English teacher Patrick Cheney just finished reading “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo.
“Mario Puzo takes the godfather and the mafia and the mob in general and very much humanizes it by looking at the familial aspects of it,” Cheney said.
The protagonist, Michael Carson, is the youngest son to a mafia family. He spends his childhood trying to get away from the family and their business. In an attempt to stay away, he goes to join the military and leaves to fight in a war. Things end up out of control for him and he ends up right back in his family business.
“He basically says you never side against the family,” Cheney said. “You always go with the family no matter what.”
Mario Puzo, the author of the Godfather, also wrote many other stories such as “The Last Christmas” and “The Dark Arena.” He was raised by two Italian immigrants. His father was put in a hospital for schizophrenia, leaving him and his six siblings left alone to be cared for by their mom. Mario went into the military and served in World War II before he started his writing.
“People who are either big in family or big into teen,” Cheney said. “Athletes would probably appreciate the familial team aspect of it.”
The theme that is most prominent of “The Godfather” is power. The family is struggling to maintain the power they have not only obtained because of outside people but also from inside the family, too. The fight to hold the family power in the book is clearly shown because of the two different sources they are working against.