Cheesman Chronicles

The Godfather by Mario Puzo is the story of how Michael Corleone turns from a simple American-Italian boy into the head of a Mafia family. While starting off as a war hero, he quickly turns into a ruthless and calculating man, achieving as his father Vito ‘The Don’ Corleone calls, his destiny. But is that what really happens?

For this analysis I will be focusing only on the first book released in 1969, and not the subsequent sequels or movie adaptations. The main reason for this is that I enjoyed it much more, and it has a higher focus on destiny than the other versions I have seen.

To start, the family is only in the Mafia business because Vito Corleone ended up in the crime life through almost sheer chance. He had a modest business selling groceries, but when he ended up becoming a getaway driver he quickly devolved into a murderer. He justified this by saying it was his ‘destiny’ to become a Mafia boss. That he was destined for this greatness.

While this is fine by itself, it’s clearly built on lies. His three sons start out ‘destined’ for other things. Sonny, the oldest, is the ‘destined’ heir to the empire. He is strong, clever, and willing to take on the job in the first place. Freddie meanwhile, is easy going and not cut out for the life even though he pretends he is. And up until the events of the novel take place, Michael want’s nothing to do with the family business. All of these things the Don is happy with.

But when Vito Corleone is shot and dying, everything changes. Michael ends up protecting his father, then killing another Mafia boss and police captain, causing him to flea to Italy to learn about the Mafia. While there, Sonny is killed, Freddie becomes weak, and the family business goes to war with the five families.

The Don, however, doesn’t falter. He simply changes his view on what destiny had for each of his sons. Suddenly Michael was destined to become the heir to the empire, not Sonny. So how could he do this?

He lied to himself.

Crime took over their lives. It festered into their very being and turned them from honest people into hardened mafia men determined to make as much money as possible. Patriarchy also plays a major role in their up bringing. Vito was determined to make something of himself in America, to be successful and a respected member of the community. And while he could have done that through continuing to sell his groceries, he felt forced to take more drastic measures for the chance at greater power and control.

The sons couldn’t escape this either. Through their upbringing they could only respect their father. They had no other way of imagining it. He had created such a mystique around him that made men tremble at his very name. They would have big shoes to fill once he died. Ones they would have to. Because “destiny” told them so.

Destiny, to the boys, was a real thing. And yet the only real destiny was that one of them would have fill the role of Godfather. They would have to. Their family would crumble if they didn’t. A crime syndicate blown up into smoke at the smallest thing. Destiny was a role, not a promise.

But to the Godfather, or the role of it, they would have to preserve this. Everyone must respect the name Corleone. If they didn’t, they would be yesterdays news. And that’s no destiny. That’s a curse.

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