History Literature / TheSicilian

It was adapted into a film in 1987 that was directed by Creator/MichaelCimino and starred Creator/ChristopherLambert as Guiliano, Creator/JohnTurturro as Pisciotta and Joss Ackland as Don Croce. However, all ''Godfather'' references and characters were removed from the film due to Paramount Pictures owning the copyright.

* ConvenientMisfire: Happens when Corporal Canio Silvestro fires his pistol directly at Guiliano's head and it jams. The incident helps cement Guilaino's reputation and Guiliano takes it as proof of the righteousness of his cause and spares Silvestro, later even allowing him to join his band.

* AffablyEvil: Don Croce Malo.

* VeryLooselyBasedonaTrueStory: Based on the life of real life bandit Salvatore Giuliano.

** Corporal Canio Silvestro becomes Corporal Silvestro Canio.

* JustLikeRobinHood: Guiliano's band steals from the powerful and the wealth, and gives a good portion of their ill-gotten gains to the peasants of Sicily.

** Michael Corleone after he find out that [[spoiler:his father made a deal with Don Croce to suppress Guiliano's testament in exchange for Croce protecting Michael as he left Sicily]]. Michael learns from his father that staying alive is more important than being honorable, [[Film/TheGodfatherPartII a lesson which causes Michael to make decisions in the future that make his life miserable]].

** Corporal Canio Silvestro becomes Corporal Silvestro Canio
** Prince Ollorto becomes Prince Sandro Borsa.

* AdaptationDistillation: Besides all ''Godfather'' references being removed from the film adaptation for copyright reasons, the entire plot is simplified for the film adaptation, and basically all characters besides Guiliano, Pisciotta and Don Croce are reduced to background roles.
* AdaptationNameChange: Don Croce Malo in the novel becomes Don Masino Croce in the film. Additionally, Corporal Canio Silvestro becomes Corporal Silvestro Canio and Prince Ollorto becomes Prince Sandro Borsa.

* AudienceSurrogate: Michael Corleone, who despite living in Sicily for almost four years during his exile, is still an outsider in Sicily. He is also not familiar with the intrigue and the complex backstories and must learn about them along with the audience. [[spoiler:He even admits to his father after he returns to America that he is still confused about what was going on most of the time while he was being ferried around Sicily.]]
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:The novel ends with most of Guiliano's band being murdered, and Guiliano is betrayed and killed by his best friend Aspanu Pisciotta. The release of Giuliano's Testament, which would have led to the downfall of the [[CorruptPolitician corrupt Christian Democratic government]], is suppressed by Don Corleone, disillusioning Michael. The story ends with Don Croce and the Mafia stronger than ever, enriching themselves at the expense of the Sicilian people.]]

** Giuliano is also offered the opportunity to confess to a priest, but refuses. [[spoiler:This is good for Giuliano, as on at least one occasion the priest was actually an assassin sent to kill him.]]

* {{Interquel}}: Most of the story takes place during Michael Corleone's exile in Sicily.
* KneelBeforeZod: After Guiliano starts murdering people, he develops a system by which he allows his victims to kneel and say their final prayers to God before he or his men shoot them. Only the hardest Mafia Dons refuse his offer.

** Guiliano after he is shot by the police and realizes the extent of the corruption in Sicily and deicdes to become a freedom-fighting bandit.
** [[spoiler: Michael Corleone after he find out that his father made a deal with Don Croce to suppress Guiliano's testament in exchange for Croce protecting Michael as he left Sicily. Michael learns from his father that staying alive is more important than being honorable, [[{{Irony}} a lesson which causes Michael to make mistakes in the future that make his life miserable]].]]

