Rosie, rarely have I seen on this board such incredibly incorrect statements as the ones you have just made.

Michael had no intention of 'going to the top and staying there'. Even when his father was shot. It was his destiny, how things worked out, but not how he intended them.

Michael's 'loyalty' was not simply to 'himself'. True, his business 'Family' did take a priority over his true family...his wife and children. This is what alienated Kay and eventually drove her to leave him and TRY to take the children with her. By the time of GFII, virtually his entire existence was devoted to the Corleone Family...the one he inherited from his father. When he goes to his mother for that little talk, he is for once at a loss on how to repair everything that is unraveling around him. At this moment he's tragic...and far from ruthless.

When he makes the decision to have Fredo killed...he orders that it not be done until after the death of his mother. Had Michael's loyalty been only to himself, Fredo would've been escorted out of the boathouse and blown away right then & there. But he wanted to spare his mother the agony of losing another son. Even though Fredo's actions very nearly caused his own death.

Michael Corleone is one of the most extremely complicated, ultimately tragic figures in cinematic history. Yes, he did some ruthless things. But to simply dismiss him as ruthless, and to state that his loyalty was only to himself is a gross misinterpretation of the character.

Apple