Some on these boards believe Michael is a tragic figure. They're not wrong. But, nearly all the tragedy was self-inflicted. Michael had free choice at every turn, and he freely chose the Mob life, with disastrous results:

First: He was right to think Sollozzo would try to kill his father after the failed hospital attempt. He was wrong to believe that only he could save his father by killing Sollozzo and McCluskey. Ironically, an idea that Michael himself had suggested could have been modified to solve the problem bloodlessly. The Corleones could have fed the newspapermen on their payroll the story about McCluskey being a dishonest cop mixed up in drugs and murder before, not after, the trigger was pulled. McCluskey was on the take all his life, and the Corleones had all the details because they paid him. The newspapers would have given that story such headlines that the Police Commissioner would have been shamed into providing Vito with an army to protect him, to save further embarrassment. McCluskey and Sollozzo would have been neutralized without any bloodshed. At minimum, McCluskey would have been transferred or suspended pending investigation. With pressure from the Corleone judges, he’d have been indicted for taking bribes. Police would have hunted down Sollozzo and killed him "while trying to escape," to prevent him from testifying against Mac. With Mac alive, the cops would have had no reason to crack down on all Mob activities. There would have been no Five Families War of 1946, leaving the Corleones free to exact vengeance on Tattaglia. Michael could have married Kay and gone back to college.

Instead, Michael chose to kill Sol and Mac, setting in motion his abandonment of Kay, his Sicilian exile, the Five Families War, Carlo’s betrayal, Sonny’s murder, Apollonia’s murder.

Second: He could have resumed the legitimate life after returning from Sicily. He could have said to Vito: “Pop, I was wrong to distance myself from you. But I atoned: I saved your life. And I paid a heavy price: two murders, abandoned my beloved fiancée, lost months out of my life in Sicily, lost my beloved bride to a bomb intended for me. We’re quits. Oh, not feeling well enough to take the reins? Fredo not equal to the task? Sorry, Pop, that’s not my problem. Besides, you always said you didn’t want this for me—you wanted me to be a pezzanovante. Well, I can’t be Senator Corleone or Governor Corleone if I’m Don Corleone. Why don't you retire and give the family over to Tessio and Clemenza."

Instead, Michael chose to be the new Don, setting in motion Tessio’s betrayal, the Great Massacre of 1955, Connie’s widowhood and breakdown, and the beginning of Kay’s disillusionment with him.

Third: After moving to Tahoe, Michael could have retired behind the walls of his compound and invested his wealth legitimately—even putting money up-front in the legal casinos of Nevada.

Instead, he chose to hide his ownership or controlling interest in three hotels; muscle Klingman out of his interest in a fourth hotel; dominate the New York mob scene through Frankie Pentangeli; undercut Pentangeli through his support of the Rosato Brothers and their drug-dealing; and plan for a huge international expansion of his gambling empire through his deal with Roth. Results: Fredo’s betrayal; the machinegun attack that nearly killed Kay in her bed; Kay’s estrangement, abortion and divorce; Anthony’s estrangement; Fredo’s murder (and a host of other killings).

Fourth: he was “legitimate” in GFIII—but was he? He whines, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” But he was never out. He was still a member of the Commission and influential enough to keep Zasa from rising (so Vincent tells us). He laundered his Mob cronies’ money through his “legitimate” businesses (maybe through his foundations) and cut Zasa out of his share.

Result: the machinegun attack in Atlantic City that killed all his pals and precipitated his diabetic stroke. It wasn’t enough that he became a Papal Knight: he had to dominate International Immobiliare by bribing crooked-as-a-corkscrew Archbishop Gilday, setting in motion Altobello’s betrayal and putting him against Don Lucchese, who was far more powerful in Europe. And, in an act of supreme irresponsibility and egotism: told that Sicily’s top assassin—“a man who never fails”—has targeted him, Michael gathers his entire family around him in Sicily, making them all sitting ducks. Surprise, surprise: his beloved Mary gets killed and his budding reconciliation with Kay is nipped in the bud, leading to his own, lonely death, attended by a little dog.

Michael succeeded--in turning everything he touched into death, including his own.

He had to appease Sonny as well as resolve the issue in that particular instance. He still had to choose to insinuate himself into the plan, however, so your point still stands. I don't think Sonny would have accepted a bloodless plan. Perhaps Michael wouldn't have either, but at that point he may have been more willing to listen to Tom Hagen.

But yes, Michael sowed the seeds of his own destruction, and as the saying goes, pride comes before the fall. He thought he was too smart, too clever, too rich, too powerful to be have anyone out fox him.

I basically agree with this. One area I'm doubtful is on the Sollozzo-McCluskey hit. I think it would be much more risky to release information implicating Sollozzo while he was still alive and had allies, but the allies wouldn't care so much after he was dead.



