The Corleone Family: A Mafia Story
The Corleone Family Saga
It is the late 1940s in New York, and Corleone is, in the parlance of organized crime, a “Godfather” or “Don,” the head of a Mafia family. Michael, a free thinker who defied his father by enlisting in the Marines to fight in World War II, has returned a captain and a war hero. Having long ago rejected the family business, Michael shows up at the wedding of his sister, Connie, with his non-Italian girlfriend, Kay, who learns for the first time about the family “business.”
A few months later, at Christmas time, the Don barely survives being shot by gunmen in the employ of a drug-trafficking rival whose request for aid from the Corleones’ political connections was rejected. After saving his father from a second assassination attempt, Michael persuades his hotheaded eldest brother, Sonny, and family advisors Tom Hagen and Sal Tessio that he should be the one to exact revenge on the men responsible.
After murdering a corrupt police captain and the drug trafficker, Michael hides out in Sicily while a gang war erupts at home. Falling in love with a local girl, Michael marries her, but she is later slain by Corleone enemies in an attempt on Michael’s life. Sonny is also butchered, having been betrayed by Connie’s husband.
As Michael returns home and convinces Kay to marry him, his father recovers and makes peace with his rivals, realizing that another powerful Don was pulling the strings behind the narcotics endeavor that began the gang warfare. Once Michael has been groomed as the new Don, he leads the family to a new era of prosperity, then launches a campaign of murderous revenge against those who once tried to wipe out the Corleones, consolidating his family’s power and completing his own moral downfall.
Summary of Key Events
The story is set in 1940s New York. Corleone, the ‘Godfather’, is the head of the Mafia family. Michael, the Godfather’s son, was a soldier in World War II and returns home as a captain and a hero. He was never involved in the family business. He shows up at the wedding of his sister, Connie, with his non-Italian girlfriend, Kay.
At Christmas, Corleone is shot by a gunman but survives. The shooting was motivated by his refusal to aid a rival. Michael saves his father’s life during a second assassination attempt. Michael convinces his brother, Sonny, and family friends, Tom Hagen and Sal Tessio, that he should be the one to take revenge. He kills the corrupt police captain and the drug trafficker.
Michael flees to Sicily, while a war between the gangs starts in New York. Michael falls in love with a local girl and marries her, but she is killed in an attempt on his life. His brother Sonny is also killed, betrayed by his sister’s husband. Michael returns to New York and marries Kay. His father makes peace with his rivals. Michael becomes the new Godfather and brings prosperity to the family. He then initiates a campaign of revenge against those who opposed the family, ultimately descending into moral corruption.