Monday, December 6, 2010

Bonasera's Service

After Sunny is killed, the Don goes to Bonasera to collect the favor that he owes him for getting justice against the men who beat his daughter. Corleone asks the undertaker to "use all his powers, and all of his skills" in preparing his son for the funeral, so his mother would not have to see him in the state in which he was "massacred". In class we discussed the differences between this request and Bonasera's request at the begging of the movie, and how they contrast each other in both their figurative size and nature. Bonasera's request, as we saw in the opening scene of the movie, was to get justice against the men who brutally beat his teenage daughter and were allowed to walk free by the police; Most of the points that came up when we were discussing this in class related to how Bonasera was asking for revenge, in the death and suffering of the men that hurt his daughter, and The Godfather in a sense wanted his son to look peaceful in death, after his brutal murder.

Both mens' requests come as reciprocations of violent acts, but the two are contrasted in each of their natures: the Godfather, a notoriously cold hearted criminal, crying bitterly as he asks the undertaker to make his son look at peace in his casket; and Bonasera, the hardworking undertaker trying to provide for his family and get justice for his daughters suffering by taking out a hit on the men who beat her and asking for them to suffer horribly for their actions. The use of contrast in these situations are illuminated by how the characters act when they ask for their favor from the other, which is uncommon from their usual nature, Bonasera vehemently demanding the men's punishment to be violent and severe, and then Don Corleone, weeping for his son in front of the undertaker.

*Interesting Fact: The undertaker Bonasera's name means "good night" in Italian

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