The Dresden Files > DF Spoilers
Nicodemus Archleone and John Marcone - Birds of a feather?
Mira:
--- Quote ---Harry didn't know at the time of the Soulgaze.
He figured it out later.
--- End quote ---
That's my point, but he also figured a whole lot more about Marcone.. While what happened to that little girl is a source of shame and maybe one decent thing about Marcone, basically he is still a murdering monster..
--- Quote ---But Harry learned (via Soulgaze) about this deep core element that fundamentally informs Marcone and gives him that extra bit of drive. And later deduced that the accidental shooting of Amanda Beckitt was that deep core.
--- End quote ---
Yes, but back to "The Godfather," the Godfather rejected the selling of narcotics by his family because it got kids hooked, if I remember correctly.. He also met out justice, when justice as he saw it wasn't met out, as in the case of the baker's daughter in the opening scenes at the wedding.. However this doesn't make him less of a murdering monster, just a more complex monster.
LordDresden2:
--- Quote from: Mira on January 20, 2025, 03:12:31 PM ---That's my point, but he also figured a whole lot more about Marcone.. While what happened to that little girl is a source of shame and maybe one decent thing about Marcone, basically he is still a murdering monster..
Yes, but back to "The Godfather," the Godfather rejected the selling of narcotics by his family because it got kids hooked, if I remember correctly.. He also met out justice, when justice as he saw it wasn't met out, as in the case of the baker's daughter in the opening scenes at the wedding.. However this doesn't make him less of a murdering monster, just a more complex monster.
--- End quote ---
And a tragic one. In the old Godfather story, Michael Corleone originally intended to 'go straight' when he got out of the military. A combination of circumstances, family ties, and bad decisions instead turned him into the very thing he wanted to avoid being.
Which might have overtones of what could happen to Marcone.
As for Marcone being bad...well, yes. As others have pointed out, you have to balance off the good he does with the evil, and he does a lot of evil. Yeah, he protects kids from being directly targeted...but his very efficiency at his criminal activities means that the flow of drugs, prostitution, etc. is increased under his rule. It's just quieter, with less direct, violent collateral damage. But it still does harm. Marcone might prevent kids from being murdered directly, but the drugs his organization moves addict their parents. The corruption he encourages helps feed the corruption of the city government (granted Chicago corruption predates Marcone, but he feeds it). The money he skims off from government and business corruption is money that isn't going to legitimate purposes.
It's only more complicated post Changes, when the ill-gotten monies help keep Murphy's Chicago defense force in business.
Marcone is a very complex bad guy...but he's still a bad guy...so far.
Mira:
--- Quote ---Marcone is a very complex bad guy...but he's still a bad guy...so far.
--- End quote ---
Yup, he is still a monster.. I believe there is a WOJ somewhere where he said he considered making Marcone a Holy Knight. I actually thought that might happen at one point when we first meet him, and his aiding Harry in the early books.. However he isn't exactly in the Michael Corleone mold either as far as we can tell. A series of events shaped Michael Corleone, the gunning down of his father followed by being beaten up by that corrupt cop, followed by his beloved wife being blown up before his eyes, his need for revenge. While it is true, all the elements that made Michael what he became were there the whole time, it was life's events that shaped him into what he ultimately became. In the case of Marcone, the pieces were there the whole time, the tragedy of that little girl I think hits at his vanity more than his sense of right and wrong. By that I mean yes, he'd do anything to undo what happened to that little girl, not just because it would right a wrong done to her, but more importantly for him.. As you point out Marcone has no problem running a crime empire that kills and worse to lots of children, but to quote the Corleone family, "that's business," nothing personal about it. What happened to that little girl was his fault, a personal shame, a stain he wants to remove from his conscience. However unless he can get past the other harm he does every day as "just business," he will remain a monster.
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