The Godfather

I really enjoyed the Godfather first of all because it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, but I truly think that the first and maybe even the second time you watch it, it’s really hard to understand because there are so many different elements to the movie.

One of the biggest themes of the movies is the theme of loyalty. You can see this in almost all of the characters. Don Corleone feels as though this is one of the biggest attributes to the family; they are all loyal to the family. As the movie progresses you see some of the members of the family begin to go against the family thus tearing the family apart. The main character Michael tries his best to be loyal to his family, but at the beginning doesn’t want anything to do with the actual family business. Because of a lack in loyalty his father is shot and this makes Michael feel the nee to join the family because he needs to protect them and he knows that his brother Sonny is by no means the best man to take over the family business.

This situation can also be considered Michael’s coming of age. He finally grows into what his family wants him to be. He first is a good citizen of the USA, he fought in the war and was not involved in any illegal activity, but after he grows into his position he, by the definition of his family, has come of age.

The second biggest theme of the movie The Godfather is that of “Chasing the American Dream”. Don Corleone first comes to America after his family is killed (we learned this from the opening scenes of The Godfather: Part II) and is in pursuit of what we like to call The American Dream; the freedom to do what you want, practice the religion you want, run the business you want, do what you want. Constantly throughout the film there are characters explaining how much they love America and that all they did was come over here to be able to be a part of it.

Perhaps the biggest theme of the movie The Godfather is that of family. The whole movie the Corleone’s band together to stick together as a family, and family isn’t always your immediate family. The whole mob family of the Corleone’s tries to stick together to the best of their ability even when people begin to betray them. When tragedy happens, it also brings them closer together; it brings Michael into the family business, but sadly tragedy also brings more tragedy. When Sonny tries to defend his sister after she is brutally beaten by her husband, another mob family kills him.

Ultimately, I feel as though The Godfather was a good movie to wrap up the year. It intertwined all the themes we talked about this year into one movie as well as undoubtedly captured our attention.