the godfather essay

The Godfather: Michael Vs. Sonny
At a first glance Michael and Sonny appear to be quite
different. Upon
further observation, however, they have some similarities.
Although they are
different in areas of personality, values, and their tempers,
they are similar
in areas of loyalty, their respect for their father, and their
strong family
ties.
Their personalities are quite different. Sonny is brash
and arrogant,
where Michael is calm and cool. When Don Corleone was in the
hospital and Sonny
is in charge, the family got kind of careless. He doesn't seem
to care what
could happen due to his actions. He wants to kill the police
captain and
doesn't think about the repercussions. Tom has to tell him that
it wouldn't be
good to kill a cop, but they end up doing it anyway. I think
Michael was pushed
into it because of his loyalty to the family. He is more
calculating in manner.
Near the end when he “takes care of all the family business” on
the day of the
Baptism is a prime example of this. Because he was this way, the
objects of his
violence had no idea that it was coming.
Their values are another way that they differ. Michael
is a man of

honor. He doesn't run around having affairs with different
women. He only
marries twice because his first wife was killed in the explosion.
Sonny is an
adulterer. He is with another women during his sisters wedding,
along with a
few other times throughout the movie.
Their tempers were not nearly the same. Sonny had a bad
temper, while
Michael did not. Sonny's temper ended up getting him killed. He
flew off the
handle when he found out that his sister had been beaten and ran
out of the
house without anyone with him. During those times he should have
known better,
but all he had on his mind was vengeance. Michael on the other
hand is fairly
calm about things. He knows that Carlos was involved in Sonny's
death, but he
lets it go until it is time to deal with it.
They are similar in loyalty. They do what they need to
do for their
friends and family. When others help them out, they do the same.
Although
Sonny felt that the move towards narcotics was a good idea, he
didn't go in that
direction when he was in charge.
They both had great respect for their father. When he
wanted something
done they jumped. When He was shot, Michael rushed home to see

if he could help.
He eventually got involved in the family business because of
this. Sonny
wanted the people who had been involved in the shooting to pay at
all costs.
Finally they both had strong family ties (towards the
Corleone family).
When a member of the family needed something they gave it to
them. Sonny was
outraged to learn that his sister was the victim of spousal
abuse, and wanted to
get her husband for it. They did everything they could to make
sure that every
member of the family was safe at all times. Michael even gave up
a whole year
of his life to avenge his father's shooting. He had to go to
Italy to “hide out”
afterwards.
In conclusion, Sonny and Michael were two completely
different people,
with different traits. They had different ways of doing things,
but in all of
that they remained so much the same. I think that has to do with
the way their
Father brought them up, because I feel that he was the role model
that they were
molded after.