The Corleone family is part of the Italian Mafioso residing in New York and Don Corleone is the strongest of all the other Italian groups. They are involved in certain illegal activities, what they call the “family business,” of which Michael has no part in since he has spent most of his adult life away studying at Dartmouth College and then into the United States army as a Marine who has fought in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War. He is a brave fighter and is awarded the Silver Star before being discharged from the army in 1945 as a Captain so that he is able to recover from his wounds.
After the war, Michael comes back to Dartmouth and marries Kay Adams. A few months later, an assassination attempt is made on Don Viro Corleone and this enrages Michael. This is where his transformation as a person and as a man begins. Michael comes to his brothers and offers to murder his father’s would-be assassin Virgil “The Turk” Solozzo, and the police captain, Captain McCluskey, who ordered the Don’s guards off their posts. Michael believes that the police captain did that on purpose, as he was also in on the plot to kill his father.
This is another instance where we see a change in Michael Corleone with his aggressive and untraditional methods. The Mafia has a strict rule that calls for the protection of the police members, as they do not allow the members of the Mafia to harm the members of the police. However, Michael is able to convince his elder brother, Sonny, that McCluskey is acting as Solozzo’s bodyguard, which means that he is protecting their enemy, and gets permission to proceed to murder the two men.
The Essay on Evolution Of Michael Corleone From The Godfather
... of Don Michael Corleone The evolution of Michael Corleone stands out in the motion picture, The Godfather. In the beginning of the film, Michael openly ... in the story. The city s police captain directly involved himself in the attempt on Michael s father and this murder held ... submission and respect. His sitting position would remind an audience member of one with power and grace, one who held ...
After the murders, Michael cannot stay in New York, so he flees to Sicily and lives there in exile for the next two years. He marries a young girl Apollina, but she is killed in a car bomb that was intended for him. His brother, Sonny is also killed in New York, and this is when he returns to take over the family business. This is where he encounters the skepticism of many of the family members, as they doubt his ability to lead the family. However, Michael is headstrong and he marries Kay, promising her that he will make the business completely legitimate within the next five years.
Michael’s personality is depicted as a very brutal one where he uses clear-cut logic while making his decisions. He is ruthless as far as his enemies are concerned and does not even spare his own brother-in-law, who he finds to have plotted with other Mafia chiefs for Sonny’s murder. Once he realizes that the other chiefs had arranged for his murder, he goes berserk and decides to kill as many as five other heads of the families. This establishes his power over the other families and puts the Corleone family back to the top.
After these attacks, he gains the respect of his own family as well elicits fear from others, thereby establishing himself as the new Don, Don Corleone. Michael has a great ability to read people and he is very good with analyzing situations and preparing his own role within the outside influences. He is very sharp in his abilities and this is one of his positive aspects that allow him to succeed all the way to the top and take his family there along with him.
