Michael Corleone is currently The Head of Family, but how did he get there? Michael has followed the hero's journey very accurately, from start to finish. He started out by being an outsider. He was late to his sister's wedding, and stuck out like a sore thumb. He told Kay Adams that he was very different than his family, and that killing people was the family's business, not his own.
In a way, Michael had two supernatural aids in his journey. Kay, who was leading him to the clean and good side, while his father, and his two brothers, lead him to the family business.
Michael was not persuaded into the family business until his father gets shot, and that is when Michael crosses the first threshold. For the first time, he makes a few decisions with Tessio and Sonny to decide how to protect The Don.
As the story continues, Fredo moves to Nevada, Sonny dies, and so does The Don, which leaves Michael to be The Don. It was quite interesting though that Vito Corleone told Michael that he wished for Michael to have never been in the family business, and wished he could call his son "Senator Corleone" or "Governor Corleone".
Michael finishes his hero's journey by mastering the art of balancing good and evil. He controls his love life, becoming the Godfather of Connie's child, and avenging Sonny, while killing the other four head of family people to settle business.
Even though Michael finishes his journey, it is questionable whether he grew as a person, and whether losing his ethics counts as finishing his journey as a hero. He can be seen as a violent, vengeful character in the end, so it will be interesting to see what Mr.McGuigan thinks about this.
Well... I guess a hero of the Mafia world would almost have to be immoral. The film does a great job of making you want to Michael to succeed, but when he does you realize that you have been following the progress of a killer. I think that Kay Adams is being equated with the everyman: a fascinated audience who can only half-understand this world, who can only get a glimpse of the mafia world that operates behind closed doors.
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