Analysis of The Theme Through The Portrayal of The Protagonist in Mario Puzo's 'The Godfather'.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Dalam kesempatan kali ini, penulis akan melakukan analisa tema melalui penokohan sang tokoh utama sebuah novel mahakarya Mario Puzo yang berjudul The Godfather. Tokoh utama novel ini bernama Vito Corleone. Novel ini menitikberatkan pada kehidupan sang tokoh utama, perjalanan hidupnya, dan bagaimana ia akhirnya dapat memperoleh kekuatan untuk menjadi seorang pemimpin. Melalui analisis terhadap karakteristik sang tokoh utama, tema yang penulis peroleh ialah: “Seseorang perlu untuk menjadi pintar, berani, dan dapat diandalkan guna memperoleh kekuatan untuk menjadi seorang pemimpin.”

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APPENDICES

SYNOPSIS OF THE GODFATHER

The Godfather deals with the rise of Vito Corleone and his mafia clan, the Corleone. Vito Corleone is a Sicilian immigrant who fled to the United States at the very young age. He runs away from mafia who try to kill him. In his new country he becomes the leader of the Corleone, the most powerful mafia clan in the United States.

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As the time goes by, he becomes so powerful. Therefore, his power is generally known. It makes him be more recognized in the world of mafia. When the Prohibition and Great Depression era strike the United States and wipe out a lot of mafia clans, he uses his power to secure his people and lead them to prosperity. Soon enough he becomes the prosperous, respected, and powerful leader, Don Vito Corleone, the Godfather.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR

Mario Gianluigi Puzo was an Italian-American author and screenwriter who introduced and acquired fame for his mastery in the crime fiction. He was born on 15 October 1920 in a poor family of Italian immigrants living in Manhattan, New York City. Puzo married Lina Broske and the couple had five children; Anthony Puzo, Joseph Puzo, Dorothy Antoinette Puzo, Virginia Erika Puzo and Eugene Puzo. Young Mario initially wanted to be an army officer; he graduated from the City College of new York and joined the United States Army Air Forces during the World War II.

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the book as "big, turbulent, highly entertaining" (Newsweek) and "a voyeur's dream, a skilful fantasy of violent personal power" (New York Times).

Winning readers by the millions, it stayed at or near the top of the New York Times bestseller lists for sixty-nine weeks. Some of his notable works are: The Fortunate Pilgrim (1965), Fools Die (1978), The Sicilian (1984), The Last Don (1996), and The Family (2002). Mario Puzo died on 2 July 1999 in Bay Shore, in New York.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

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because the state appear to offer no protection for the poor and weak. (“The Mafia”).

People who come from Sicily believe that mafia is their “way of being”, as illustrated in the definition by the Sicilian ethnographer, Giuseppe Pitrè: “Mafia is the consciousness of one’s own worth, the exaggerated concept of individual force as the sole arbiter of every conflict, of every clash of interests or ideas” (“The Mafia”). The Sicilian themselves think that mafia is their way of being and not as criminals but American people consider that they are criminals. This is a general stereotype for people who are coming to the United States from Sicily at that time. It is not surprising when Mario Puzo published his novel entitled The Godfather, which contains the life of Sicilian mafia in the United States, people were curious about his work.

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In the United States he faces some undesirable situations, firstly because he is Italian and immigrant. Secondly, the Great Depression strikes the United States. The Great Depression is a “severe economic crisis supposedly precipitated by the U.S. stock-market crash of 1929” (“Great Depression”).

Since the novel itself deals with Sicilian mafia which has been a controversial issue for years, personally, I become curious about the theme of the novel. Therefore, I will try to analyze it. According to Perrine, theme of the novel is “The controlling idea or the central insight of the story” (Perrine 102).

Without any doubt, The Godfather is Mario Puzo’s masterpiece which is considered a brilliant work. According to David Kelly, an instructor of creative writing and composition at Oakton Community College in Illinois, the main reason why The Godfather can be considered a brilliant work is because Puzo has successfully made an amazing character. This character is considered his greatest creation, as seen on the following quotation: “The greatest creation of Mario Puzo's writing career is, without question, the character of Don Vito Corleone” (“The Godfather-Criticism”).

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ways in which an author can express theme; one of them is through the main characters, “The main character usually illustrates the most important theme of the story” (“Literary Elements”). According to Perrine, protagonist is “The central character in the conflict…” (Perrine 44) or “The main character in a drama, novel, or story, around whom the action centers” (“Protagonist”).

Finally, in order to analyze the protagonist as to formulate the theme of the novel, I would like to portray its characteristics using the characterization technique which based on the technique in M.J Murphy’s Understanding Unseens. According to him, there are at least 9 ways that the readers can use to portray a character, which are: personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thought and mannerism.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In order to analyze the novel, I state the problems as follow: 1. What is the theme of the novel?

2. How does the portrayal of the protagonist help to reveal the theme?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The study is carried to show:

1. The theme of the novel.

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The method that I use is formalism. I will analyze the theme of the novel primarily through the portrayal of the protagonist, Vito Corleone. The type of research I used is library research. First of all, I read my primary text, The Godfather. Afterwards I gather the data from the novel and analyze the text by referring to the literary theories. I also gather some other resources from the internet and books that are able to support my analysis. Finally, I use them which assist me in drawing the conclusion.

ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After completing the analysis of the protagonist, I would like to draw a

conclusion. I can formulate that the theme of the novel is: “One needs to be smart,

brave, and reliable in order to gain power to be a leader.” It is clearly seen through

the in-depth analysis of the portrayal of the protagonist.

Through the analysis of Vito Corleone’s characteristics, it is clearly seen

that his characteristics contributes to his having power for being leader. As a

smart person, he can foresee something ahead. His smartness makes him able to

evaluate something and makes a perfect decision. His smartness also contributes

in his success of expanding his business in which he gets a lot financially. His

bravery gives him the ability to make a perfect decision without being afraid of

the consequences ahead. It also gives him strength to overcome any problems.

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gives his best to his people. He helps them all and shows that he has the ability to

help them. He proves that they can rely on him. It makes them depend on him.

Vito Corleone’s success in getting power enables him to be a leader by

proclaiming the title Don, more importantly as the Godfather. His power also

makes him able to overcome the obstacles. It also helps him to lead his people to

prosperity. Therefore, I believe that Vito Corleone’s characteristics contribute in

his success of getting power for being leader.

Through the in-depth reading of the novel, I should also say that Puzo

successfully portrays his protagonist. He effectively uses four characterization

techniques, which are speech, conversation of others, reactions, and direct

comment. Dominantly, Puzo uses the direct comment technique. I think it is the

best and clearest way to describe a character’s characteristics because in this

technique, it is the author himself that directly gives comment to a character.

Besides, in my opinion, the information from the author himself is the most

credible one for he is the one who knows everything in the novel. It can also be

easier for his readers to get understanding about the particular character.

Furthermore, I also conclude that there are some moral lessons that the

readers can get after reading the novel in which I believe also helps Vito Corleone

to be a leader. First of all, it is about loyalty. Vito Corleone, the protagonist,

shows that he is loyal to his people. He helps them when they have troubles. He

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them. Instead, he keeps helping them. He shows that through the good and bad

things in life, he is still with them, like what he does to Bonasera. Bonasera is

Vito Corleone’s old friend. He somewhat leaves the Corleone clan as it is

considered a betrayal but Vito Corleone never leaves him. When Bonasera comes

to ask for Vito Corleone’s help, he shows his loyalty and help Bonasera. With his

being loyal, his people trust him more; therefore, he earns more respect. The more

respects he has, the more power he has. I think through his action, it shows that as

a human being, we need to be loyal to each other although perhaps we are

betrayed by people around us.

Secondly, I think as human being we need to maximize our potential.

Nowadays, people seem to feel dissatisfied with what they have. They would

prefer to keep complaining for their life rather than give thanks of themselves and

see their life as a failure. It is very different from Vito Corleone. He is portrayed

as a man who is very potential in that he is, by nature, a smart, brave and reliable

person. Therefore, he sees his life positively and maximizes his potential. In the

end, he shows that by maximizing his potential, he can get what he wants.

Thirdly, the moral lesson that I get from reading the novel is that as a man

specifically as a father, one need to take full responsibility of his family. Vito

Corleone shows in the novel about how hard he tries to get power for being

leader. The purpose is not only to get what he wants but also to show his

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family. Vito Corleone proves that although his status is as the head of a mafia

family, he still cares about his family. He gives them everything that he can give

and secure them from all danger. His being responsible to his family is also a

proof to his people that they can count their lives on him. It makes him become

more powerful to be a leader.

The last moral lesson that I get is about perseverance. Although some

problems occur, the protagonist commits to face it and keep moving forward

without looking back. In the end, he succeeds. With his perseverance, he succeeds

in gaining power; therefore, he becomes a leader. He proves that with

perseverance, one can achieve his dream.

Above all, in my opinion, the theme through the protagonist in The

Godfather is suitable to represent the power for leadership. The novel clearly

describes the effort of the protagonist to get power for being a leader. The

theme is also a moral message for the readers about the importance being

smart, brave, and reliable. Those three are the most important foundations of

power for leadership. With one being smart, brave, and reliable he can get

money, respect, and make people depend on him. It becomes his power to be

leader. Moreover, through the analysis of the characteristics of the protagonist,

the readers are also taught to be loyal, to be responsible, to love each other, to

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text:

Puzo, Mario. The Godfather. New York: Penguin Group, 1978.

References

Barzini, Luigi. The Italians. New York: Antheneum. 1964.

“Famous People.” Thefamouspeople.com. Oct 31 2009.

<http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/mario-puzo-67.php>

“Great Depression.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 31 Oct 2009.

<http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/GreatDepression.aspx>

Kelly, David. “The Godfather Criticism.” Answers.com. 2009. 24 Apr. 2009. <http://www.answers.com/topic/the-godfather-criticism>

“Literary Elements.” Orangeusd.k12.ca.us. Oct 31 2009.

<http://www.orangeusd.k12.ca.us/yorba/literary_elements.htm>

Murphy, M.J. Understanding Unseens. 1972. London: Georger Allen & Unwin Ltd.

Perrine, Laurance. Story and Structure. Fourth Edition, 1974. New York: Harcout Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

“Prohibition era.” A dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 31 Oct 2009.

<http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-Prohibitionera.html>

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“The Godfather (Critical Overview).” Answers.com. 31 Oct 2009. <http://www.answers.com/topic/the-godfather-critical-overview>