THE REPRESENTATION OF MARIO PUZO'S LIFE
BACKGROUND IN THE SETTING OF
THE GODFATHER
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DEBIE KHARISMAWATI
Student Number: 054214055
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DEBIE KHARISMAWATI
Student Number: 054214055
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
iv
What am I to you. . . . tell me darling true
T o me you are the sea. . . . fast as you can be
A nd deep the shade of blue
When you're feeling low. . . . to whom else do
you go
S ee I cry if you hurt. . . . I 'd give you my last
shirt
Because I love you so
I f my sky should fall. . . . would you even call
Opened up my heart. . . . I never want to part
I 'm giving you the ball
When I look in your eyes. . . I can feel
butterflies
I love you when you're blue. . . . tell me darling
true
What am I to you. . .
v
For
vi
education in Sanata Dharma University. I can not go through all of those years
without the help from all of the people who supported me. I want to dedicate this
page to all of those people who have helped me through my college life.
First of all I want to show my gratitude to Dewi Widyastuti, S.pd., M.
Hum., as my sponsor for helping me to write my thesis. Thanks for being patient and
the advices while helping me. I also want to show my gratitude to Adventina Putranti,
S.S, M. Hum as my co-sponsor. Thanks for the correction and the advice in writing
my thesis. I want to say thanks to all of my lecturers and staff in English Letters
Department in Sanata Dharma University. I want to say thanks to my family, my
Mom who is my best friend and also my biggest enemy at the same time, my Dad
who is the most handsome man in the house, and my little sister Yessica. I want to
say thanks to all of the support, help, affection, and lo ve. I am happy and I am proud
to be the part of this family (I started to cry when I type this part).
I also want to say thanks to all of my friends in Sanata Dharma University
especially from English Letters 2005: Cita, Della, Pipi, Ori, Dimas, Lita, Agung,
Jimmy, Tetty, Weny, Nani, Priska, Fajar, Putri, and Estu. I want to say thanks to all
of my classmates and my friends in The Underpants, in Newly Married Couple, in
vii
In Love With Madonna, in Lady Kerbstone Pygmalion, in Engagement, and my
friends in my latest play performance in Grease.
I want to say thanks to all my friends in KKN 2008, Hellen, Felly, Tya,
and Susi for making the hard time become a good time. I want to say thanks to all of
my ex-Rover friends, Be, Agung, Ronny and family, Henry, and Eno for the
friendships. I also want to say thanks to my friends in Just Listen for the opportunity
to sing together. I want to say thanks to all of my ex-boys wherever they are all now
for giving me the bitter sweet memories that brought the inspirations to me. I want to
say thanks to my biggest best friend Hani for the friendship and support, for laughs
and tears that we go through together, and I believe seven years is only the beginning
of our friendship. At last but not least, I want to say thanks to Fabian William Darwin
and the family for the time, memory, support, friendship, and advice. I believe God
always blessed William and the family. At last but not least, I want to say thanks to
God for giving me a wonderful life and wonderful people around me.
viii
A. Background of the Study ...1
B. Problem Formulation...3
C. Objectives of the Study...3
D. Definition of Terms ...3
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW...6
A. Review of Related Studies ...6
B. Review of Related Theories...8
C. Mafia in the United States ...12
1. Mafia Tradition...14
2. Mafia Activities...15
D. Mario Puzo’s Life Background ...16
E. Theoretical Framework ...18
A. Setting in the Godfather...23
1. Setting of Place 23 a. Long Beach House...24
ix
c. Hell's Kitchen...29
d. Corleone, Sicily...31
2. Daily Manner and Occupation...31
a. A Better Living and The Structural Crime Organization in the United States after World War II...34
b. Mafia's Control in Occupation after World War II and Marriage Tradition in Corleone...35
c. Middle Class Life in Hell's Kitchen...38
3. Setting of Time 40 4. General Environment ...43
a. Moral Values in Family...44
b. The Importance of Education in Corleone Family and Women's Education After World War II...45
c. Religious Aspect in Corleone Family...46
d. Social Environment in the United States and Corleone...47
B. The Representation of Mario Puzo’s Life Background in the Setting...49
1. An American Born in Italian Immigrant Family...50
2. Puzo's Childhood in Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood...51
3. Puzo's Retired Time in Long Island...52
4. Puzo's Father's Occupation and Middle Class Life in Immigrants' Neighborhood...53
5. Puzo's Lifetime Experience in the Historical Events and the Setting of Time of The Godfather...54
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...59
x of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009.
The Godfather is a novel of Mario Puzo that tells about the story of Italian mafia family in New York. Puzo brought a story about an Italian immigrant mafia, who really exist, by exploring the structure and the culture of the mafia in 1920 – 1950. The setting of this novel is related to the lifetime of Mario Puzo as the author of this novel and this relationship is interesting to be analyzed further. This thesis is going to discuss the representation of Mario Puzo's life background in the setting of his own novel The Godfather.
There are two problems that have been formulated to understand the analysis better. Since the setting is the main focus of the analysis, therefore the first problem deals with the description of the setting in the novel. The description of the setting includes the setting of place, daily manner and occupation, setting of time, and general environment. The last problem is to find out the representation of Mario Puzo's life background in the setting of The Godfather.
To analyze the novel, Biographical approach will be used. This approach is considered to be appropriate to apply in analyzing the representation of Mario Puzo’s background in the setting of The Godfather. The method used in conducting the analysis was library research. It means that the data that support the analysis were obtained mostly from some books and references from library. The data from reliable sources in the Internet were also used to add some references. To make thorough analysis, there were some steps to take. First step is to choose literary work as the object of the study. Second step is to find theories and data that related to the topic and problem formulation. The last step is to arrange the data and the theories that had been classified in systematic way to make the application easier.
x xi ABSTRAK
DEBIE KHARISMAWATI. The Representation of Mario Puzo's Life Background in the Setting of The Godfather. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2009.
Novel karya Mario Puzo yang berjudul The Godfather bercerita tentang keluarga mafia Italia di New York. Puzo membawa kita ke dalam cerita tentang mafia imigran dari Italia yang benar ada keberadaannya pada tahun 1920-1950 dengan eksplorasi terhadap struktur keorganisasian dan tradisi dari mafia pada saat itu. Setting dalam novel ini berhubungan erat dengan waktu masa hidup Mario Puzo sebagai pengarang novel ini dan hubungan tersebut sangat menarik untuk dikaji lebih jauh. Skripsi ini tidak hanya semata untuk mencari referensi tentang kehidupan pengarangnya tetapi juga untuk memahami kejadian-kejadian bersejarah yang terjadi semasa hidup pengarang yang bisa dilihat dari elemen setting novel tersebut. Skripsi ini membahas tentang gambaran latar belakang kehidupan pengarang yang terdapat dalam setting novel The Godfather.
