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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Godfather, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Crime and Justice
Power
Masculinity and Patriarchy
Family
Loyalty and Betrayal
Summary
Analysis
The undertaker Amerigo Bonasera is dining with his wife at home. It is evening, and he tells her he will be going back to work. As “a strict chaperone of death,” Bonasera not only embalms the dead, but also offers a consoling presence to the families who patronize his funeral parlor. His daughter now lives in Boston. Surgery has restored her face, but she lives with the psychological damage from her attack over a year ago by the punks that Don Corleone’s men punished. As Bonasera finishes his coffee, he answers a phone call from Tom Hagen.
Bonasera’s solemn presence as a “chaperone of death” foreshadows an impending tragedy. Puzo emphasizes that Bonasera does not merely prepare the dead for burial, but also comforts those who have lost loved ones. With this information at hand, the reader knows that the call from Tom Hagen will not bring comforting news. In calling the “chaperone of death,” Hagen must provide the chaperone with someone to watch over.
Themes
Hagen tells Bonasera, “you owe the Don a service,” and instructs him to meet the Godfather at his funeral parlor in one hour. At the funeral home, Bonasera waits for Don Corleone “with a feeling of the utmost despair.” He is well aware of the ongoing Mafia war and fears that he may be targeted by Don Corleone’s enemies. Suddenly, he hears several cars approaching outside. Several men emerge from the cars and carry a body on a stretcher into the funeral home. Don Corleone follows them in. “Well, old friend, are you ready to do me this service?” he asks Bonasera.
Bonasera has known for over a year that in receiving the Don’s justice, he must repay the Don in some form. Yet, the prospect of providing Don Corleone with a funeral fills the undertaker with “despair” because he knows the Corleone Family are criminals. Thus, aiding the Family will make Bonasera an accomplice to their crimes and even potentially make him a target for the Corleones’ enemies. This is the price for seeking out mob justice: doing so turns law-abiding citizens into default criminals.
Themes
In the embalming room, Don Corleone’s men remove the blanket covering the body on the stretcher, revealing the “bullet-smashed face of Sonny Corleone.” The Don implores Bonasera to restore Sonny’s mangled visage so he can have an open-casket funeral.
It seems that the other Families have finally dealt a significant blow to the Corleones: Sonny has been violently, brutally murdered.
Themes