** Guiliano realizes [[spoiler:he has been this to Don Croce after the Portella della Ginestra massacre.]]
** Aspanu Pisciotta [[spoiler:also serves as this when he is manipulated by Don Croce into betraying and killing Giuliano. Don Croce then promptly abandons him to rot in jail, and helps when Hector Adonis decides to assassinate him in prison.]]
** Michael realizes [[spoiler: he was this to his father and Don Croce after he realizes that by giving the Testament to his father, where is was suppressed, he had been unknowingly working against Guiliano the entire time.]]
* VeryLooselyBasedonaTrueStory: Loosely based on the life of real life bandit Salvatore Giuliano.
* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:The Portella della Ginestra massacre -when Guiliano's band kills 11 Sicilian peasants attending a Communist parade while trying to intimidate Communists from voting. Despite the fact that Guiliano had specifically ordered his men to shoot above the heads to get the crowd to disperse, and he later finds out that Don Croce had bribed one of his men to intentionally shoot low, Guiliano can no longer think of himself as a hero after this.]]

* {{Turncoat}}: [[spoiler:Turi Guiliano's best friend and cousin, Gaspare "Aspanu" Pisciotta, betrays and kills him.]]

* TheDon:
** Don Croce Malo, the boss of all bosses of Sicily, who is believed to be based on the powerful real life post-World War II Sicilian Mafia chief Calogero Vizzini.
** Don Vito Corleone, who is the boss of all bosses in America. As most of the story takes place in Sicily, he only appears in person after [[spoiler:Michael returns to America alone]].

* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies: Guiliano is shot and killed by his best friend, Aspanu Pisciotta, after he betrays him to Don Croce.]]
* [[spoiler:TheBadGuyWins: The novel ends with most of Guiliano's band being murdered, and Guiliano is betrayed and killed by his best friend Aspanu Pisciotta. The release of Giuliano's Testament, which would have led to the downfall of the [[CorruptPolitician corrupt Christian Democratic government]], is suppressed by Don Corleone, disillusioning Michael. The story ends with Don Croce and the Mafia stronger than ever, enriching themselves at the expense of the Sicilian people.]]
* TheMafia: Serves as Sicily's unofficial, arguably more powerful and definitely more brutal, second government. Additionally, nearly all the characters are members of the Mafia, or closely associated with the Mafia.

---->'''Don Vito Corleone:''' A man's first duty is to keep himself alive. Then comes what everyone calls honor.

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_sicilian.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:''"Ah, we love where we are born, we Sicilians, but Sicily does not love us."'']]

'''''The Sicilian''''' is a 1984 novel by Italian-American author Mario Puzo. It is the literary sequel to ''Literature/TheGodfather''. Set in 1940s and 1950s UsefulNotes/{{Sicily}}, the novel follows Salvatore "Turi" Guiliano, a Myth/RobinHood style bandit who dreams of freeing Sicily from the corrupt [[TheGovernment government]] and TheMafia, with the help of his second in command and best friend, Gaspare "Aspanu" Pisciotta. The novel is based on the real life Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano. (Yes, all Puzo did was [[PlausibleDeniability move the "i" around]].) To save Guiliano's life, Michael Corleone is ordered by his father, Don Vito Corleone, to take Guiliano with him as he returns to the United States after his exile in Sicily.

!!'''''The Sicilian''''' provides examples of the following tropes:

[[caption-width-right:200:Ah, we love where we are born, we Sicilians, but Sicily does not love us.]]

---->'''Vito Corleone:''' A man's first duty is to keep himself alive. Then comes what everyone calls honor.

-->-- '''Vito Corleone'''

'''''The Sicilian''''' is a 1984 novel by Italian-American author Mario Puzo. It is the literary sequel to ''Literature/TheGodfather''. Set in 1940s and 1950s UsefulNotes/{{Sicily}}, the novel follows Salvatore "Turi" Guiliano, a Myth/RobinHood style bandit who dreams of freeing Sicily from the corrupt [[TheGovernment government]] and TheMafia, with the help of his second in command and best friend, Gaspare "Aspanu" Pisciotta. Based on the real life Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano. (Yes, all Puzo did was [[PlausibleDeniability move the "i" around]].) To save Guiliano's life, Michael Corleone is ordered by his father, Don Vito Corleone, to take Guiliano with him as he returns to the United States after his exile in Sicily.

