Analysis of the Social Conflict in Mario Puzo's The Godfather.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Tugas Akhir ini dibuat dalam rangka memenuhi persyaratan untuk meraih

gelar sarjana. Secara khusus, Tugas Akhir ini mendiskusikan konflik sosial dalam

novel The Godfather yang dikarang oleh Mario Puzo.Penulis menganalisis

konflik-konflik sosial di dalam novel yang berhubungan dengan pengaruh

kekuasaan dalam kehidupan manusia. Penulis lalu menganalisis konflik-konflik

tersebut untuk menemukan penyebab dan resolusi dari setiap konflik. Hasil dari

seluruh analisis terhadap konflik-konflik tersebut membawa penulis pada

kesimpulan bahwa konflik-konflik sosial yang terjadi diantara karakter-karakter

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The power-related conflict happens when two people or more struggle to

get more power and most of them will do anything to achieve the power they

want. According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary, power means “possession

of control, authority, or influence over others” (“power”). The conflicts that occur

because of power still happen nowadays. It is one of the biggest issues that may

lead into conflicts between human beings. Thirst of power manipulates human

behaviour towards others. Some people can control their hunger for power, but

others cannot manage to control it.

Power-related conflicts often become good sources in a crime novel. One

of the most famous crime novelists, Mario Puzo, also uses power-related conflicts

in his best-selling novel The Godfather. Mario Puzo (1920-1999) was known for

his underworld mafia and crime novels. He published his first novel Dark Arena

in 1955 and his second novel The Fortunate Pilgrim in 1965. Neither of his first

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readers for both of them. In 1969 he published The Godfather, which soon

became the best-selling novel in America and he made a lot of fortune from this

novel. “As of 1997, there were 21 million copies sold worldwide” (Malta). In

1972, Francis Ford Coppola, an American movie director, made the movie

adaptation of this novel and the movie won three Academy Awards and Puzo

himself won the Oscar for the Best Adapted Screenplay. Marlon Brando, the actor

who acts as Vito Corleone in the movie, won two awards which are the best actor

in a leading role on 45th_{Academy Awards and the best motion picture actor on}

30th Golden Globe Awards.

R. Z. Sheppard, a critic, describes Mario Puzo as follows: "The Godfather

of Mafia fiction, Mario Puzo has built an empire of best-selling fictional tales

from the world of organized crime” (“Mario Puzo Biography”). In his best-selling

novel The Godfather, Don Vito Corleone’s quote “I’ll make him an offer he can’t

refuse” (Puzo 40) has become very famous in American popular culture.

According to Lawrence Perrine’s book, conflict is “a clash of actions,

ideas, desires, or wills. The main character may be pitted against some

other person or group of persons (man against man); he may be in conflict

with some external force (man against nature) or he maybe in conflict with

some element in his own nature (man against himself). The conflict may

be physical, mental, emotional, or moral. (Perrine 44-45)

The story of The Godfather portrays the life of the Italian organized crime

families in America. The story takes place in New York City after World War II

when the Italian-American mafia families are flourishing in America. They are

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are very well-organized in their illegal business such as narcotics, prostitution and

gambling. They are known for their vow of silence called “omerta” which means

the member of the mafia family will not talk about their mafia family or their

involvement in mafia no matter what happens to them. “La Cosa Nostra is the

foremost organized criminal threat to American society. Literally translated into

English, it means “this thing of ours.” It is a nationwide alliance of criminals

linked by blood ties or through conspiracy dedicated to pursuing crime and

protecting its members.” (“La Cosa Nostra”). This novel also includes the story

about five-families of New York City which is based on real mafia families. The

five-families of New York City, namely Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese,

and Luchesse, are the biggest mafia families operating in New York City.

The Godfather contains a lot of conflicts, and most of them are related to

the greed for power. The major characters are in conflict against each other

because their greed for power. In this thesis I will analyse six social conflicts that

happens between the major characters in this novel which are related to the main

issue about power.

Statement of the Problem

The problems I am going to discuss are:

1. What social conflicts are experienced by the characters in the novel?

2. What are the causes of the social conflicts?

3. What are the resolutions to the social conflicts?

Purpose of the Study

The purposes of the study are:

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2. To analyse the causes of the social conflicts

3. To analyse the resolutions to the social conflicts

Method of Research

I used library research in writing my thesis. First, I read Mario Puzo’s The

Godfather as my primary text. Second, I found the most important elements to be

analysed, which were the conflicts in the novel. Third, I look for other sources

both printed and from the internet to support the analysis. After that, I analysed

the social conflicts, then I drew some conclusions from my analysis. Finally, I

wrote the thesis.

