The Godfather Themes
Family
The Corleones are both a family and a "family"—one of New York's five mafia families. They're pretty tight-knit: "Don't ever take sides with anyone against the family again," says Michael when hi...
Criminality
Criminality is a super-obvious theme for The Godfather. The whole thing is about a criminal enterprise and the problems that arise from running it. The Corleones aren't anarchistic criminals—they...
Lies and Deceit
"There's no honor among thieves" is a well-known proverb. But, in The Godfather's world, there's at least a little honor among thieves. Don Corleone's attitude toward drugs is a fair example (even...
Revenge
"Revenge is a dish best served cold": Michael doesn't always follow that cliché, but at the end he does. When he shoots McCluskey and Sollozzo, he's not really serving it cold. But when he slaught...
Society and Class
The Godfather's Corleone family is in a weird position in America. Technically, they're rich and they enjoy lots of political influence. But they're also perceived as interlopers, as a threatening...
Tradition and Customs
The Godfather's version of the Mafia is an old-school, European, semi-feudal organization. The Corleones are in America, the New World, but they're relying on Old World methods: They don't use Amer...