Ada dua rumusan masalah untuk memahami lebih baik dalam menganalisa. Rumusan masalah yang pertama adalah mencari deskripsi setting dalam novel karena setting menjadi fokus dalam analisa skripsi ini. Deskripsi setting terdiri dari setting tempat, kehidupan sehari- hari dan jenis pekerjaan karakter dalam novel, setting waktu, dan lingkungan umum karakter dalam novel. Rumusan masalah yang terakhir adalah untuk mencari gambaran latar belakang kehidupan Mario Puzo di dalam setting dari novel The Godfather.
Metode yang dipakai dalam analisa masalah adalah studi pustaka. Data yang diperoleh berasal dari referensi buku-buku di perpustakaan. Data-data dari sumber terpercaya di Internet juga dipakai dalam metode analisa. Untuk menganalisa secara keseluruhan maka dibuat beberapa langkah. Langkah yang pertama adalah memilih karya sastra yang akan dianalisa. Yang kedua adalah mencari beberapa teori dan data-data yang berhubungan dengan topik dan rumusan masalah. Langkah yang terakhir adalah menyusun semua data yang sudah terkumpul secara sistematis untuk mempermudah penggunaannya dalam menganalisa.
1 A. Background of the Study
Being different from poems, a novel is such a complicated arrangements
of characters, plot, setting, symbols, and other elements mixed up in one spirit in the
form of long narrative. Its length and multic iplity of episodes give the author enough
room to explore in some details the complexities of human nature. Mc Namee said
that the long narrative has always been a popular form of literature (1952: 283). To
understand further about the content of the story we should learn about the elements
of the story itself, for example is studying the setting element of the story. Setting
described the time and place or social condition that happened in the story. Setting
can be related to the background of the author of the story such as the time when the
author lived, the place where the author lived, and what had happened in the life time
of the author. This makes one of the work of Mario Puzo, The Godfather, suitable for learning about the relationship between the setting element in the story of The Godfather and the lifetime of the author Mario Puzo.
Puzo brought a story about an Italian immigrant mafia, who really exists,
by exploring the structure and the culture of the mafia. Furthermore in that period,
1920 – 1940. Many mafia families spread out in many states and one of them is in
2
of The Godfather. The five families controlled New York in the 1930s and dominated the organized crime (www.organized-crime.de/lauhtm01.htm. May 7th 2009). One of
the examples of famous mafia chief is Joe Bonanno who had already ran a New York
Empire for 30 years (www.query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html. May 7th 2009).
Another example of mafia chief in that period is Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano who also
one of the strongest mafia chief in New York while Al Capone controlled Chicago
(www.biography.com/key/charlesluciano/2316/htm Sept 1st 2008).
Another consideration in using The Godfather to find the representation of Mario Puzo's life background is the life time of the author who was born on
October 15th 1920 in New York. The life time and where he lived related to the
setting time and place in his novel The Godfather. The social condition in his childhood after World War II that also known as The Great Depression in US lead to
the development of organized crime in US that later became the setting in his novel.
The close relationship between life background and his novel lead to the discussion to
find the representation of his life time in his own work.
This thesis is aimed not only to find the references to the author's life but
also to understand the historical event that happened in author's life time that is
represented in the setting element of his work. This thesis is going to discuss the
the representation of author's life background. the representation of author's life
background.
B. Problem Formulation
The problem formulation will be conducted in order to reveal the
representation of Mario Puzo's life background in the setting and will be answered in
the analysis. The problem formulation consists of major questions below:
1. How is the setting described in this novel?
2. How does the setting in the novel of The Godfather represent Mario Puzo's life background?
C. Objectives of the Study
Considering the questions that have been formulated on the problem
formulation, the analysis is aiming to identify how the setting is described in the
novel. To find the representation of Mario Puzo's life background, the next analysis is
to find the relationship between the setting of the novel and the life background of
Mario Puzo from his autobiography. Those two analysis is committed to achieve a
deeper understanding about to reveal the representation of Mario Puzo's life
4
D. Definition of Term
To avoid misunderstanding that may arouse in this thesis and to give a
limitation on the discussion, it is necessary to define the terms setting, background, and representation which have been the key concepts of this thesis.
1. Setting
According to C. Hugh Holman, setting is defined as the physical, and
sometimes spiritual, background against which the action of a narrative takes place.
Setting also the actual geographical location, its topography, scenery, and such
physical arrangements as the location of the windows and doors in a room, the
occupation and daily manner of place, for example, epoch in history or season of the
year (1986: 468). The definition according C. Hugh Holman seem to be the most
applicable for the analysis since the analysis will also deal with the descriptions of
setting both place and time and the social condition in The Godfather.
2. Representation
According to Ann Marie Baldonado there is an implied visual
component to these primary definitions. Representations can be clear images,
material reproductions, performances and simulations. Representation can also be
defined as the act of placing or stating facts in order to influence or affect the action
of others. Of course, the word also has political connotations. Politicians are thought
to 'represent' a constituency. They are thought to have the right to stand in the place of
something is 'standing for' something else. The definitions above seem to be the most
applicable for the analysis since the analysis will deal with the representation of
Mario Puzo as the author of The Godfather (
6
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
The Godfather has led many people to criticize and study this work. One of the studies is comparing The Godfather with another work from Philip Milton Roth Portnoy’s Complaint. Dick Schaap compares those two works through the character in both of the story.
There are strong similarities between Michael Corleone and Alexander Portnoy. Neither of them, for instance, wishes to enter his father's line of work. Each of them falls for a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant girl. Of course, there are some differences, too. When Alexander Portnoy's father is frustrated, he gets constipated; when Michael Corleone's father is frustrated, he gets someone killed (www.newyorktimes.com/thegodfather/rev/10945.html. February 3rd 2009).
Schaap tries to compare the character of Michael Corleone in The Godfather and the character of Alexander Portnoy in Portnoy’s Complaint. Both of the characters enter their father’s business and fall in love with a white – Protestant girl that in The Godfather is represented by Kay Adams “Her name, too, was outlandish to their ears; she called herself Kay Adams” (1969: 10). There are some differences in relation of
(www.newyorktimes.com/thegodfather/rev/10945.html. February 3rd 2009). In his
analysis Schaap discussed the comparison between two characters in the different
work literature. Schaap only focused on the difference of social background that
caused difference characteristic between two characters in the literary work but not
discussed the real setting or social condition that became the representation of the
social condition or setting in the novels.
