No matter how many times I watch GF1, I can never understand why Connie is afraid to ask Michael to be Godfather to her son, and has Kay ask for her. Any insights, anyone?

KAY
Oh, Michael -- Michael, your sister wants to ask you something...

MICHAEL
Well let her ask...

KAY
No -- she's afraid to. Connie and Carlo want you to be Godfather to their little boy.

MICHAEL
Oh, well we'll see...

good question, but maybe she thought he would say no, also she was afraid of his no, as him accpeting the honor would mean he wouldn't kill Carlo.

She was afraid to ask because of what happened to Sonny. Sonny left the house in a rage because of Carlo beating Connie. The family blamed Carlo for Sonny's death. I'm sure Connie and Carlo felt a coldness from everyone around them. Of course, we find out later the whole beating of Connie was staged in order to lure Sonny to his death.
______

"Tattaglia was a pimp he never could have out fought Santino" Don Vito to Tom Hagen

I'm not sure that Connie would know the family or Michael blamed Carlo for Sonny's death. That's not something the men would share with the women or that even Carlo would say to Connie. However, Connie would be aware that her brothers and mother knew Carlo beat her and just for this fact Connie would be afraid that Michael would say no.

I always got the impression, at least during that time, that Connie was a little intimidated by Michael.


TIS

MaryCas,

I respectfully disagree with you on that assertion. It was common knowledge amongst the family that Sonny flew out of the house in a fit of rage and was then killed. The woman and Connie definately did NOT know that Carlo set this up, but I believe that Connie felt ashamed and responsible for calling Sonny in the first place causing him to leave the house and get killed on his way over. She never knew that Carlo staged the whole thing, but deep down she had to have felt " If I didn't call Sonny, he would still be alive," and therefore she felt that everyone indirectly blamed her and Carlo for causing Sonny to be killed. So her and Carlo probably were afraid to ask themselves fearing that Michael would feel that Carlo was indirectly responsible for his brother Sonny's death and would tell them to get lost! Meanwhile Michael knew that Carlo really set up Sonny, (but Connie did not know this detail), and Michael saw this opportunity to make Carlo and Connie relax and feel close to him again, so he says Yes to being Godfather to thier child, this way when Mike had to take care of Carlo, they would never suspect Mike! Remember his father's saying " Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer!"


DonCardi

I happen to agree with MaryCas.

By this time Sonny has been dead for several years and Connie/Carlo have had their second child.

By giving Carlo a prominent position within the Family ("Carlo, you grew up in Nevada. When we make our move there, you're gonna be my righthand man."), Michael and Vito have already lulled him into believing he's trusted and relieved of blame for Sonny's death. He's pretty confident of his security.

By the time they want him to stand Godfather to the baby, Michael is basically Head of the Corleone Empire. I agree that the still mousey Connie is intimidated by her brother's prominence and simply afraid to approach him about the baptism, concerned he's now much too busy to consider such a thing.

It isn't until after Carlo's death that Connie could ever have the nerve to confront Michael the way she does at the end of the film.

Apple

Apple,

Very good point about the time in between Sonny's death and the baby's baptism. I did not look at it that way and consider the time that had elapsed. I had totally forgotten that Vito was still alive when Michael told Carlo about the move to Nevada. Excellent point! ( I am glad that I "respectfully" disagreed in my other post ). AS for Connie, I really totally believe that she was afraid of Michael because deep down she felt that he blamed Carlo for Sonny's death. If memory serves me correctly, at the end, when she lashes out at Michael, she says something to the effect that He and everyone always blamed Carlo for Sonny's death.

Don Cardi

...Yes, I know she says that. After all, everyone knows that Sonny was killed while on the way to 'rescue' his sister from her husband. In that way, Carlo would be blamed, even withouth knowledge of a setup.

However again, the appearance was that all had been forgiven I still don't feel that was the reason they were afraid to ask Michael about standing Godfather to their second son.

To all you readers of the novel...is there any other background to this in the book??

Best,
AppleOnYa

Yes, there are two very revealing bits of dialog in the novel. During the week before the Great Massacre of 1955, "...There was only one annoying complication. Connie and Carlo's oldest boy was to receive his Confirmation in the Catholic Church and Kay asked Michael to be the Godfather. Michael refused. 'I don't often beg you,' Kay said. 'Please do this just for me. Connie wants it so much. And so does Carlo. It's very important to them...'" Michael finally agrees, but says he can't leave the mall (presumably for security reasons), so the Confirmation had to be held in the Mall. Later, after Connie's hysterical accusation, Kay split with the kids for New Hampshire and Hagen came calling to get her to return. Kay knows Michael was behind Carlo's murder (and Tessio's), but Hagen says to her, "You've got Michael wrong. You're mad because he lied to you. Well, he warned you never to ask him about business. You're made because he was Godfather to Carlo's boy. But you made him do that."
These very revealing bits of dialog in the novel imply a couple of things. First, it may have been Kay's idea, not Connie's, for Michael to be godfather to Connie's boy. Sure, Connie wanted it, but Kay may have initiated the idea. The second bit of dialog in New Hampshire suggests another Michael Corleone quid pro quo: it's your fault for not listening to me. Do it my way or no way. In the film, Michael stands godfather to a newborn at his baptism, which is very cold-hearted and calculating (and gives us a dramatic contrast: total innocence vs. evil murders). Michael agreed in order to create an alibi. But the novel builds a moral "out" for Michael: it's for an older boy (who conveniently turns into a thief in GFII), at his Confirmation, not Baptism, and Michael was more concerned with security than creating an alibi.