Organization of the Thesis

This thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction,

which consists of the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem,

Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis.

Chapter Two contains the analysis of the social conflicts in Mario Puzo’s The

Godfather. Chapter Three is the Conclusion; then followed by the Bibliography

and the Appendices, which contain the summary of the novel and the biography

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After analysing the social conflicts of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, I

found some issues in relation to power. In this chapter, I would like to draw some

conclusions.

There are six social conflicts in the story. The first conflict is between

young Vito Corleone and Don Fanucci, this conflict happens because Don

Fanucci starts to extort money from Vito. Fanucci is a powerful mafia boss in

Vito’s area who is known for his greed and violence. Vito does not want to give

him money because Vito does not owe him anything. Vito decides to murder

Fanucci to resolve the conflict. The second conflict is between Vito Corleone and

Michael Corleone. The conflict happens when Vito wants Michael to be the next

leader of the Corleone Family when he retires. However, Michael refuses to get

involved in the mafia business; he wants to live his own life without being a

mafia. The conflict is resolved because Michael finally decides to become the

next leader. The third social conflict is between Vito Corleone and Virgil

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narcotics business in New York City. Vito does not agree to help Sollozzo

because Vito might lose his friends in politics and law enforcement if they know

Vito has a narcotics business. Sollozzo tries to murder Vito but he fails and then

Michael kills Sollozzo to resolve the conflict.

The fourth social conflict is between Vito Corleone and the Five families

of New York City. This conflict happens when Vito decides to bring Michael

back to New York City. Vito needs to makes an arrangement with the Five

families so they will stop the war and Michael can go home safely. This conflict is

solved because Vito makes an arrangement with the Five families. Vito agrees to

support the Five families’ narcotics business while the Five Families agree to stop

hunting Michael. The fifth social conflict is between Michael Corleone and his

two caporegimes, Salvatore Tessio and Pete Clemenza. This conflict happens

when Vito retires and Michael becomes the new leader of the Corleone family.

Tessio and Clemenza do not agree with Michael’s strategy in dealing with the

current problem in the family. Tessio and Clemenza want more manpower but

Michael does not give them permission to recruit more manpower. This conflict is

resolved after Michael and his two generals reach an agreement. The generals will

stay under Michael’s command for one year and then they can form their own

families and have their own gambling business. The sixth social conflict is

between Michael Corleone, Don Barzini, and Don Tattaglia. Corleone family is in

danger because the Barzini and Tattaglia families are trying hard to destroy them.

As the new leader of the Corleone family, Michael decides to resolve the conflict

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After analysing the novel, there are some interesting facts, firstly, all the

social conflicts which exist between the characters in the novel are related with

power. The social conflicts happen because the characters are trying to abuse their

power, regain more power or preserve their power.

Secondly, I notice that the resolutions of the social conflicts in the story

are mostly through murders. Resolution through an agreement rarely happens. The

organized crime families tend to resolve their conflicts by eliminating their

enemies. Italian mafia in America is known for its violence. The members are

responsible for many crimes including murders.

In conclusion, through the conflicts Mario Puzo wants to show that

hunger for power leads to deadly conflicts. The author also shows the reader about

how violent the underworld Mafia families in New York City are. The author

might be inspired by the real situation in America at that time. The organized

crime families in the novel, known as The Five Families of New York City,

actually exist in the real world. Mario Puzo changes the family names in this

novel.

Having reached a conclusion, I am sure that the author has succeeded to

show how violent the Mafia world is through the social conflicts. I think all the

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must have the ability to control our desire for power because if we do not have

control over our hunger for power, we cannot achieve peace in our mind and in

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text:

Puzo, Mario. The Godfather. New York: Penguin, 1969. Print.

References:

“La Cosa Nostra”. Italian Organized Crime. FBI.gov, n.d. Web. 16 July, 2015

Malta, J. Geoff. “Puzo”. Jgeoff.com, 2001. Web. 9 July, 2015

“Mario Puzo Biography.” Great Authors of World Literature, Critical Edition.

eNotes.com, 1998. Web. 10 March, 2015

Perrine, Lawrence. Story and Stucture. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovonovice.

1974. Print.