I believe that The Godfather is following the steps set out by Joseph Campbell’s: A Hero’s Journey. At the start of the movie, Michael is shown useless to the family. He comes late to his sister wedding, he sticks out from the rest of the crowd and he says “That’s my family Kay, not me” As the story moves along his personality changes. When he sees his father in the hospital it touches him and after that he becomes involved in the family business. He gets called a hero a lot throughout the movie (even gets called a war hero). Following Joseph Campbell’s: A Hero’s Journey, Michael is at stage 2: Initiation, he is becoming more involved in his family matters.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Archetypes:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I do agree that Michael, is a dynamic character that evolves and changes through the story, however I do agree with the statement that "Michael is shown useless to the family"(Khangura) Because although he is not involved within the family business he still in-fact a part of the family, and in my opinion Don Corleone would agree that they are still affiliated with one another through family blood, even though he is not part of the family.
ReplyDeleteI think that Michael is the only dynamic character in the movie. Most of the characters do not change anything about themselves. For example, Santino was first shown to be very aggressive and he remained that way until his death. Michael was at Stage 2: Initiation, when he went to the hospital and took immediate action to protect his father. Before this, however, another feature from "A Hero's Journey" took place. This is the "Father - Son Conflict". It is clear, at the beginning of the movie, that Michael is very distant from his father because of Don Corleone's business.
ReplyDelete