Rhetorical Strategies

·         Anaphora: “He named…He put…He also…He explained…” (225). The anaphora of the paragraph, using the word “he”, which, throughout the paragraph, is used in large numbers, is crucial to the sense that Vito was extremely busy, as well as to reinforce the idea of crime being unrewarding, yet doing so through the misery of tedium, rather than illustrating the ultimate unhappiness which a life of crime can lead to.

·         Repetition: “like when you retire, they’d retire together, retire from everything” (405). The repetition of the word retire is one instance where repetition is meant to invoke sentiment, making note of Johnny’s desire to forevermore be with Virginia, and to relax. This relaxation is reflected in the repetition, resorting to the comfort of monotony, perhaps demonstrating the way that, ultimately, the dreamed-of retirement would end.

·         Imagery: “the hills and canyons of garishly red rock, the burning deserts, the unexpected and blessedly refreshing lakes, even the heat” (474). This imagery, describing the idyllic situation which Kay had found herself living in, serves to show how all aspects of her surroundings were pleasant, even the heat, creating a dichotomy with the unpleasant and ruthless world which Michael had lived in, once more deriding the criminal lifestyle.

·         Metaphor: “It made him feel powerful that one of the Corleones was his doormat” (238). This metaphor is one that exemplifies the environment which the Corleone family lived in, one that valued status and power above any real character, choosing to focus more on the feeling of power which was obtained by having a form of dominance over a Corleone, rather than the inherent issues which are presented by the situation. This illustrates how corruption can lead to a person being glad simply to have some modicum of power, regardless of how it has gone about being attained.

Diction

Puzo, throughout the novel, uses his diction in very straight-forward ways, but nonetheless uses very strong and situation-appropriate diction in order to create stronger scenes and to bolster his writing. In his description of Freddie Corleone’s reaction to the shooting of his father, Puzo uses heavy diction, writing that his weeping “was a curiously comical sight, because of his tough, Cupid-featured face, heavy nose and thick mouth smeared with snot” (79). In describing Freddie in such a way, it is established that such a scene is odd, perhaps uncommon, contributing to the sheer shock of the Don being shot, and reinforcing the respect which he receives. As the war between the mafia groups escalated to the point of wide-scale murder, Puzo describes it with words such as “raids”, “auxillaries”, “massacred”, “allegiance”, and “neutral” (276). In using such words to describe the battle between the groups, the war-like conditions are exaggerated and displayed prominently, serving to improve the readers’ perception of the tension and violence which occurred as a direct result of the feud which ran between them. As Michael moves to Sicily, among the vast majority of sections in the novel, there is a preponderance of Italian words used for effect, such as “caporegime”, “omerta”, and “gabbellotto” (345). Through the usage of Italian to punctuate the rest of the story, Puzo attempts to authenticate the plot somewhat by mentioning the phrases which the mafia members in real life would be liable to use. Furthermore, the Italian also reminds the reader that the Mafia members are members of an inner circle of people that support each other, much like any other ethnicity, completely out of place in their current location.

Syntax

In The Godfather, Mario Puzo utilizes a large number of syntactical devices in order to add emphasis to his writing and strengthen the numerous messages that he has incorporated within it. To strengthen the shocking nature of Amerigo Bonasera’s daughter, Puzo adopts a telegraphic structure, writing: “She resisted. She kept her honor. They beat her. Like an animal…Her nose was broken. Her jaw was shattered…She wept through her pain” (24). By keeping the statements from Bonasera terse, Puzo manages to create an idea of his grief, as well as the trauma that resulted from his daughter’s resistance. In addition, the short fragments of a whole idea serve to quickly move the reader to the conclusion, one influenced by the emotional input from Bonasera, ultimately delivering a charged, rushed experience, flustering the reader so as to come to identify with Bonasera. By having the reader identify with Bonasera, Puzo establishes a strong emotional appeal to the story, setting the floor for a personal investment in the chastisement Bonasera receives from Don Corleone.

            Puzo also utilizes other deviations from standard syntax to create a more poignant message, such as when he describes the condition of the stars in the Hollywood Movie Star Lonely Hearts Club. IN his derision of their condition, he writes that “They had been made too imperious: by money, by fame, by their former beauty” (190). By repeating the same word to introduce each part of the list, Puzo unifies the reasons as equivalent contributors to the downfall of the stars, Furthermore, by forming a list by way of a colon to begin with, he reinforces the fact that the reasons were entirely different from the current reality for the stars, serving to call attention to the fall from grace that the celebrities had experienced, thus contributing to the recurrent theme of steady corruption and a worsening of character.

Text Connections

The Godfather, a book published in 1969, is a novel that, through a critically acclaimed film adaptation, has become extremely well-known, and, due to this, is responsible for a massive amount of influences upon modern entertainment. While a plethora of connections can be made to, not only literature, but films, art, and plays made since then, it is easy to deduce that such similarities are formed due to the influence The Godfather has had.  Rather, it’s more interesting to note that classical operas, such as Pagliacci, make use of the tactic of having characters announce their own emotions. Of course, this is only quite so interesting when observed with the knowledge in mind that Puzo makes a habit of informing the reader, through one way or another, of how exactly the characters feel. What truly allows the connection to come into its own life is a combination of two facts, those being that both this novel and many operas concern Italian events (commonly tragedies), and that The Godfather is split into nine books, in much the same way a stage work is split into acts. With both of these in mind, it is hardly a leap of the imagination to say that The Godfather is structured in much the same way that an opera would be. Perhaps Puzo deliberately structured his story in such a straightforward fashion to mimic the sincerity of many classical plays, hoping to create a moving story. In addition to this, there is a clear connection in this story to the archetypal coming-of-age story, with the son becoming the new leader of a group, discovering the positive aspects of leadership and the crippling drawbacks that accompany it, ultimately coming to realize that there is a reason such a position is revered. This is mirrored quite well in the story of  Michael Corleone, though there are still other connections to be made, as The Godfather is a story that draws from a large number of sources in order to create a compelling story.

Personal Review

The Godfather is commonly described as one of the greatest films of all time, but what is commonly left unconsidered is the quality of the book upon which it was based. As it stands, I believe the book itself to be one quite worthy of a read, even if it lacks a more sophisticated method of telling a story. While the story of the novel is certainly a compelling one that entertains with great ease, the downfall of The Godfather is in its writing. While Puzo’s writing is by no means unclear or confusing, he also fails to incorporate any real higher-level writing strategies in his writing, instead utilizing fairly simplistic language in his storytelling. The end result of this is that, though the ideas themselves are quite good, the writing feels somewhat bland, leaving the reader somewhat dissatisfied after reading, as they are hardly engaged by the language. Still, the story is quite solid, despite there being a few subplots that ultimately have little bearing on the larger story that is created, and is one that could have escalated the book to a comparable level to the movie if it had been augmented via a more stylistic approach. However, other than the writing and story, there is much to be said for the book. For instance, there are a few themes in the book that are worth mentioning, such as corruption, prominently displayed in the development of Michael Corleone into a crime lord who went beyond what his father had done, and who ruthlessly cut down opposition in his reign. Furthermore, to complement this, there is another prominent theme of immorality and generally questionable actions leading to unhappiness, even if, at first, it seems to be more profitable. Overall, these themes help to tie the book together into a more complete work, and are applied into the story fairly well. In particular, the theme of unhappiness caused by crime is effective, as it is emphasized by somewhat glamorous depictions of crime, setting up the later fall. As a whole, the book is quite enjoyable, and, though it suffers from a few shortcomings, is easily recommendable.