Antagonist

Throughout most of the book, there is no particular antagonist to create dramatic tension in the story. The Corleone family does have enemies who create danger for them, but the circumstances are all small and separate from one another, and so they are taken care of one at a time. The greatest danger in the beginning of the book comes from Virgil Sollozzo, the drug smuggler who tries to kill Don Corleone, but he is killed relatively early. After that, the danger to the family is indistinct. Puzo explains that members of the five families pose a serious threat, and they finally do kill Sonny, but they are given no clear identity.

It is not until the book is nearly two-thirds over that Puzo introduces the enemy, Don Emilio Barzini, at the conference of Dons. Barzini's support of Sollozzo and of the war against the Corleones is not...