== Inspiration ==
Store dele af romanen er baseret på virkeligheden, særligt historien om "[[de fem familier]]", mafians organisation i New York og det omkringliggende område. Romanen introducerer også hentydninger til virkelige mafia-medlemmer og deres tiknyttede folk. Som eksempel er Johnny Fontane baseret på [[Frank Sinatra]],<ref>
{{cite web
|url= http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/the_godfather/6.html
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421011203/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/the_godfather/6.html
|archive-date=21. april 2012
|access-date= 2009-06-15
|title= Fact and Fiction in The Godfather
|first= Anthony
|last= Bruno
|website= [[TruTV]]
}}</ref><ref name="parker20151211">{{Cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sinatra-at-100-was-a-844595 |title=The Time Frank Sinatra Berated Mario Puzo For His Assumed Likeness in 'The Godfather' |last=Parker |first=Ryan |date=2015-12-11 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=2018-12-28}}</ref> og [[Moe Greene]] på [[Bugsy Siegel]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The Not-so-famous Alex Rocco |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADEF1D219E2215&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |quote=Until this year, Alex Rocco was best known as Moe Greene, the Bugsy Siegel character who was shot in the eyeglasses at the end of "The Godfather. ... |work=[[Boston Globe]] |date=13. november 1989 |access-date=2008-07-20 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Snap Judgment: Betting against the odds |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1201523800474 |quote= Moe Greene is, of course, Lansky partner Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, who spearheaded the building of Las Vegas's first luxury casino-hotel, [[Flamingo Las Vegas|The Flamingo]], ...  |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=31. januar 2008 |access-date=2008-07-20 }}</ref> Derudover er karakteren Vito Corleone komponeret af de kriminelle overhoveder [[Frank Costello]] og [[Carlo Gambino]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.factbehindfiction.com/index_files/TheGodfatherMarioPuzo.htm |title=''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo|website=FactBehindFiction.com}}</ref>
Kultur