Another stud y that used the same work of literature, The Godfather, is the study of character development of Michael Corleone by Yuliana Rahayu. According
to Yuliana the character of Michael Corleone in The Godfather is influenced by the Mafia tradition and the society of Italian immigrants.
Silence is a rule that would not consider the position of the mafia members. All members who made terrible violation will have no excuses. Mafioso who becomes a traitor will punish to death, even though they have a close relations hip with the boss. In this thesis the writer put Silence as the first and the basic rules of all. Silence later on will followed by four developed rules (Rahayu : 2005).
In her thesis Yuliana focused on how the character of Michael Corleone is developed
by the influence of the family background. In her thesis Yuliana explained about the
Italian mafia tradition and how it affected the character of Michael Corleone. Yuliana
only focused on the development character of Michael Corleone and the family
tradition in the literary work.
Another study discussed about the symbol in The Godfather which is “the family” that gave the deepest impact on American public. John G. Cawelti explained
8
paradigm of criminal organization term.
This symbol's influence has virtually changed overnight the American public 's favorite term for a criminal organization. As Puzo develops it, the symbol of the family is the unifying principle of The Godfather. The novel is a tale of family succession, showing the rise of the true son and heir and reaching a climax with his acceptance of the power and responsibilities of Godfather (1976: 53).
Cawelti only discussed about how to embody certain fantasy in a specific cultures
such as The Godfather which used Italian mafia culture through symbol, theme, and the formula of the story as the literature of crime without any comparison between the
setting and social condition in the novel and the setting in the real setting.
The difference between my thesis and Dick Schaap's study is that Schaap
compares two different literary works, Portnoy's Complaint and The Godfather, and I only use one literary work, The Godfather, as the object of the study and try to reveal the representation of the author's life background in the setting element of the novel.
There is a similarity between Rahayu's thesis and my thesis where both of us use The Godfather as the object of the study. Even though we use the same novel, we have a different discussion in the analysis. Rahayu analyzed the character in the novel and I
analyze the setting in the novel to reveal the representation of the author's life
background on it. Another difference is the different between Cawelti's study and this
thesis. Cawelti discussed about the formula of the story rather than the element of the
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Setting
a. Place
Murphy's Understanding Unseen (1972: 141-147) also explained thoroughly about place in the setting. There are three kinds of place.
1. Familiar Place
A writer may choose to set his story in which he considers is familiar to most of
his readers, either from experience or by close acquaintance. For example
American writer may choose to write about events that take place in New York or
other states in United States.
2. Unfamiliar Place
A writer may choose to set his novel that is likely unfamiliar to many of the
readers of his own nation. For example the American writer may choose to write
about events that take place in India.
3. Imaginary Place
A writer may choose to set his book in an entirely imaginary place which is not
familiar to anyone at all.
William Kenney in his book entitled How To Analyze Fiction stated that setting has elements to compose the setting itself. One of the elements are the actual
geographical location, its topography, scenery, and such physical arrangements as the
location of the windows and doors in a room that can be categorized as setting of
10
b. Occupation and Daily Manner
Hugh Holman and William Harmon in their book entitled A Handbook To Literature stated some elements in setting and one of the elements is occupation and daily manner of living of the characters (1986: 468). William Kenney also stated the
same theory about the elements of setting. Kenney stated that the occupations and
modes of day-to-day existence of the characters is one of the elements that composed
setting (1966: 40).
c. Time
C. Hugh Holman and William Harmon in their book entitled A Handbook To Literature stated that setting has elements to compose the setting itself and one of the elements is the time or periods in which the actions takes place, for example
epoch in history or scene of the year (1986: 468). Kenney in How To Analyze Fiction
also stated that the time in which the action takes place is one of the elements of
setting (1966: 40).
Murphy's Understanding Unseen (1972: 141-147) also explained thoroughly about time and place in the setting. There are four kinds of time and three
kinds of place.
1. Present Time
A writer may choose to write a book about his own time, about the things that are
2. Past Time
A writer may choose to go backward in time, to write about historical events, to
attempt and to light the past time to the reader
3. Future Time
A writer may, in his imagination, take his readers into the future.
4. No Specific Time
A writer may choose to give his readers no indication of time in which the story
takes place. It takes place, as it were, in no time or any time. They are like the old
fairy tales, they happen 'once upon a time'.
Being different from Murphy, Ganette said, that it is quoted in
Nurgiantoro's book, that setting of time has two meanings. It refers to the time when
the author wrote the story or the time of the story itself (1995: 33-35). Harvey in
Character and The Novel add society as one of the part of setting in literature. According to him, social environment in the novel basically refers to the society that
is taken mostly in the no vel. The social environment shows a social condition of the
people who live in there (1965: 56). Society, as do all other aspects of novels,
functions as an element that is organized to identify, at least, the part of the novel.
From society, we find a concept or idea that is constructed in the novel (Langland,
1984: 4). From the theories above, the relationship between time, place, and social
environment or society is that the description of the setting of place must be attached
to the description of the society of the novel at a certain time. Those elements of
12
d. General Environment Of The Characters
C. Hugh Holman and William Harmon in their book entitled A Handbook To Literature stated that setting has elements to compose the setting itself and one of the elements is the general environment of the characters, for example: religious,
moral, mental, social and emotional condition through which the people in the
narrative move (1986: 468). William Kenney also stated that the religious, moral,
intellectual, social, and emotional environment of the characters (general
environment) is one of the elements that composed setting (1966: 40).
C. Mafia in the United States
The start of the development of organized crime start in 1930, a year after
the stock market crashed. Organized crime is involved in narcotics distribution in
New York is tautological because narcotics distribution is an organized crime and
whoever is involved in it is by definition in organized crime. Most typically,
organized crime is defined in ways that emphasize high levels of cooperation among
groups of professional criminals. In this way, the category organized crime is viewed
as synonymous with the category organized criminals. In popular parlance, for
instance, organized crime has been equated with "the mob," "the Mafia" or "The
Syndicate." (www.law.jrank.org/pages/1631/Organized-Crime.html. May 7th 2009).
faction in the Castellammarese War during the early 1930s in New York City
(www.spiritus-temporis.com/castellammarese-war. May 7th 2009). The
Castellammarese War is the name given to a bloody internal power struggle between
two factions of Italian-American mafia figures that took place in 1930 and 1931. It
culminated in the brief establishment of Salvatore Maranzano as capo di tutti capi, before he himself was killed and "the Commission" of five mafia families of equal
stature was established.
