The Godfather

The narrative now turns to the history of Vito Corleone, formerly Vito Andolini. When Vito is 12 years old, his father is murdered after killing the local Mafia chief in Corleone, Sicily. Afterwards, the same men come looking for Vito, thinking that he might be old enough to want to avenge his father’s death. Vito is smuggled to America to escape the men, and when he arrives he changes his last name to Corleone as a tribute to his hometown. He lives with the Abbandando family in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City and works at the family grocery store. When Vito is 18, he marries a Sicilian girl Carmella, and two years later their first child, Santino, or Sonny, is born.

A man In the neighborhood, Fanucci, collects protection money from local businesses, bookmakers, and illegal operations. During World War I, Fanucci becomes part owner of the Abbandando’s grocery store. He brings his nephew into the store to work, and Vito Corleone is fired. By this time, Vito and Carmella have two children, Sonny and Fredo. Vito has a difficult time finding a job and blames Fanucci.

One night, a neighbor, Peter Clemenza, hands a package across the airshaft to Vito and asks him to hold it until he can pick it up. The package contains five guns, and Vito finds out that, soon after the exchange, Clemenza was picked up by the police. When Clemenza comes to pick up his package, he asks if Vito opened it, and he says no. Vito and Clemenza become friends, and one day Clemenza takes Vito to pick up a new rug for Carmella—a rug that Vito realizes that they are stealing when a policeman knocks at the door. Clemenza is prepared to shoot the policeman, who leaves without incident, and they take the rug to Vito’s house.

After a few days, Clemenza comes to him with another man, Tessio, and invites him to take part in a robbery that they have planned. Vito accepts, and the robbery goes off without any problems. However, the following day, Fanucci tells Vito that they owe him money—his percentage of their robbery. Vito is surprised when Clemenza and Tessio are willing to pay Fanucci. He tells them that he will meet Fanucci and get him to accept less money. Fanucci comes to Corleone’s house, and Vito gives him some of the money, promising to give him the rest later. Fanucci leaves satisfied.

Once Fanucci is gone, Vito climbs across the roofs of the tenements and arrives at his apartment building. He shoots Fanucci and makes his escape, disposing of the gun. He expects to be questioned by the police, but they are glad that Fanucci is dead and do not pursue the matter. A few days later, Clemenza and Tessio point out that, since Fanucci’s death, no one is collecting from his area. They suggest that the three of them step into the opening, but Vito says no. Everyone in the neighborhood knows he killed Fanucci, but he never takes over the business of making people pay him for protection. One night, Carmella brings home a woman who is being evicted and asks for his help. He agrees to speak to her landlord in the morning.

The following day, when the landlord refuses to let the woman stay, Vito gives him six months’ rent in advance for her apartment. When he seems likely to refuse the offer, Vito says to consider it a favor and think things over that night. The landlord asks around the neighborhood about Vito, then goes to his apartment that night to accept his offer and ask forgiveness for disrespectful behavior. They shake hands and part, but the landlord is so shaken by the encounter that he is not seen in the area for several days.

This event continues to build Vito Corleone’s reputation as a “man of respect” (278). Neighborhood business owners stop at his apartment and give him money as a show of respect. When someone asks for help with a problem, he steps in. Soon, he is offering protection to businesses in the neighborhood, cutting Tessio and Clemenza in on the money. He then decides to go into the olive oil business with Genco Abbandando, his childhood friend whose family owned the grocery store. When normal business methods do not work, Vito Corleone resorts to different means to force his competitors out of business. He sends Tessio to burn down warehouses, dump competitors’ olive oil, and even kill a man who went to the police.

Vito’s final leap from businessperson to criminal happens during Prohibition, when he is approached by smugglers bringing alcohol from Canada, asking to use his trucks and drivers. He diverts more of his business to support the smuggling operation. In addition, he protects Italian families who set up speakeasies in their homes. He also begins developing contacts in the police department and legal system and soon has a list of officials he pays. Corleone is free and generous with his favors, so that he will be owed favors in return. Finally, the business becomes so large that he names Clemenza and Tessio as caporegimes and Genco Abbandando as his consigliere. He develops a business model that keeps him far away from the action and sends Tessio to oversee Brooklyn, while Clemenza is in the Bronx.

With the onset of the Great Depression, Vito Corleone begins to be known as Don Corleone. While everyone is suffering the effects of the Depression, he and his employees are thriving. He is known for being charitable and for taking good care of his people. He advises many individuals and gains some political power from being able to influence their votes. He also pays for college educations for Italian young men who will gain positions of power, such as lawyers and politicians. After Prohibition ends, Don Corleone looks to go into business with Marazano, the man who runs the gambling in Manhattan, but the man refuses his offer, and so a war in the criminal underworld begins in 1933.

Marazano seems to have all the power—he has the men and the powerful contacts, as well as the support of the Tattaglia family, whereas Don Corleone has only Clemenza and Tessio’s soldiers. When Marazano asks Al Capone to send men from Chicago to help him, Luca Brasi meets the men and kills them in a graphically violent scene. Don Corleone then sends a message to Capone that he should not be interfering in business between two Sicilians, an implied threat that Capone responds to by saying that he will not interfere again. With this action, Vito Corleone has levelled the playing field between himself and Marazano, while increasing his reputation nationwide by humiliating Capone. He continues pressuring Marazano, using Clemenza’s army to wreak havoc in his business concerns. Finally, Corleone sends Tessio to assassinate Marazano, and the war is over. Marazano’s business is folded into the Corleone operation, which now has interest in gambling operations and unions.

In the meantime, he and Carmella have had three more children: Fredo, Michael and Connie. Tom Hagen is living with them. Sonny is now 16 and attempts a robbery with two other boys. He confesses that, when he was younger, he saw Corleone kill Fanucci. Vito realizes that Sonny must be part of the business, and he and Abbandando, his consigliere, begin training the young man to someday be a Don. For two years, Sonny is trained by Clemenza and his father and seems to be getting along fairly well in the business.

Don Corleone realizes that it would be in the best interests of all the criminal elements in New York to come to a peaceful agreement. He decides to reduce the number of factions, getting rid of all the lesser organizations. One of these organizations succeeds in shooting him. While he is recovering, Sonny takes over and does well in the war against the other factions, showing a talent for that kind of work. Luca Brasi also becomes known during that time for his ruthlessness and devotion to the Corleone family. Two years later, by 1937, the peace Don Corleone sought has been achieved.

Looking ahead, Vito Corleone sees the onset of the next world war and takes advantage of the resulting business boom. His influence expands to everything from ration cards to helping people avoid the draft. Everything is going well for the Don when his son, Michael, surprises him by volunteering to fight in the war. The Don decides to move his family out of the city and buys the property in Long Beach with four houses on it. Upon moving in, some men attempt to dupe them with a home improvement con, and Don Corleone sends Sonny to deal with them. He is considering making Sonny an underboss, but his response to the situation is too crude and violent. However, it is effective. The Corleones extend their protection to their new community, and in under a year, Long Beach is nearly crime free. Life continues this way, profitably and uneventfully, until Sollozzo appears, and the Don gets shot and ends up in the hospital.