Godfther

There are frequently tales of heroic outlaws who perform deeds for the weak and battle with the corrupt and against injustice in human history. One of these heroic outlaws is Vito Corleone from The Godfather. Similar to Robin Hood and his stories of “taking from the rich and giving to the poor” which made Robin into a hero to many readers, Vito did the same in the book by Mario Puzo albeit by more force. Vito Corleone was ruthless but he did it for family. A family is a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, and is considered a group, whether they reside together or not. (Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc.) At its core, The Godfather is a study of how the ebbs and flow of power change Vito’s family and how he struggles to maintain power to maintain family. The Corleone family lives in the midst of the crime and violence. Some of the family members take the law into their own hands, by protecting the weak by avenging crime while others may use it to their advantage to position themselves higher within the family for more wealth and power. The Godfather gives help to all those who have proven their loyalties as a “Robin Hood” of the Sicilian people. He is more than willing to lend a helping hand to those who need it as long as they call them his friend; he has the confidence that “Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than government. It is almost the equal of family” (Puzo 38)

Vito recognizes the corruption that surrounds him and this is one of the recurring themes involved in the novel. “A lawyer with his brief case can steal more than a hundred men with guns.” (Puzo ) People rely on the Mafia to help them due to the corrupt nature of various political and legal insti...

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...e here. Let me go further. If my son is struck by a bolt of lightning I will blame some of the people here. If his plane show fall into the sea or his ship sink beneath the waves of the ocean, if he should catch a mortal fever, if his automobile should be struck by a train, such is my superstition that I would blame the ill will felt by people here."(Puzo 291)

In The Godfather not even God is more important than family, which the Corleone’s value as the most sacred institution of them all. “From the beginning of human life, people have grouped themselves into families to find emotional, physical, and communal support. Although social commentators often have predicted the demise of both marriage and the family, families not only survive but continue to change and evolve. Family structures my vary around the world, and yet, the value of our family endures.” (DeFrain)