s. In the film, there is a growing battle between the Corleone family and another crime family over territory and over the nature of the business to be conducted. The other crime family wants to go into the drug trade, and Don Corleone is opposed to this particular type of criminal enterprise as one that is not safe and that would endanger his other businesses. His son, Sonny, the son who most helps control the family businesses, makes the mistake of expressing some interest in the drug trade, and the other crime family tries to kill Don Corleone, thinking Sonny will be more conducive to their ideas once he takes over. The youngest son, Michael, has been attending college and is not part of the family business, but he insists on taking part now and kills some of the men who have tried to kill his father. In retaliation, the other family murders Sonny, leaving Michael in charge. Though most in the family have believed him ill-prepared to take over the family business, he proves more than able to do so and becomes the new godfather, or leader, of the crime family.
This family saga hints at some of the history of the family, a history which is explored in a later film, and Don Corleone is presented as the immigrant who came to America and made his fortune through strength and ruthlessness, creating this business for his sons. Family is a vital aspect of his thinking and of the type of business he enters, and it is significant that the criminal organization is itself called a family, involves members of the Don's real family, and itself has a family structure, with the term "godfather" itself evoking images of family, generational issues, and even the religion that binds the family together. The main characters are members of the Corleone family, both actual members and adopted members like the consigliere, or counselor, Tom Hagan, who was raised with the Corleone brothers as if he were a member of the family. (Critics of the f...