BOOK REVIEW

BOOK REVIEW
on
“THE GODFATHER”
BY
MARIO PUZO

SUBMITTED BY-
LIPIKA KOUSHIK

ROLL NO. 49

MBA 1ST SEM

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

GAUHATI UNIVERSITY

Plot synopsis

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BOOK REVIEW

The Godfather is the story of organized crime in the 1940's which revolves around the Corleone family.
The story starts with a little description of some people who are surrounded by lots of problems and are
unable to overcome them and ultimately seek the help of Vito Corleone, the head of the most powerful
crime family in the United States. In late summer 1945, guests are gathered for the wedding reception of
Don Vito Corleone's daughter Connie and Carlo Rizzi. As the novel explains, "by tradition no Sicilian can
refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day." During the wedding, Corleone, respectfully referred to as
the Don or Godfather, is obliged to meet with people who seeks his help. Among them was Don's actual
godson, a famous singer whose career will fail if he does not get the movie role that a Hollywood
producer has refused to him.

The long wedding sequence is used to introduce the main characters. Don Corleone's oldest son, Sonny, is
a hot-tempered ladies man; Fredo is a weak-willed drunkard; Tom Hagen is the lawyer who handles the
financial details of the family business and the youngest son of Vito, Michael, who has disappointed his
father by staying out of the family business and joining the army. Michael was with his girlfriend Kay
Adams in the party and trying to inform her about his father's criminal life; he reassures her that he is
different from his family.

After the reception, Don Vito, Sonny, and Tom, meet with Virgil Sollozzo, a drug smuggler who wants
them to become partners in his business. Though Sollozzo offers attractive terms, Don Vito declines the
offer. Don is shot by Solozzo's men for this.

In the midst of the resultant gang-war, "college-boy" Michael volunteers to kill Sollozzo and Captain
McCluskey, his police protection. Meeting with the two in a small restaurant, Michael slays them both
with a hidden pistol.

While Michael heads to exile in Sicily, Sonny continues the gang-war, now battling both the other five
New York families and the police. When Sonny dies in a hail of gunfire, Don Vito returns from his
convalescence to forge a new peace with the other families and even manages to arrange for someone else
to be convicted of the murders Michael committed, allowing his youngest son to come home.

When the Don is finally felled by a heart attack and Fredo is sent to consolidate the family's power in Las
Vegas, Michael is called upon to take control of the family business and take revenge on his enemies and
thus become the new “Godfather”.

List of main characters

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Vito Corleone –

Founder and head of the most powerful organized crime family in the United States . As an older man,
Vito is a shrewd Mafia boss known as the Godfather. As a younger man, he is a ruthlessly ambitious
Sicilian immigrant in New York. Vito is a warm and loving father and husband.

Michael Corleone -

Michael is Vito’s youngest son. At the beginning of The Godfather, he is uninvolved in the Mafia and
seems headed for a successful career in politics or another field. Over the course of time, he joins the
family business and succeeds his father as head of the Corleone family. Michael is even bolder, more
violent, and more ambitious than Vito. He proves much less successful in his personal life.

Kay Adams Corleone -

Michael’s girlfriend at the beginning of The Godfather and later his wife. Kay is an all-American girl. At
first, she plays dumb and chooses to ignore the violence that goes on around her. But eventually, she
rebels against the prohibitions on her movement, Michael’s cold distance, and the threats to her and her
family.

Tom Hagen -

The Corleone family lawyer and sometime chief advisor, or consigliere. An orphan on the street, Tom
was adopted by Vito and grew up as a member of the Corleone family. Tom is not a violent man and
rarely gets his hands dirty. At times he comes across as a voice of reason in family debates, while at other
times he is timid, overly cautious, and unimaginative.

(Santino) Sonny Corleone –

Vito’s oldest son. Sonny is hot-headed, violent, and reckless, a combination that leads him into a death
trap set by a rival family.

Fredo Corleone

Vito’s middle son. Weak-willed and terribly insecure, Fredo is overshadowed by his older brother’s
reckless passion and his younger brother’s unshakeable confidence. He briefly finds himself living the life
of a decadent playboy in Las Vegas, but his comfort with women and drink is only a cover for his
essential unease.

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Connie Corleone Rizzi -

Vito’s daughter. At the opening of The Godfather, Connie marries Carlo Rizzi, who turns out to be an
abusive, adulterous terror. After Michael kills Carlo, Connie enters a period of rebellion against her
brother, behaving like a spoiled, overgrown child, pathetic, lost, and very angry. However, she regains
control of her life, and emerges as the backbone of the family.

Carlo Rizzi -

Connie’s abusive husband. Carlo betrays the Corleone family, tipping off Sonny’s killers, and is killed by
Michael for his transgression.

Apollonia Corleone -

Michael’s first wife. While hiding out in Sicily in The Godfather, Michael falls in love at first sight with
Apollonia, a sixteen-year-old beauty. Just days after their marriage, Apollonia is killed in a car bomb
intended for Michael.

Sollozzo –

A gangster known as the Turk. Sollozzo is involved in the narcotics trade and is backed by Barzini and
Tattaglia (another Mafia boss).
.
Don Tommasino -

Don Tommasino is an old family friend. In Sicily, Tommasino was Michael’s friend and guardian and
protected Michael in his exile.

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