The Godfather

 “The Godfather” By Mario Puzo
 
338
The Barzinis and Tattaglias were delighted with the Don’s retirement. Michael, 
formidable as he might prove to be, could never hope to equal the Don in cunning and 
influence for at least another decade. The Corleone Family was definitely in a decline. 
It had, of course, suffered serious misfortunes. Freddie had proved to be nothing more 
than an innkeeper and ladies’ man, the idiom for ladies’ man untranslatable but 
connotating a greedy infant always at its mother’s nipple– in short, unmanly. Sonny’s 
death too, had been a disaster. Sonny had been a man to be feared, not to be taken 
lightly. Of course he had made a mistake in sending his younger brother, Michael, to kill 
the Turk and the police captain. Though necessary in a tactical sense, as a long-term 
strategy it proved to be a serious error. It had forced the Don, eventually, to rise from his 
sickbed. It had deprived Michael of two years of valuable experience and training under 
his father’s tutelage. And of course an Irish as a Consigliere had been the only 
foolishness the Don had ever perpetrated. No Irishman could hope to equal a Sicilian for 
cunning. So went the opinion of all the Families and they were naturally more respectful 
to the Barzini-Tattaglia alliance than to the Corleones. Their opinion of Michael was that 
he was not equal to Sonny in force though more intelligent certainly, but not as 
intelligent as his father. A mediocre successor and a man not to be feared too greatly. 
Also, though the Don was generally admired for his statesmanship in making the peace, 
the fact that he had not avenged Sonny’s murder lost the Family a great deal of respect. 
It was recognized that such statesmanship sprang out of weakness. 
All this was known to the men sitting in the room and perhaps even believed by a few. 
Carlo Rizzi liked Michael but did not fear him as he had feared Sonny. Clemenza, too, 
though he gave Michael credit for a bravura performance with the Turk and the police 
captain, could not help thinking Michael too soft to be a Don. Clemenza had hoped to be 
glven permission to form his own Family, to have his own empire split away from the 
Corleone. But the Don had indicated that this was not to be and Clemenza respected 
the Don too much to disobey. Unless of course the whole situation became intolerable. 
Tessio had a better opinion of Michael. He sensed something else in the young man: a 
force cleverly kept hidden, a man jealously guarding his true strength from public gaze, 
following the Don’s precept that a friend should always underestimate your virtues and 
an enemy overestimate your faults. 
The Don himself and Tom Hagen were of course under no illusions about Michael. The 
Don would never have retired if he had not had absolute faith in his son’s ability to 

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