The name of the war is derived from the fact that one side in the conflict
consisted, at least at first, of immigrants sent by powerful Sicilian mafioso Don Vito
Cascio Ferro from the vicinity of the town of Castellammare del Golfo in western
Sicily, including Joseph Bonanno, Stefano Magaddino, Joseph Profaci, Joseph Aiello,
and the faction's leader, Salvatore Maranzano. Their adversaries, who hailed both
from elsewhere in Sicily and adjacent of regions of southern Italy such as Calabria
and Campania (particularly Naples) were led by Joe "The Boss" Masseria and also
included Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Willie Moretti,
Joe Adonis, and Frank Costello. The Five Families are the five major
Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in New York
City since the 1930s. The Five Families, under the suggestion of Salvatore
Maranzano and Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano were responsible for the establishment of
The Comission a council which demarcated territory between the previously warring
factions and governs La Cosa Nostra activities in the United States. The Five
14
(www.associatedcontent.com/article/502871/the_castellammarese_war_the_creation.
May 7th 2009).
Maranzano set himself up as a "boss of bosses," but he did not hold on to
his power for very long. That same year, Luciano and Genovese ordered the murder
of Maranzano who they believed was plotting to betray them. On that same day, most
of Maranzano's followers, 40 in number, were killed. Luciano then made all of the
five families equal players in New York. Today, these are the Bonanno, Jackie,
Colombo, Genovese, Lucchese crime families. Luciano's victory over Maranzano
ushered in a new era in Mafia activity dominated mostly by those who had been born
in this country. This new generation proved that it was just as ruthless as the old and
ready to expand into new territory. (www.organized-crime.de/lauhtm01.htm. May 7th
2009).
1. Mafia Tradition
There are several Sicilian mafia tradition like send a dead fish with
something that belongs to someone means that the owner of that thing has been
murdered and the dead body is thrown to the sea
(www.americanmafia.com/Cities/New_York_New_Jersey.html. May 7th 2009).
There are also Rules of Conduct in mafia tradition that contains five rules.
First is obedience that means that they should respect their boss and willing to do
what the boss asked to them. They can't start a fighting or discussing business until
the boss asked them to do so. If they obey this rule the boss will punished them.
Family. An attack on any member should be considered an attack on all members.
One Family should respect other Families unless the war between them happens.
Third rule is honor that means the member of the Family must keep their eyes, ears
and their mouth shut. When they see or hear something that is not their business they
better not to see and hear that. The fourth rule is pride that means that they must be a
man of honor. In Sicilian the word mafia is to describe individuals of pride,
excellence, grace, and self- confidence. They also have to respect women and the
elders. The last rule is silence or Omerta
(www.americanmafia.com/Cities/New_York_New_Jersey.html. May 7th 2009).
Omerta is the root of mafia tradition. The members of the family must not or never have any dealing with authorities under any circumstances. It is good for
them to keep the identities and activities of their Family as secret at all costs. The one
who betrayed the Family will be punished or ma be killed. Some Sicilians believe
that people who can do this Omerta rule is only Sicilian people that is why the important member of the family such as Caporegime or Consigliere should be Sicilian or Italian (www.newmafia2000tripod.com/mafia2000/id77.html. May 7th
2009).
2. Mafia Activities
Cahill in The Urban Reader states that there are six major activities in mafia activities. The first one is the political fix that means obtaining the cooperation
16
than a tiny minority of public officials. A minority can be enough both to undermine
law enforcement and to bend regulations, purchasing procedures and legislation to a
shape pleasing to the mob. The second activity is gambling. Gambling is far and
away the Mob's biggest illicit income producer. The third is loan – sharking or usury.
It is the Mafia's best investment because the profit is higher than gambling. The
fourth is narcotics traffic. Narcotics traffic, especially in heroin, is less lucrative than
gambling but still profitable enough. Because of the risks, mafia contracts the retail
trade to its sharecroppers, saving for itself the less dangerous and infinitely more
profitable role of importer and wholesaler. The fifth is labor racketeering and the
sixth is infiltration business(1971: 212).
D. Mario Puzo's Life Background
Mario Puzo is an American novelist and got famous because of his work
The Godfather. The Godfather stayed in the New York Time’s bestseller list for about sixty-seven weeks. Mario Puzo was born on October 15th 1920 into an Italian
immigrant family in Hell’s Kitchen New York. His father was a railway track man.
Mario Puzo lived in above railway yards with his family. He has six brothers and
sisters. In the World War II Puzo joined US Air Force that stationed in East Asia and
Germany.( www.litweb.net/biography/11/Mario_Puzo.html. Sept 1st 2008).
Mario Puzo literary work, The Godfather is his fourth novel that was published in 1969 when he was forty – nine years old. This book was also adapted in
house in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York. He died when he was 78 years old
because of heart failure. His last book The Family is completed by Carol Gino who is his longtime companion and published in 2001.
The period of the 1920s, when Puzo was born, was widely regarded as an
era of prosperity. Unemployment amongst urban workers remained, on average,
under 7 percent. Per capita income grew by a third during a decade of economic
expansion that remained relatively unmarred by inflation and recession. The standard
of living improved across the board for the employed sector of the economy. Such
improvements were measured not only in increases in earnings between 1922 and
1929, but in living conditions. In the 1920s the gap between the City's infrastructural
capacity and its population once again widened. This happened because many
immigrants came to United States. Especially Italian immigrants and Irish immigrants
(1967: 73).
The crash of stock market and the increase of poverty directly also
affected the number of unemployment in the United States. Throughout the decade,
the number of jobless never sank below one – sixth of the potential labor force, with
the result that a large part of the population was unable to consume and much of it
was literary destitute (1968: 871). Poverty increased the number of crime and became
the era of organized crime in the United States.
Meanwhile in the 1940s and 1950s after World War II Hollywood was in
its greatest condition. Many movies and famous actor and actress made their
18
their fortune and became famous. One of them is Frank Sinatra who is a singer and
actor. There are also many famous American actors such as Clark Gable and actress
that became a pin- up-girl during and after the World War II. Such as Greta Garbo,
Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russel, and Jayne Mansfield.
They were loved by millions around the world, men and women alike
(www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9332633. May 7th 2009).
The increase of the population after World War II affected the increase of
the number of transportation. There were some famous car brand that developed in
1940s and 1950s and became the favorite. One of the brand is Cadillac that began
reaching for US luxury-car leadership in 1930s and clinched it for good in 1950s.
