Michael Corleone -- The Hero's Journey

We have watched Coppola put Michael through his paces as he moves through the stages of the Hero's Journey. This post will be a brief summary of the events that identify each stage thus far.

The Call to Adventure

The Call to Adventure is the stage in which the protagonist is first notified of the beginning of the journey. As the stage that follows involves a refusal to take action upon this journey, we can only assume that Michael Corleone was born into this stage. He was born a Corleone, which was a call to adventure in itself -- an open invitation to get involved in a life of organized crime.

Refusal of the Call

As the name suggests, this stage involves the protagonist refusing to take action. In Michael's case, his reluctance was due to the fact that he believed his family business was dishonest, and chose to take a different path in the American army. He wanted no part in the Mafia.

Supernatural Aid

When Michael suggests that he be the one to shoot McCluskey and Sollozzo, and commits to the quest, he is guided through the process by Clemenza, who provides him with a gun with a special tape on the trigger that prevents fingerprints. This gun takes the role of the special weapon, an Clemenza the role of the mentor.

The Crossing of the First Threshold

This is the stage of the Hero's Journey in which the hero leaves behind their 'safety zone' and begins the most dangerous part of their journey, with unfamiliar rules and limits. As soon as Michael gets into the car with McCluskey and Sollozzo to have their meeting, he enters this stage. Even at the hospital, when McCluskey ordered his cops to arrest Michael, an officer refused because Michael was "a war hero" (Coppola).

The Belly of the Whale

The Belly of the Whale is the final stage the hero spends with links to his previous life. Once he passes this stage, there is no turning back. This stage was represented by the scene in which Michael shoots McCluskey and Sollozzo in the restaurant. Coppola uses motifs such as a train whistle to show that there is no turning back for Michael. (See "One Way Rails").

The Road of Trials

The Road of Trials is the first stage in the Initiation process. This could be both when Michael shoots Sollozzo and McCluskey as well as the trials he faces in hiding in Sicily -- the trials that allow him to begin a new life with true Sicilian roots. He finds the town his father came from -- Corleone -- works on speaking fluent Italian, and discovers the traditional Sicilian ways.

The Meeting with the Goddess

The Meeting with the Goddess is the stage in which one experiences an unconditional love. When Michael arrived in Corleone, he met a woman that "struck [him] like a thunderbolt" (Coppola). Later, we discover this woman's name is Apollonia -- a name that holds an uncanny resemblance to that of the Greek god Apollo. Could Apollonia be Michael's Goddess?

Woman as the Temptress

In this stage of the Hero's Journey, Campbell claims there are temptations that draw the hero away from his original quest. Apollonia, who we can assume is Michael's Goddess, is said to be so beautiful "she would tempt the devil himself" (Coppola). By incorporating this dialogue into the scene, Coppola must have intended for the viewer to realize Apollonia was the temptress; however, Campbell's Hero's Journey tells us the hero is to be led astray by this temptress. Does that mean that Michael's intentions may have been changed by Apollonia?

In the last scene we watched in class, Apollonia was killed. Could her death have led Michael Corleone astray? In The Godfather, we hear multiple times that Mafia activities are "not personal, [they're] just business" (Coppola). Could Apollonia's death lead Michael's revenge to be more personal than business? Could his vengeful attitude cause his ultimate downfall, or will he prevail?