Class Discussion

During the past few classes, we have mainly been focusing on the different types of motifs that are present in the movie The Godfather and the literary features that they act through.  We talked about the Judeo-Christian motifs that keep showing up within the film.  A reference that we talked about in length is about how Vito Corleone survived the shooting.  According to the film, he was shot five times and survived.  Apparently, when Jesus was crucified, he had five wounds, one on his head, one on each arm, one at the ankles, and a fifth wound under his ribs.  The fifth wound came from a spear point that the people used to check if Jesus was dead or not.  I think that this concept is interesting because Francis Ford Coppola seems to be implicating Judeo-Christian references quite frequently throughout the film.  I am still considering the fact that all of the Judeo-Christian references could be just coincidences, but as more references start to show up, I am starting to believe that the references were done on purpose.

Another idea that the class discussed was the motif of fish.  You first see fish appear in the movie when Luca Brasi was walking in to meet the Tattaglia family.  The last time you see fish is when Clemenza brings in Luca Brasi’s bullet proof vest with a fish.  “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes”.  When you look back and think to when you say the fishes on the window, it is foreshadowing the fact that Luca Brasi is going to die.  This example is a perfect because there is a motif (fish) and literary features that act through it (foreshadowing).  The reason behind the phrase “sleeps with the fishes” is because in Sicilian tradition, when you want to hide a body, you weight their feet and throw them into the sea.  It signifies that they sleep at the bottom of the ocean with the fishes.