Several developments in 1940s laid the foundation for Cadillac's high 1950s success.
The superb engine make the early 1950s Cadillacs some of the best road cars of that
day (www.100megsfree4.com/cadillac//cad1950/cad50s.htm. May 7th 2009). Another
favorite car is Chevy. The 1950s saw more significant changes in the Chevrolet than
had occurred in any previous decade since 1920s and 1930s. 1950s was a banner year
for 1950 Chevrolet sales and all General Motors sales. There was very little foreign
competition, the economy was booming and every General Motors automobile
manufacturer had a new postwar car designs in their showrooms
(www.50classicchevy.com/history.html. May 7th 2009).
E. Theoretical Framework
background in the setting of The Godfather. To answer first problem formulation, which is to find out how the setting of The Godfather is described, I will use the theory of setting from Holman and Harmon which the actual geographical location,
scenery, and physical arrangements, daily manner, general environment of the
character, and the description of time in which the actions takes place in the novel
are the elements of the setting both time and place. The theory from Holman and
Harmon will help to find the description of the setting in the novel. Murphy's theory
also used to answer the first problem. Murphy categorized the kinds of setting of
place and setting of time. Murphy's theory will help to categorize the kind of the
setting in the novel. Harvey's theory will be used to answer the first problem
formulation also. Being similar like Holman and Harmon's theory about setting,
Harvey stated that the social environment shows a social condition of the people who
live in there, which is in this case the character who live in the place mentioned in the
novel. It will help to find both social environment and social conditions as the
elements of the setting. Ganette's theory will be used to answer the first problem
formulation which is helping to find the setting of time in the novel.
To answer the second problem formulation, l will use the descriptions of
the setting in the novel that has been answered in the first problem formulation. After
the setting elements have been analyzed, the next step is to find the relation with the
20
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
This thesis will analyze a novel entitled The Godfather. This novel is written by an Italian immigrant author Mario Puzo in 1969. The Godfather was Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group USA Inc. New
York in 1969. This novel contains 479 pages including 32 chapters. The novel used
for this analysis was published by the same publisher in 1969. Mario Puzo not only
wrote The Godfather but he also wrote some fictions like Dark Arena, Fortunate Pilgrims, Fools Die, The Fourth K, The Last Don, and Omerta.
The novel The Godfather is about the story of Sicilian Mafia family that represent by Corleone family. Don Vito Corleone is the leader of Corleone family that
became the strongest family in New York area. The conflict begins when Virgil
Solozzo offers Don Vito Corleone an offer to be his business partner in narcotics
business. In his offer, Solozzo will give Corleone family the percentage from the
business profit if Corleone family agrees to use their power on government to protect
the business. Don Vito Corleone thinks that it is too risky and refuses Solozzo’s offer.
Solozzo is very disappointed and tries to kill Don Vito Corleone. Fortunately Don
Vito Corleone still alive even he got five shoots in his body. This thing makes Sonny
Corleone, the eldest son, wants to make revenge with Solozzo and Tattaglia family
that involved, and it makes Solozzo offer some discussion with Corleone family.
Michael Corleone that in the first time did not want to involve in family business also
wants to make revenge. Finally Michael killed both Solozzo and the corrupt police
officer McCluskey when they were having a discussion. Tattaglia family gives a fight
back because the dead of Bruno Tattaglia and it caused the dead of Sonny Corleone.
At last Michael replaced the position of Don in Corleone family and moved the
family into Las Vegas.
B. Approach of the Study
To analyze the novel, Biographical approach will be used. This approach is
considered to be appropriate to apply in analyzing the representation of Mario Puzo’s
background in the setting of The Godfather. Wilfred L. Guerin defines Biographical approach in his book A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature as the approach that sees a literary work chiefly as a reflection of its author’s life and times
or the life and times of the characters in the work (1979: 51).
According to Michael Meyer Biographical Approach is an approach to
literature which suggests that knowledge of the author’s life experiences can aid in
the understanding of his or her work. While biographical information can sometimes
complicate one’s interpretation of a work and some formalist critics (such as the New
Critics) disparage the use of the author’s biography as a tool for textual interpretation,
learning about the life of the author can often enrich a reader’s appreciation for that
22
March 21st 2010). By using this approach, the representation of Mario Puzo’s life
background in the setting of the story can be analyzed.
C. Method of the Study
The method used in conducting the analysis was library research. It means
that the data that support the analysis were obtained mostly from some books and
references from library. The data from reliable sources in the Internet were also used
to add some refe rences. To make thorough analysis, there were some steps to take.
The first step was choosing literary work as the object of the study and
then read the novel thoroughly in order to get familiar and understand the story of the
literary work that had been chosen. After the process of reading, the next step was
choosingthe topic and formulating problem formulation.
The second step was finding theories and data that related to the topic and
problem formulation that had been chosen before. This step was very important to
provide adequate theories and data to support the analysis. It was also necessary to
classify the theories and data based on the problem formulation.
The next step was to arrange the data and the theories that had been
classified in a systematic way to make the application easier. After the arrangements
were ready then it was the time to apply the theories and the data in the analysis and
23
In this chapter the answer to the question in the problem formulation will
be found. The analysis will be divided into two parts. The first is the description of
the setting based on the literary work itself. The second part is the ana lysis of the
representation of Mario Puzo's life background in the setting of his novel The Godfather. In this part, the relationship between the setting in the literary work and the author's life background will be discussed.
A. Setting in The Godfather
The answer of the first problem formulation will be based on the setting in
the novel of The Godfather. I will focus on setting of place, setting of time, and the daily manner and general environment of the character as the elements to compose
the setting.
1. Setting of Place
Hugh Holman and William Harmon stated that setting has elements to
compose the setting itself. Such as the actual geographical location, scenery, and
physical arrangements (1986: 468). Some of the setting of places that will be
discussed are the descriptions of the major setting of place in the novel. Some places
24
a. Long Beach House
In The Godfather there are several major setting of places and one of the place is Long Beach House. The description of Long Beach house is in the beginning
of the story with the wedding of Don Corleone's daughter. The setting is on the
wedding of Constanzia Corleone, Don Vito Corleone's daughter, in his Long Beach
home. It can be seen that there was a wedding in Long Beach home from this
description:
Now on this great day, his daughter's wedding day, Don Vito Corleone stood in the doorway of his Long Beach home to greet his guests, all of them known, all of them trusted (1969: 8).
Long Beach is out of New York district and needs sometimes to reach Long Beach
from New York. Some of the guests of the wedding is from New York. It can be seen
from the statement below about the location of Long Beach:
And so on that Saturday morning the friends of Don Corleone streamed out of New York City to do him honor (1969: 7).
