【正文】 human civilization iii Acknowledgments This thesis is dedicated to the whole teachers who have taught me, especially to my instructor Gu Fan, who has helped to figure out the outline, giving me enlightening suggestion throughout all the process of the thesis. I owe an incalculable debt of gratitude to her help. Besides, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to my foreign friend Marten Selbmann for collecting necessary material for my paper. The work would not have been possible without the help of my supporters, who gave me a great deal of cheering when I felt frustrated. We discussed a lot and got forward step by step. I am particularly indebted to my parents, who encouraged me to persist and supplied me with the best they could offer. Without all the support, I could not have finished this tough work. 1 Contents 中文摘要 .............................................................................................................ⅰ Abstract...............................................................................................................ⅱ Acknowledgments...............................................................................................iv Introduction..........................................................................................................1 I. The Phenomenon of the American Social Conflicts in The Godfather.............3 A. The Criminal Activities..............................................................................3 Actions Committed by Civilians Towards Civilians................4 Criminality Committed by the Mafia Towards Civilians.................5 Committed by the Mafioso Towards Mafioso.............................7 B. The Governments`s Corruption..................................................................8 C. Danger of the National Security...............................................................10 II. The Origin of the Phenomenon......................................................................12 A. The Primary Cause—Economic System .................................................12 B. The Main Cause—Power of Social Class................................................14 C. The Unneglect Cause—Culture Diversity...............................................15 III. The Alleviation of Conflicts.........................................................................17 A. The New Operation Rules........................................................................16 B. The Solution.............................................................................................18 of Social Inquality................................................................18 and Cultural Acknowledgment...............................................18 Values.......................................................................19 Conclusion..........................................................................................................21 Notes...................................................................................................................22 Bibliography.......................................................................................................24 1 An Analysis of American Social Conflicts in The Godfather Introduction ―Behind every great fortune there is crime‖ said Honor233。然而，本文則側(cè)重研究小說《教父》中所反映的美國社會現(xiàn)實 ——— 財富與權(quán)力的斗爭，金融市場中，大銀行、大公司、大集團各自為營，相互勾結(jié)，沖突不斷；各種貪婪誘惑，讓社會矛盾不斷激化膨脹。t be solved by offering money due to moral or immoral reasons, someone can be paid to do harm to the counterpart. With this violence bee the prolongation of money. However, also money was nothing but an instrument to gain power. As an intermediary result it can be stated, that in an economic system, where everyone strives for money and power, criminality as illustrated in The Godfather can spread. B. The Main Cause — Power of Social Class The social class and material wealth are two dimensions, which are directly linked in a capitalist world. This was displayed several times in The Godfather. Don Corleone himself came from utterly poor conditions. For this reason he wished to found an own family who could live in better material conditions and would be treated with more respect by the society. This was one of the deciding motivations。在《教父》這部作品中，作者通過重點講述美國托里昂黑手黨家族由盛轉(zhuǎn)衰，從衰落到再次獨領(lǐng)風(fēng)騷的故事，來演繹了一段美 國社會史。die humaine . Crimes violate human rights, break up families, and unsettle people to a degree, which make them mistrust each other, and therefore derogate the development of the whole human society. All the conflicts arising from criminality should be alleviated in some way. Therefore, people, especially the authorities who govern countries, are supposed to pay much attention to this vital concern. Puzo‘s works with their realistic writing style are reflecting the actual social conditions of the timeframe he lived in. Therefore he gives his readers an exact view on the events he observed while writing his books. In our modern age we have the chance to gain an enthralling insight of the problems of America‘s in 1950‘s. Especially The Godfather with its prosaic style, shows us the onset of a crime culture with nearly Darwinist consistence in a meticulous way. The Author portrays a circle of violence that no one of the parties involved could escape, because it even manifested itself in the shelter of the family. The particular stories of the individuals, who appear in this book, lay bare the nature of capitalist society by uncovering a profound human trait, namely the pursuit for wealth and power. There is no doubt that this novel is still accurate in analyzing modern America, and even other capitalist societies. The struggle to achieve money and power continually overshadows social values like solidarity, considerateness and mutual