Throughout The Godfather Mario Puzo creates a few different tones. The most apparent tone being a violent tone. His use of diction aids to the tone of the novel. Puzo describes many beatings and fights that are very gruesome and violent.
When Johnny Fontane’s wife returns home after cheating on her husband he begins to beat her. Johnny “punched her in the stomach and she fell to the floor…he punched her on the arms and on the thigh…a painful punishment that would leave no lasting disfigurement” (13). Fontane beats his wife due his jealousy, which was triggered by his alcohol abuse. He becomes very angry when he is drunk and takes his anger out by physically hurting his wife, whom he “hates”/
Throughout the novel Puzo writes using colloquial language. Most of his words are not too academic and to a point where most lay people can understand the story.
Later in the novel Vito Corleone shoots and kills Don Fanucci. Puzo writes that “Fanucci fell to his knees, propping the door open. He let out a terrible groan, the groan of a man in great physical distress…[then] Fanucci slumped into death, jamming the door open with his body” (206). Corleone kills Fanucci to help gain control of his neighborhood. This demonstrates the violent tone through the use of words such as “physical distress” and “painful punishment”.
Violence is shown all through The Godfather Puzo uses violent and disturbing imagery and words to procreate a violent tone.
This entry and diction analysis is very similar to mine in that I described a violent tone employed throughout the novel. The constant gruesome imagery employed when the Corleone family are on a "job" serve the purpose of voicing a brutal tone. I like the examples you reveal in explaining the violence such as when Vito Corleone murders Vito Fanucci. The constant brutality shown throughout the novel thoroughly conveys the actions of the unconventional family.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that Puzo uses a lot of violent diction to characterize his story. Because his actions scenes are so intensely gory, his diction creates a violent tone that reflects the ferocity of the society he is writing about. You definitely zeroed in on his multiple uses of such in different situations to show the expanse of violence in the lives of his characters, like your example with Johnny Fontane and his wife.
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