There are some description in the third setting of the novel. The wedding is being
celebrated in the outdoor and like a garden party. Everyone brings cream-colored
envelope and many of the people who helped to prepare and served the guests are
Don Vito Corleone's friends. The situation can be seen from this description:
wife and her friends and the gaily festooned one-acre garden itself had been decorated by the young girl-chums of the bride (1969: 7-8).
The garden is large and some of the foods are homemade and placed in the picnic
table. There are waiters that stand around the party to serve the guests and a bar with a
bartender who is ready to serve the guests. The garden is located behind the house
and there is a quartet band that playing the music.
But now in the garden behind the house, a four-piece band began to play. All the guests had arrived. Don Corleone put the intruders out of his mind and led his two sons to the wedding feast (1969: 12).
The guests are hundreds and some of them are dancing with the music from the
quartet band. The wedding is an Italian style wedding with the bride and the groom
sat in the vendor. Puzo described the arrangements and the situation in Long Beach
home like this:
There were, now, hundreds of guests in the huge garden, some dancing on the wooden platform bedecked with flowers, others sitting at long tables pilled high with spicy food and gallon jugs of black, homemade wine. The bride, Connie Corleone, sat in the splendor at a special raised table with her groom, the maid of honor, bridesmaid and ushers. It was a rustic setting in the old Italian style (1969: 12).
In this Long Beach house there is a kitchen where Don Corleone's wife and Sonny
Corleone's wife prepared the wedding cake for the bride with the other women who
helped them. It can be seen that there is a kitchen in Long Beach house from the
description below:
26
Another room is a corner room near the garden for Don Corleone's office. From the
window on that room people can see the wedding party in the garden. There is a
bookshelf on the wall that most of the book are law books and a huge desk where Don
Corleone sits behind the desks. Still on the room there is a cigar and beverages corner
to put some beverages like when Don Corleone offers a drink to Nazorine. There is
also a French door that can go directly out into the garden like what described in the
novel.
From behind the closed window of Don Corleone's “office”, a slightly raised corner room. Thomas Hagen watched the wedding party in the festooned garden. The walls behind him were stacked with law books (1969: 15).
The house is in the housing complex whe re there are several houses in the same area
that belonged to Don Vito Corleone. There are eight houses in Don Vito's housing
complex. All of the houses are occupied by his family members and also friends and
it is mentioned in the novel.
All Eight houses were owned by Don Corleone. At the mouth of the mall the two houses on either side were rented by family retainers with their own families and star boarders, single men who lived in the basement apartments (1969: 83)
Don Vito also gave three rent- free ho uses to his retired friends that make the housing
complex is kind of harmless- looking for his own house. The rest three houses are
formed like a half circle. Tom Hagen as the consigliere of Don Vito Corleone stayed in one of the house. The eldest son Sonny Corleone is also lived in one of the three
impregnable fortress. All of the house are equipped with the floodlights to make it
easily to know if someone lurks in and it is mentioned in the novel.
All eight houses were equipped with floodlights which bathed the grounds around them and made the mall impossible to lurk in. Sonny went across the street to his father's house and let himself inside with his own key (1969:83).
There is a kitchen in the first floor and the Don's office in the corner room. The
second floor is Don Vito Corleone's bedroom. In the Don's office there is a special
phone that listed in a fake identity like the description below:
He went into the huge corner room that was his father's office and took the special phone from a locked cabinet box. The phone had been especially installed and was listed under a phony name and a phony address (1969:83-84).
There is a small wall safe at the Don's office where he put the indexed book that he
wrote all of the name of the people that asked for help to him and as the payback they
should give a favor to Don Vito Corleone as a friendship. Puzo mentioned about the
small wall safe in the sentences below:
He went over to a small wall safe and unlocked it. From it he took an indexed book bound in blue leather. He opened it to the T's until he found the entry he was looking for. It read, “Ray Farrel $5,000 Christmas Eve.” This was followed by a telephone number (1969: 84).
It can be concluded from the description of the house that Don Corleone's Long
Beach house is a large house with a huge garden behind the house. There are several
rooms mentioned in the novel. The first room is kitchen where the wives prepare the
wedding cake, the second room is corner room which is also became the office of
28
Corleone sat behind and there is a book shelf where some of the books are the book of
law that belongs to Tom Hagen who is the consligiere of Don Corleone. It also can be seen that Long Beach house is also Don Vito's head office since Don Vito is doing
business matters in this house.
b. Long Island House
Long Island is where Don Vito Corleone lived until he died. The difference
between Long Beach house and Long Island is that Long Beach house became the
headquarter of Don Vito Corleone's business. Puzo gave the information about this
setting in the setting of Long Beach home.
The father of the bride, Don Vito Corleone, never forgot his old friends and neighbors though he himself now lived in a huge house on Long Island (1969: 7).
Don Vito Corleone came to his daughter's wedding party in Long Beach home where
he used to live in that house. Puzo did not explain much about the setting of the Long
Island home. In The Godfather, Don Vito Corleone wanted to buy the house in Long Island since he still lived in an apartment in Bronx. It can be seen from the sentences
below:
The family had long since moved to an apartment house in the Bronx. Don Corleone was considering buying a house on Long Island, but he wanted to fit this in with other plans he was formulating (1969:232).
Finally Don Vito Corleone bought a huge house in Long Island after bought the Long
c. Hell's Kitchen
The Third setting is Hell's Kitchen, New York. Hell's Kitchen was where
young Don Vito Corleone lived. Most of the neighborhood were Italian immigrants
such as Abbandandos that later on became his consigliere, Clemenza and Tessio that
later on became his caporegimes. It is mentioned that Young Vito Corleone work in
grocery store of Abbandandos.
Young Vito went to work in the Abbandandos grocery store on Ninth Avenue in New York's Hell's Kitchen (1969: 203).
Young Vito Corleone lived in a tenement on Tenth Avenue that located only a few
blocks from Abbandandos' grocery store after he got married with an Italian girl
freshly arrived from Sicily. Puzo gave the description where Young Vito Corleone
lived in Hell's Kitchen in the novel.
They settled down in a tenement on Tenth Avenue, near Thirty – Fifth street, only a few blocks from where Vito worked, and two years later were blessed with their first child, Santino, called by all his frie nds Sonny because of his devotion to his father (1969: 203 – 204).
