60 pages • 2 hours read
Mario PuzoThe Godfather
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1968A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Socio-Historical Context: The Cultural Impact of The Godfather
The Godfather has had a profound impact on fiction, film, and culture since its publication in 1969. It was on the New York Times bestseller list for 67 weeks, and sold over nine million copies in two years. The publication of The Godfather in kicked off an American fascination with the Mafia and organized crime that continues to this day. Some consider The Godfather to be the next evolution of the Western-like the outlaws featured in pulp fiction and film. The Mafia operated outside the law but by their own code. Others see The Godfather as the natural evolution of the noir detective genre.
When The Godfather was adapted into a movie, the public’s fascination with the Mafia grew. The movie, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, immediately captured the public’s imagination. The film was fantastically successful, winning numerous awards, critical acclaim, and public adulation. The impact of The Godfather on today’s cinema, and on popular fiction more generally, cannot be understated. Certain phrases that appeared in the book and later in the movie have become a part of the American lexicon; for example, “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” (43). Along with the book, the movie set the scene for a romanticization of and fascination with the Mafia and organized crime that paved the way for books, films, and television shows like GoodFellas, The Sopranos, and Casino.
Historical Context: Turning Fact into Fiction
Although The Godfather was not based in personal experience, Mario Puzo used many real-life historical characters, organizations, and events in the book, thinly fictionalizing them. Perhaps the most famous example of this strategy by Puzo is the character of Johnny Fontane. Puzo claims that the singer’s character is an amalgamation of several actual singers including Al Martino, the real-life singer who played Johnny in the film. But many agree that the character is based mostly on Frank Sinatra, who was the godson of Willie Moretti, a member of the Genovese crime family. It is believed that Sinatra benefitted from his Mafia connections in getting a part in a movie, mirroring the situation in The Godfather when Johnny asks Don Corleone for his help in getting a movie role.
In addition, the Five Families represented in The Godfather as the major Mafia families of New York actually exist. In reality, Salvatore Marazano, the head of the Marazano family, negotiated a peace between the various families in 1931 and created the umbrella organization known as the Five Families. He organized what had been operating mostly as gangs in New York into five organized entities. Each of these families had a designated territory, and perhaps most importantly they all reported to an appointed board known as The Commission. This same organizing structure was followed nationwide and is closely emulated by Puzo in The Godfather. This is illustrated when Don Corleone calls for a peace meeting, which gathers Mafia bosses from New York and across the United States. This use of real-life characters and situations throughout The Godfather gives the book its much-lauded authenticity.
