I agree with TB's assessment of Fredo. He is stupid and weak and probably couldn't find his way out of a paper bag if Sonny and Vito weren't at the other end with a flashlight. The one thing that was obvious was that he loved his father, as we can see by his complete emotional meltdown at his father's shooting. This might lead people to comment how good-hearted he was.
However, he does nothing to show that he's selfless or has a good heart. He doesn't learn the casino business. Instead, he prefers to use his position as a Corleone to have sex. He marries a drunken tramp, he frequents sex clubs in other countries, becoming nothing like the father he supposedly adored.
As a matter of fact, Fredo shows anything BUT a good heart. If his actions are to speak for him, once he leaves his father's house, he leads nothing but a completely hedonistic life, concerned only with his own pleasures.
And why shouldn't he lead a hedonistic life? He was passed over. For land's sake, his mother used to tell him that he was left on the doorstep by Gypsies.
Seriously, you are correct about his not being more like his father. He himself admits that when he is talking to Michael and says
"Sometimes I think I shoulda married a woman like you did -- like KAY. Kids -- have a family. For once in my life --
be more like -- Pop."
I don't think that on his own, Fredo was malicious. I think that deep down he really did have a good heart. The guy was banished to Las Vegas, the son of the mightiest Mafia boss in the country, and he was being slapped around by Moe Green. In his mind nothing was done about it by his family who sent him there That had to hurt him.
His brother re-builds this huge empire, and he gives him the job of running a night club and a brothel. It had to hurt him deep down inside, being treated the way that he was all those years. And then a guy like Johnny Ola gets a hold of his ear, and gets into Fredo's head turning what probably was hurt and disappointment on Fredo's part in anger and resentment.
On his own I don't think that Fredo would maliciously hurt a fly. Geez, he couldn't even hold a gun when his father was being shot!
He really was a "Mishkeena"