The area where young Vito Corleone lived is much more like an immigrant
neighborhood that came from the middle and lower class. From one building to
another tenement building are separated by the open air shaft that can be seen from
window in the kitchen. This situation can be seen from the description below:
30
next building (1969: 205).
Clemenza's tenement apartment is across the open air shaft from Vito's apartment.
Vito's apartment consist of one bathroom, one bedroom, living room, and kitchen.
The apartment is not a big apartment. It can be seen from the comparison between
Vito's apartment and an apartment where Clemenza and Vito Corleone stole a fine rug
for Vito's living room. It can be seen in the sentences below:
Thirty minutes later they were cutting the rug to fit the living room of Vito Corleone's apartment. They had enough left over for the bedroom (1969: 207).
We can see that the rug that had been stolen from an apartment house with two marble
pillars (luxurious apartment) that fit for its living room is not fit for Vito Corleone's
living room and Vito Corleone still had enough left over for another room. It shows
that the size of Vito's living room is smaller than the luxurious apartment. Vito's
tenement is in the area of Italian neighborhood. It can be seen when Vito Corleone
joined Cle menza and Tessio to hijack trucks of silk dresses after the trucks were
loaded up at the factory on Thirty - First Street and sell it to an Italian wholesaler and
sell it door-to-door to Italian families that looking for a bargain, whose daughters
could ne ver be able to afford such fine apparel in the neighborhood (1969: 207). It
means that Vito lived in Italian neighborhood because many Italian familes lived in
the neigborhood. Vito's apartment is in the upstairs we can see that when Fanucci
came to Vito's apartment to get his money.
(1969: 214).
There is also a rooftop above Vito's apartment that can be reached by the stairs. Vito
could walk across the rooftop and he could go to the backyard through the fire escape.
Vito Corleone left his apartment and ran up the stairs to the roof. He traveled over the square block of roofs and descended down the steps of an empty loft building fire escape that left him in the backyard. He kicked the back door open and went through the front door. Across the street was Fanucci's tenement apartment house (1969: 214).
It can be seen that the tenement's building has a backyard, and there is another
apartment building across the street. It means that the area where Vito lived is the
center of living area where many tenements were built.
The village of tenements extended only as far west as Tenth Avenue. Eleventh Avenue was mostly warehouses and lofts rented by firms who shipped by New York central railroad and wanted across to the freight yards that honeycombed the area from Eleventh Avenue to the Hudson River (1969: 214-215).
Over all, Hell's Kitchen is an area in New York and the place where young Vito lived
in America. Vito Corleone lived in the middle- low class tenement. And most of the
people who rented the tenements are immigrants. Vito Corleone lived in Tenth
Avenue in a small apartment with one bedroom, a bathroom, a living room, and a
kitchen. In the Eleventh Avenue, most of the buildings are warehouses and lofts that
rented by firms.
d. Corleone, Sicily
The fourth setting of place is Corleone in Sicily. This setting of place
32
Captain McCluskey. Corleone is the town in Palermo Province in Sicily.
Dresses in old clothes and a billed cap, Michael had been transported from the ship docked at Palermo to the interior of the Sicilian island, to the very heart of a province controlled by the mafia, where the local capo Mafioso was greatly indebted to his father for some past service (1969: 345).
The name of Corleone had been taken by Don Vito when he emigrated to America.
Palermo has a bay where the ships are docked. The ship that brought Michael to
Sicily was also docked at Palermo.
Puzo described the beauty of Corleone in Sicily when Michael on his long
walks. Orange is the commodity of Sicily and that is why when Michael took a walk
he could see many orange orchards that make a shady cavern place through the
countryside.
On his long walks the most striking thing in Michael’s eyes was the magnificent beauty of the country; he walked through the orange orchards that formed shady deep caverns through the countryside with their ancient conduits splashing water out of the fanged mouths of great snake stones carved before Christ (1969: 349).
Corleone is used to be controlled by Roman empire in the past. We can see it from the
style of the ruined building tha t can be seen near the orchards when Michael took a
walk. Puzo described the ruined building with a Roman empire's style in the novel.
Houses built like ancient Roman villas, with huge marble portals and great vaulted rooms, falling into ruins or inhabited by stray sheep ( 1969: 349).
Corleone has fertile soil and it makes many trees grow green and it looks like an
emerald necklace when we can see the trees on the desert landscape.
emerald necklaces (1969: 349).
When Michael took a walk in the country roads he still can see donkeys pulling carts
that could not be seen in the United States. Michael had expected a barren land
because of the legendary poverty of Sicilians but the fact is that the island is rich and
beautiful.
They walked along dusty country roads passing donkeys pulling gaily painted carts. The land was filled with pink flowers, orange orchards, groves of Almond and Olive trees, all blooming. That had been one of surprises. Michael had expected a barren land because of the legendary poverty of Sicilians. And yet he had found it a land of gushing plenty, carpeted with flowers scented by lemon blossoms (1969: 353).
Michael Corleone in his walks saw the beautiful land where it filled with pink
flowers, orange orchards, almond and olive trees which are blooming. He also said
that Corleone is like The Garden of Eden. He wondered why people left the island
and emigrated to the United States.
Puzo set his story in many places, but Long Island, Long Beach, Hell's
Kitchen, and Corleone are the major setting of place in The Godfather. Those places can be categorized by using the theory from Murphy. According to Murphy in
Understanding Unseen there are three kinds of the setting of place based on the knowledge of the readers (1972: 141-147). In The Godfather, Puzo who is an American writer used the familiar place and unfamiliar place in his novel. According
to Murphy familiar place means the writer choose to set his story in which he
considers the place is familiar to most of his readers. Puzo as an American writer
34
Beach, and Hell's Kitchen that familiar for American readers. Puzo also decided to set
the unfamiliar setting of place in one of the chapter in his novel that related to the past
story of his character. Puzo chose Corleone in Sicily which is unfamiliar for his
American readers.
2. Daily Manner and Occupation
Kenney stated that one of the element of setting is daily manner and
occupation. It can be seen from what the characters do for a living and how it works
for their daily life (1966: 40). There is different era and place in the novel that
brought different daily manner and occupation in each era and place.
a. A Better Living and The Structural Crime Organization in the United States after World War II
After World War II the economy in the United States was developed into a
better condition. The immigrants in America succeeded to earn their own living, most
of them earn their own living from their own business, for example Amerigo
Bonasera who has an undertaker business, Nazorine who has a bakery shop , etc
(1969: 3 – 6). It can be seen that the United States gave a chance to immigrants to
fulfill their American dream. The soldiers who went to war came back to his
hometown and went on their live, for example like Michael Corloene. Showbiz
industry developed with the increase of film production and the demand of a pin- up
immigrants to have a role in their industry. For example is Johnny Fontane who
became an actor and a singer in Hollywood showbiz (1969: 4 – 5).
