GODFATHER : The Masculine Journey : PART 1

A kid named Vito who was only 9 years old when his father died just because his father didn’t paid his tribute to the mafia boss of the Sicilian village of Corleone , this assassination couldn’t be accepted by his older brother Paolo , who then decided to take an revenge of his father death.

It was the funeral day of Vito’s father Antonio Andolini , there were few some of the people who attended the funeral, Vito was with her mother Signora , but Paolo was missing , and then they heard the gun shots , everyone started running , some were hiding , and there is this lady who screams “ Paolo is dead , they shot Paolo” , this was unbearable for Signora , she ran towards the body and hold it tight and she decided at that very moment to ask for forgiveness from Don Ciccio ,the Sicilian village mafia.

SIGNORA arrives at the gate of Don Ciccio , she asked for forgiveness to the Don , for the sin done by her husband and revenge attempted by her older son Paolo and she give’s her word to Don that Vito can never do what his older brother did or in other words begged for Vito ‘s life ,which was refused by the Don , claiming he might not be stronger now but later when he will grow old he will come to avenge his father death just like his older brother Paolo did. Signora couldn’t accept more funerals not of Vito for sure , she took the courage and put the knife on Don’s throat and screamed “ Run Vito , run!” , Vito ran few steps and stopped, when he looked around his mother was shot dead in front his eyes , Don ordered to kill the boy , Vito took his mother’s word as her last wish and he ran to survive.

It had been 50 years since the movie was released and till date it’s impact is still there in the mind of the people. Apart from the marvelous direction and outstanding performance by all the actors, the movie hold some points which has a major impact on the masculinity of the male audience. When we see character like Vito Corleone which we will discuss in this article , on how his childhood trauma turns the silent boy into an intelligent and most respected Italian mafia, who has his own principals.

The thing which makes Vito Corleone the subject of the article is his thriving masculinity , his ability of earning respect and holding people’ s trust and being clever at the same time , he even knows how to treat the enemy better than the person knows how to treat a friend.

We all remember the scene from the Godfather 1 , when Don Vito Corleone request to arrange the meeting of all the heads of mafia families just after his eldest son Santino ‘Sonny’ Corleone was killed by Don Tattaglia one of those head of the family , to take revenge of his son. We will see how Don Corleone handles the situation.

There were all the head of the families including the one who killed Vito’s eldest son Don Tattaglia sharing the chair opposite of him. Vito states ,

The words of Vito is quit not acceptable by some ordinary person , he is not looking for revenge but for peace , in other words he said “no more deaths” although he is aware of the reason behind the death of his eldest son.

His words was respected by all the families except Don Tattaglia , who argues that he has all the judges and politicians in his pocket which he will never share with us , to which Vito replies ,

Here we can witness the intelligence of Don Vito Corleone , where he had predicted the end of mafia families , and not only he is refusing to help but at the same time proving his loyalty to the the committee. Although people neglected the theory of Don Vito Corleone , contradicting it with their own theories , with all the pressure of the heads of the family , sadly he has to agree , but the discussion is not yet end , Don Tattaglia argues with the idea that Vito being the top notch in the drug business will help him be more powerful and he might attack us back , to which Vito answer :

In the above statement given by Don Vito clearly shows his warning to all the families that if they even tried to touch his younger son and they will pay the price but also at the same time he gave his word of peace which made him earn Don Tattaglia respect. We can clearly witness in all his conversation there is this approach to make peace which is very rare in the mafia world and also his honesty which makes him earns the respect and trust from the enemy. But he also figured out who was the traitor , who was the one who was behind the assassination of his son.

Vito was always said to be a silent boy who doesn’t speak a lot , but always listen , you can watch any of the scene of the Godfather and you can see how carefully he listen , which is the source of all of his intelligence. But apart from all these traits , what is the reason for his immense personality ?

The trauma which made the silent boy into a man. His first priority will always be family because he lost everyone only when he was 9. But also at the same time he had learned from that trauma ,the lessons which has always helped him.

Never hurry , wait for your time (only if Vito’s brother had this much intelligence he would had not been dead )

Listen , be attentive and use your words carefully.

Have something , people must rely on you , not you on them.

learn to earn people’s trust , it doesn’t matter if it’s your enemy or friend (do it in your own way)

Never hesitate to help , but also never hesitate to ask for help if needed.

(Last but not least ) make an offer which which can’t be refused.

Vito is the definition of the masculine man ( a man who others can rely on ) he had been the perfect husband , perfect father , perfect Don , never let his business and his cold wars interfere in his family, always protected his family and earned respect ,even from the enemies.

It was the sunny day , Don Ciccio was lying on his chair , he is much older now , and very weak also , he might be thinking about all the misery which he had created in his life , now when it’s time to face god ,what will he tell him , that he spoiled the gift given by him or will he blame the devil forthe deeds he had done, and then suddenly a man came to him wearing an Italian suit trying to wakes him up , “Don Ciccio , it’s Tommasino” , said Tommasino, Don opened his eyes but because of his age he couldn’t recognize the man , Tommasino said “ Allow me the honour to introduce someone, my partner in America , in New York , his name is Vito Corleone , we will send him our olive oil to his company in America. Don Ciccio we would like your blessing and your permission to start work.” to which Don replied “where is this young man from New York?” , Vito was standing in front of him but Don couldn’t see him because of his old vision he ask him to come closer , Vito asks for the blessings and Don asked “ what’s your name?”, “Vito Corleone” ,answered Vito , the Don laughed and said “you took the name of this town! …. and what’s your father’s name” , Vito took the pause “ His name was …. Antonio Andolini” answered Vito , Don who was suffering from the old age requested “ louder , i don’t hear good son” , Vito came closer to the ears of Don and said “ My father was Antonio Andolini …. ( Vito stabbed the knife in Don stomach )and this is for you.”

— by HARSH VARDHAN SINGH