'''''The Sicilian''''' is a 1984 novel by Italian-American author Mario Puzo. It is the literary sequel to ''Literature/TheGodfather''. Set in 1940s and 1950s UsefulNotes/{{Sicily}}, the novel follows Salvatore "Turi" Guiliano, a Myth/RobinHood style bandit who dreams of freeing Sicily from the corrupt [[TheGovernment government]] and TheMafia, with the help of his second in command and best friend, Gaspare "Aspanu" Pisciotta. Based on the real life Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano. (Yes, all Puzo did was [[PlausibleDeniability move the "i" around]]) To save Guiliano's life, Michael Corleone is ordered by his father, Don Vito Corleone, to take Guiliano with him as he returns to the United States after his exile in Sicily.

It was adapted into a film in 1987 that was directed by Michael Cimino and starred Christopher Lambert as Guiliano. However, all ''Godfather'' references and characters were removed from the film due to Paramount Pictures owning the copyright.

* BadHabits: After Guiliano foils one assassination attempt, TheMafia send a hitman disguised as a priest, who tries to get Guiliano alone to "hear his confession". Guiliano laughs and points out that his sins are all over the newspapers, so what's the point of confessing them in private? [[spoiler: Pisciotta then searches the priest's effects and finds a silenced pistol. The priest assumes that he'll be released unharmed, [[VillainWithGoodPublicity as the previous assassins were]], but Guiliano is angered by this violation of the confessional and tells the hitman he's got thirty seconds to make his peace with God before he dies. After Guiliano kills him, he has his body crucified and left for the men who ordered the assassination to find.]]

* {{Confessional}}: Stefan Andolini reports to Don Croce Malo by confessing to his brother, Father Benjamino Malo. Giuliano is also offered the opportunity to confess to a priest, but refuses. [[spoiler:This is good for Giuliano, as on at least one occasion the priest was actually an assassin sent to kill him.]]

* TheDon: Don Croce Malo, who is believed to be based on the extremely powerful real life Sicilian Mafia chief Calogero Vizzini.

* TookALevelInCynic: Guiliano after he is shot by the police and realizes the extent of the corruption in Sicily and deicdes to become a freedom-fighting bandit. Also, [[spoiler: Michael Corleone after he find out that his father made a deal with Don Croce to suppress Guiliano's testament in exchange for Croce protecting Michael as he left Sicily. Michael learns from his father that staying alive is more important than being honorable, [[{{Irony}} a lesson which causes Michael to make mistakes in the future that make his life miserable]].]]
* UnwittingPawn: Guiliano realizes [[spoiler:he has been this to Don Croce after the Portella della Ginestra massacre.]] Aspanu Pisciotta [[spoiler:also serves as this when he is manipulated by Don Croce into betraying and killing Giuliano.]] Michael realizes [[spoiler: he was this to his father and Don Croce after he realizes that by giving the Testament to his father, where is was suppressed, he had been unknowingly working against Guiliano the entire time.]]

'''''The Sicilian''''' is a 1984 novel by Italian-American author Mario Puzo. It is the literary sequel to ''Literature/TheGodfather''. Set in 1940s and 1950s UsefulNotes/Sicily, the novel follows Salvatore "Turi" Guiliano, a Myth/RobinHood style bandit leader who dreams of freeing Sicily from the corrupt [[TheGovernment government]] and TheMafia, with the help of his second in command and best friend, Gaspare "Aspanu" Pisciotta. Based on the real life Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano. (Yes, all Puzo did was [[PlausibleDeniability move the "i" around]]) To save Guiliano's life, Michael Corleone is ordered by his father, Don Vito Corleone, to take Guiliano with him as he returns to the United States after his exile in Sicily.

'''''The Sicilian''''' is a 1984 novel by Italian-American author Mario Puzo. It is the literary sequel to ''Literature/TheGodfather''. Set in 1940s and 1950s UsefulNotes/Sicily, the novel follows Salvatore "Turi" Guiliano, a Myth/RobinHood style bandit who dreams of freeing Sicily from the corrupt [[TheGovernment government]] and TheMafia, with the help of his best friend and cousin Gaspare "Aspanu" Pisciotta. Based on the real life Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano. (Yes, all Puzo did was [[PlausibleDeniability move the "i" around]]) To save Guiliano's life, Michael Corleone is ordered by his father, Don Vito Corleone, to take Guiliano with him as he returns to the United States after his exile in Sicily.

* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:The Portella della Ginestra massacre -when Guiliano's band massacres 11 peasants while trying to intimidate Communists from voting. Though Guiliano had specifically ordered his men to shoot above the heads to get the crowd to disperse, and he later finds out that Don Croce had bribed one of his men to intentionally shoot low, Guiliano can no longer think of himself as a hero after this.]]

'''''The Sicilian''''' is a 1984 novel by Italian-American author Mario Puzo. It is the literary sequel to ''Literature/TheGodfather''. Set in 1940s and 1950s Sicily, the novel follows Salvatore "Turi" Guiliano, a Myth/RobinHood style bandit who dreams of freeing Sicily from the corrupt [[TheGovernment government]] and TheMafia, with the help of his best friend and cousin Gaspare "Aspanu" Pisciotta. Based on the real life Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano. (Yes, all Puzo did was [[PlausibleDeniability move the "i" around]]) To save Guiliano's life, Michael Corleone is ordered by his father, Don Vito Corleone, to take Guiliano with him as he returns to America after his exile in Sicily.

* TheMafia: Serves as Sicily's unofficial, arguably more powerful, second government. Additionally, nearly all the characters are members of the Mafia, or closely associated with the Mafia.
* UnwittingPawn: Guiliano realizes [[spoiler:he has been this to Don Croce after the Portella della Ginestra massacre.]] Aspanu Pisciotta [[spoiler:also serves as this when he is manipulated by Don Croce into betraying and killing Giuliano.]]

* WhyAreYouNotMySon: Don Croce feels this was towards Guiliano, wanting to make him his successor, as he disowned his real son after he decided to become a missionary and do charity work in South America. [[spoiler:It doesn't work out for Croce or Guiliano.]]

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Turi Guiliano is shot and killed by his best friend, Aspanu Pisciotta, after he betrays him to Don Croce.]]
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:The novel ends with most of Guiliano's band being murdered, and Guiliano is betrayed and killed by his best friend Aspanu Pisciotta. The release of Giuliano's Testament, which would have led to the downfall of the corrupt Christian Democratic government, is suppressed by Don Corleone, disillusioning Michael. The story ends with Don Croce and the Mafia stronger than ever, enriching themselves at the expense of the Sicilian people.]]

* WhatTheHellHero?: [[spoiler:The Portella della Ginestra massacre -when Guiliano's band massacres 11 peasants while trying to intimidate Communists from voting. Though Guiliano had specifically ordered his men to shoot above the heads to get the crowd to disperse, and he later finds out that Don Croce had bribed one of his men to intentionally shoot low, Guiliano can no longer think of himself as a hero after this.]]

'''''The Sicilian''''' is a 1984 novel by Italian-American author Mario Puzo. It is the literary sequel to ''Literature/TheGodfather''. Set in 1940s and 1950s Sicily, the novel follows Salvatore "Turi" Guiliano, a Myth/RobinHood style bandit who dreams of freeing Sicily from the corrupt government and TheMafia. Based on the real life Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano. (Yes, all Puzo did was [[PlausibleDeniability move the "i" around]]) To save Guiliano's life, Michael Corleone is ordered by his father, Don Vito Corleone, to take Guiliano with him as he returns to America after his exile in Sicily.

* AudienceSurrogate: Michael Corleone, who despite living in Sicily for almost four years during his exile, is still an outsider in Sicily. He is also not familiar with the intrigue and the complex backstories and going on around him, and is almost always confused to what is going on. [[spoiler:He even admits to his father after he returns to America that he had little idea what was going on most of the time as he was ferried around Sicily.]]

* {{Confessional}}: Stefan Andolini reports to Don Croce Malo by confessing to his brother, Father Benjamino Malo.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:The novel ends with most of Guiliano's band is murdered, and Guiliano is betrayed and killed by his best friend Aspanu Pisciotta. The release of Giuliano's Testament, which would have led to the downfall of the corrupt Christian Democratic government, is suppressed by Don Corleone, disillusioning Michael. The story ends with Don Croce and the Mafia stronger than ever, enriching themselves at the expense of the Sicilian people.]]