The Godfather

Once again, Puzo relates some of the most important elements of the story to a character who is not directly involved in the action: Kay. This makes sense given that Kay has been a constant throughout the story, and she is the character who most reflects the outsider position of the reader. She is also to provide a concise retelling of events that also reveals something about her character.

Michael marries Kay to have a more “American” family, which he tells her openly. He wants her to influence their children and raise them outside the Sicilian culture or the Corleone business. Yet by the end of the story, readers realize that Kay has been drawn closer to the Corleone business and Sicilian culture. She develops a very strong relationship with Carmella, who has lived the life that she is now undertaking and who has wisdom and insight to offer as to how to navigate this complicated existence. Just as Michael has slowly become the Don, Kay has simultaneously been transforming into the Don’s wife—a transformation that is clearly complete by the end of the book.

By ending the book with Kay and showing the methods she uses to cope with the pressures of her life, Puzo makes clear that, although the book delves deeply into the actual business of a Mafia family, the relationships and the power dynamics of the characters are the true focus of his novel. The book has gone far beyond a typical pulp gangster novel to delve into the characteristics of a successful Don, and how that type of power works both within institutions and between family members.