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.
This is quite an insightful text connection and is particularly relevant to any informed consumption of media because, you're absolutely right, The Godfather has had an enormous impact on a wide array of entertainment which is especially evident in the army of look-a-likes, homages and lampoons of Puzo's work in film, television, literature and music. I found it interesting that you were able to draw upon the novel's overtly Italian roots and perceive the parallels between it and Italian operas such as Pagliacci in both style and format. Additionally impressive was the detection of formulaic parallels between The Godfather and modern bildungsromans. Personally, I was not able to read into the novel with such depth and I'd be more than happy to have your ability to concisely analyze the pages of such an extensive work in its entirety.
ReplyDelete