"The Gun, the Pen, and the Cannoli: Orality and Writing in The Godfather, Part 1

The Godfather is an infamous movie, known for its one-liner's, violence, and the Corleone family. David Sutton, from Southern Illinois University, and Peter Wogan, from Wilmetter University wrote an article entitled "The Gun, the Pen, and the Cannoli: Orality and Writing in The Godfather, Part 1 which analyzes The Godfather using many different approaches, including nationalism, formalism, and ideologically. I will focus on the nationalism perspective, and how the Corleone family operates differently from the U.S. government.
The authors mention how many people have discussed how The Godfather deals with capitalism. These authors agree, and will examine capitalism using " 'orality,' which stands for the gift economy, and 'writing,' which stands for capitalism and its legal arm." They use three scenes to defend their claim. The first scene is the wedding scene, which is the beginning of the movie.
The opening sentence examining the wedding scene states, "In the opening wedding scene, the symbolism of writing and food establishes a stark contrast between American and Sicilian society." The American society is exemplified through the writing aspect, where as Sicilian society is represented through orality. One example used is the way the FBI agents are writing down license plate numbers on notepads, and use their FBI identification cards as authority. Another major example the authors mention from the wedding scene of the movie is when Michael Corleone tells his girlfriend the story about the Don making a bandleader "an offer he can't refuse." It is explained how a written contract is used to trap the Don's singing star godson, but a gun held to his head by Luca Brasi over rules the contract. This is a direct contrast between writing and orality. To clarify, the authors state, "Moreover, his style of power is different. Whereas the state's power is abstract (based on laws), mediated (communicated through writing, not through face to face interaction), and supposedly inflexible (tied to the letter of the law), the Don's power is physical (the gun tot he head), personal (the Godfather-godson relationship), and flexible (allows for changes in circumstances)."
Other example from the wedding scene are seen in the Godfather's office, and how he "forms bonds with his supporters." His two guests, the undertaker, and the baker are compared as one follows American society and the other Sicilian society. Bonasera is explained to represent American society because when he asks a favor of the Don, he doesn't approach him as a friend, and offers money for the Godfather's service, where as the baker represents Sicilian society because he approaches the Godfather as as a friend, and offers a favor and friendship to the Don in return for a favor from him. The baker says "and wait till you see the beautiful wedding cake I made for your daughter," which is a friend to friend favor rather than a service, according to Wogan and Sutton. Don Corleone appreciates the baker's friendly gesture and treats him kindly, but scolds the undertaker saying "You don't ask with respect. You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me Godfather. Instead, you come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married and you, uh, ask me to do murder, for money." The authors relate the orality is related to cake, and friendship between the Don and the baker, whereas the writing is aspect that the money acts a contract between the Don and the undertaker. The undertaker is also said to be related to American society because his first line, and the first line of the movie for that matter is "I believe in America."
I agree with the claims these authors are making and see the relationships relating the American and Sicilian society. However, think the terms orality and writing are misleading, and don't classify all of the examples the authors are mentioning. Two more scenes are examined by the author which are Michael's Murder scene and the Moe Green Casino scene. Each gives similar examples to defend the contrasting claims about American and Sicilian society.