still manages to come home at the end of the workday to spend time with his family. In short, Vito comes across as both the perfect father and the perfect Godfather, making him a difficult model for all of his children, especially Michael, to imitate.

The Prodigal Son

Micheal on the other hand, is cold-blooded, ruthless, smart, and determined. His ability to think clearly under fire, to be decisive, and to command respect makes him an excellent Godfather as well. One sees fate play a strange card when out of all the Don’s children, the youngest and most unlikely to head the family makes for the best candidate to ascend the throne., Michael was never supposed to get involved in the Mafia. He was supposed to become a senator, perhaps even president. Even when he does begin working for his father, he doesn't seem fully reconciled to the decision. He promises Kay before they marry that the family will become "legitimate" soon. Over twenty years later, in The Godfather Part III, he still seeks this legitimacy. Unlike Vito, who appears at ease in the role of Godfather, Michael is burdened by the responsibility. One senses that he views himself as a sacrificial hero, slaving away for the rest of the family, sacrificing his soul for the well-being of those around him. In many ways, Michael's story is a familiar one in American mythology: that of the immigrantâ's child. He achieves great heights of success, just as his hard-working immigrant parents hoped for him, but at considerable personal cost. In Michael's case, this cost is to his family life, as he loses his wife and children. The difference, is the burden of having to rest on the shoulders of giants. Just as Einstein is remarked to have done one better on Newton, Micheal has done one better than Vito. But Michael is often seen as a classical tragic figure. Immensely talented and powerful, he is undone by tragic flaws: his insatiable desire for vengeance, which creates a web of violence and recrimination that he cannot escape; his illusions of omnipotence, which blind him to the fact that achieving legitimacy is impossible; and his sense of being perpetually at war, which never allows him a moment of rest. In the end, while the Don dies to his family, Michael dies alone. Instead, he brought them only pain and death.

The original Godfather is a romanticized Mafia portrayal, while his son bears that of hardness and bitterness that comes closer to reality.