The underworld mafia also developed and became an organized crime
structure after the great war in 1933 that changed the whole structure of Mafia into
big five families (1969: 227). Mafia had a connection with the police officer, for the
example the connection between Solozzo and Captain McCluskey (1969: 147), judge,
media, and even more senator. They controlled oil business, gambling, prostitution,
and narcotics. They have a structure on a family. In Corleone's family the head of the
family is Don Vito Corleone and the consigliere or the counselor is Tom Hagen as the
receiver of the Don Vito's command. Don Vito Corleone himself never give an order
to the button men or the member of the mafia family itself. He always gives the order
through the consigliere. The captain of the mafia member in Corleone's family is
Tessio and Clemenza. Each of them has many button men or soldier and controlled
different area as the order of the head of the family (1969: 223).
b. Mafia's Control in Occupation after World War II and Marriage Tradition in Corleone
There are some examples in daily manner and occupation aspect in
Corleone. In Sicily especially Corleone, profession is not about quality, talent, or
achievement. Profession could be a gift. The example of this case is when Dr. Taza
36
jaw. Michel refused to be treated because he knew that Dr. Taza did not understand
about medic at all.
Dr. Taza was perhaps the worst worst physician in Sicily. Dr. Taza read everything but his medical literature, which he admitted he could not understand. He had passed his medical exams through the good offices of the most important Mafia chief in Sicily who had made a special trip to Palermo to confer with Taza's professor about what grades they should give him. And this too showed how the Mafia in Sicily was cancerous to the society it inhabited. Merit meant nothing. Talent meant nothing. Work meant nothing. The Mafia Godfather gave you your profession as a gift (1969:348).
This example can show that the power of Mafia affected the way of life of people in
Corleone. It shows that the daily manner of the character in Corlone is related to the
general environment of the setting. The effects of Mafia control in Corleone later will
be explained in the general environment of the setting.
Another example in occupation aspect is that the shepherds in Sicily could
act as the Mafia hired killers. They did this because they could earn money from this
side job (1969: 349). To protect Michael as a stranger in Corleone, Don Tommasino
hired two shepherds as Michael's bodyguards. The shepherds always carried their
lupara or Sicilian shotgun which was the Mafia's favorite weapon. A pagliaio thief is the another example of occupation aspect. People who wanted to have an extra money
became a pagliaio thief or a thief who stole the farming tools that were put in a straw-thatched hut built in the fields by the farmers (1969:351-352). Since Corleone
is a fertile land and many orchards are grown in Corleone, most of the people in
The control of the mafia in Corleone gave an effect to the society. At the
first time Mafia became the secret organization that fight against the rulers who had
crushed the country and the citizen for centuries. People prefer to ask for help to
Mafia rather than the police officer. Because of that they obeyed the rule of Omerta
which is the rule of silent. Even in daily life they obeyed this rule.
And the Mafia cemented its power by originating the law of silence, the
Omerta. In the countryside of Sicily a stranger asking directions to the nearest town will not even receive the courtesy of an answer...Omerta
became the religion of the people. A woman whose husband has been murdered would not tell the police the name of her husband's murderer, not even of her child's murderer. Her daughter's raper (1969: 347).
People thought they could not get justice from government's authority so they always
turned to a local Mafia for help in every emergency.
In marriage there are some customs in Corleone. Some men in Sicily got a
thunderbolt before they get married. Thunderbolt means the feeling of crush in a
woman that never felt before at a glance and it feels like want to possess the woman
(1969: 354). It was nothing like the love that Michael Corleone had for his girlfriend
in America, a love based on objective consideration like sweetness, intelligence, or
life background. The way grown up men and women have a date in Corleone is
different from men and women in America. A man should talk to the woman's father
to ask permission for approaching the daughter before they have a date. In Corleone
when a man gives a golden jewelery to a woman it means that the man has a serious
intentions on the woman.
38
only because of its obvious value but because a gift of gold in this society was also a statement of the most serious intentions (1969: 363).
There is also a rule that women and men can not have a physical contact until they
get married. For example is when Michael and Apollonia try to find a chance to have
a physical contact when they took a walk even it is not allowed.
They could not see the mother behind them smiling because her daughter was a mountain goat and had not stumbled on this path since she was an infant in diapers. And smiling because this was the only way this young man was going to get his hands on her daughter until the marriage (1969: 364).
From the details above about the daily manner and occupation in Corleone can be
seen that the major occupation in Corleone is as a farmer because Corleone is an
agricultural town in Sicily. It can be seen from the physical description in the setting
of place. Corleone is also a town that is controlled by Mafia and it gave some effects
in occupation aspect and the daily manner of the characters. Another daily manner of
the people in Corleone is that they still keep their tradition.
c. Middle Class Life in Hell's Kitchen
As one of the elements of the setting, daily manner and occupation in the
novel also important to help to identify the setting (1966: 40). According to Harvey,
social environment in the novel basically refers to the society that is taken mostly in
the novel. The social environment shows a social condition of the people who live in
there (1965: 56). Puzo not only described the social environment through the setting
character in Hell's Kitchen. There are some kind of occupations that can be found in
Hell's Kitchen New York in 1919 – 1939. Hell's Kitchen is the immigrants area where
many tenement building and shops are built. Some of the people in Hell's Kitchen run
a shop for example like Abbandando that run a grocery store. Some of the people
worked as a railway track man that most of them are Irish and American people
(1969: 205). When the war ended the work become slow and the workers only get a
few days' pay a mont h. Most of the people in Eleventh Avenue of Hell's Kitchen New
York worked as bachelor trainmen, yard workers, and the cheapest prostitutes (1969:
215).
In the neighborhood there is also an offshoot of the mafia which extorted
money from families and storekeepers like Abbandando. The mafia threat them with
a physical violence. There are also criminal fellows in the neighborhood who illegally
sold Italian lottery and ran gambling games in their homes (1969: 204). Don Vito
Corleone himself used to be a truck driver for Abbandando's grocery store before he
lost his job and worked as a railway track man. At that time skilled automobile
drivers were at a premium and that is why Clemenza and Tessio invited Don Vito
Corleone as a driver to hijacked a truck of silk dresses to be sold in Italian immigrants
neighborhood (1969: 207).
The daily manner of people in Tenth Avenue and Eleventh Avenue are
really different. People in Tenth Avenue, especially the women, like to gather with the
