Michael Corleone is on a mission. A mission to protect his family and save the Corleone business. By trying to complete such a task, he is faced with many obstacles on the way. One challenge which he had to overcome was killing the antagonist, Sallazzo, and his protecter, Captain McCluskey.
Michael killed them at a meeting where they were supposed to make a truce and rekindle a relationship. Michael was probably used to killing people, since he was characterized as a “war hero” (Coppola), but this was different. Now he was part of the mafia committing this crime on behalf of he family. He had jumped on the train and now his whole family was aboard.
The sound of a train was heard when Michael was in the bathroom collecting the gun, and again right before he shot Sallazzo. The sound was very loud and very clear. It was even louder then the special extra-loud gun Michael had used. The train noise was heard when Michael was in deep thought. The sound could possibly symbolize the conflict Michael was facing - wether to kill the men or not. The noise also increased in volume and pace, similar to how Michaels thoughts and heart beat may have been.
The train sound was heard twice and both times is was recognizable and long. Coppola obviously meant for the sound to be there, which hints to the fact that it may be symbolic. Trains are a method of transportation, they can take people to a certain location, but they also can only go one way. Michael has jumped on the one way mafia express; next stop, danger.
Michael can from this point on, only go one way. He can never turn back and return to his old life. He is now on the same train with the rest of the members of the Corleone mafia business. Michael’s ‘normal’ life has come screeching to a stop, similarly to how a train comes to a stop. He is on the journey with the rest of his family, and right now they don’t know where the train is heading. The train is going through a dark tunnel, and the Corleones can only hope that there is light at the end of it.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that Coppola had probably used the train's whistle to represent Michael's conflicting thoughts and that it was no longer possible for him to live the life of a normal person. As you said, his life is now on one way rails and he is unable to turn back.
There's also something I found interesting that I wrote about on my blog. What comes to mind when I think of trains and their whistles is what happens when people hear train whistles, and what they mean. A train's conductor sounds the horn to warn people that a train is passing.
When a train passes, everybody stops, no matter what. If they don't, they face either severe injury or certain death. Similar to the train, everybody complies with the Don's wishes, lest they face certain death or misforture.
I think that this may be Coppola's way of implying that Michael is on a one way road to becoming the next Don.