I was flipping pages of the book recently, and came upon Michael thinking at Vito's funeral, "...if I can die saying, 'Life is so beautiful,' then nothing else is important." I was wondering if maybe that line inspired the shot that ends the Trilogy.

I also agree basically; any Mafioso makes a decision to embroil himself in that life. As TB points out, Michael made that decision several times.

Pete, I think you're onto something. Vito did his best ("his", in that life he chose) to take care of his family while Michael destroyed it.

Like mustachepete, my biggest opposition to your theory is in regards to your first instance - the McClusky/Sollozzo hit.

I don't see the police commish being shamed into helping Vito. Not to say no action would be taken against McCluskey but that would not turn Vito into a sympathetic figure. He was a criminal, and that was that in the black-and-white world of law enforcement. There was nothing that could be done that would allow the Corleones to benefit from the police.

As to your other main point, while McCluskey could be disciplined/shamed into becoming a non-factor, Sollozzo would have merely found another time and manner in which to strike, one that would likely be effective, as he was both intelligent and driven. He would not have been deterred by anything other than death.

I do think your other openings are more plausible, but by then, Michael had not only become a killer but witnesses the killing of the true love of his life, which hardened him to the point of no return, hence the choices he made from that point forward.

This discussion raises a broader question: Why did Michael make the choices that he did?

In the novel, Vito says, "A man has but one destiny." Was Michael destined to be a criminal? You can argue that Michael's decision to kill Sol and Mac was motivated by saving his father's life, not the beginning of a plan for Michael to succeed Vito. But then there's his statement at Vito's bedside: "I'm with you now, Pop," which many here interpret as a commitment by Michael to be part of the family criminal enterprise.

I think the key to Michael's attitude is found in the scene where he's wooing Kay in New Hampshire. He says his father "is no different than any other powerful man with responsibility for others"; and when Kay replies that senators and governors don't have people killed, he answers: "Now who's being naïve?" He not only wants to be the top crime boss, he wants to consider himself "legitimate," and in the same league as senators, governors and other "legitimate" people simply because he thinks he isn't doing anything different from what they do. He thinks he's entitled to be considered legitimate.

There's the difference between Vito and Michael. Vito, who saw his father, brother and mother killed with impunity by a more powerful man, wanted power to keep himself secure, and to be strong enough not to be "a puppet on a string pulled by the pezzanovanti." His idea of legitimacy was to run his world as he saw fit, and to dispense "justice" and "order" to his suppliants. He never deluded himself by thinking he could be considered "legitimate" like the politicians he controlled--he simply used them toward his own ends. He aspired for Michael to be "legitimate" by becoming one of them--a senator or governor.

Michael never understood that he could never achieve real legitimacy as a crime boss while posing as a respectable businessman. He never saw that the "legitimate" people he associated with would never consider him one of them because their "legitimacy" would be tarnished by his overt criminality. He was clever, resourceful, at times brilliant, in pursuing his goal. But he never got it--he constantly won battles and lost wars because he never understood that he couldn't be a top Mafia boss and a "legitimate" businessman at the same time. That's the real tragedy in Michael's life.

I think that Michael was destined to be a leader. That's a very perilous position in this story, because he's so close to this crime family that's inherently unstable - anything that knocks it out of balance potentially will suck him in and move him to the top. I think that what Vito's trying to do is combine Sonny and Tom into a team that would provide that leadership that otherwise could only be provided by Michael alone.



Yes. And if we extend into the book, there are also several places where Michael draws comparisons between the mob war and his military experiences. It could be that enlisting in the Marines, far from being a rejection of the Family, was just an alternative form of leadership training.

Good point Pete. As the novel states, Michael was pretty smart although not as smart as his father. His military service was good evidence of his leadership skills.

Destiny is simply hind-sight;it's after the fact. To me, Michael was placed in a leadership position by Vito and felt comfortable with it. What followed is what one could expect in that kind of business.

Sort of like in the Sopranos when Tony tries to golf with a couple civilians only to find out that they only brought him along as a sort of novelty, a flirtation with the dangerous life of a mobster.

TB, Michael's desired legitimacy would be much more than tarnished by his criminality. Who didn't know he was a criminal, a Mafia don at that? I don't see how he could ever entertain the fantasy of achieving legitimacy. Joe Colombo tried it a version of it, but who was buying it really?

But, of course, we've opined on this Board about Michael's (and Vito's) concept of legitimacy and how it differed from what most of us conceive of as legitimacy.

I think that the press would have been wary of publishing anything about McCluskey while he was still alive.

Great OP Turnbull.

I have often wanted to write such a piece to bring Michael to account for his actions.

Let me first say that you could argue that Michael's eventual descent into mob life could be blamed on either Sonny or Vito

Vito for being too pig-headed to enter into Narcotics with Sollozzo, and Sonny for directly contradicting his father in the meeting giving Sollozzo the impetus to assasinate Vito and get Sonny go into business with him (which was a ludicrous idea knowing how devoted Sonny is to his father)..but these two events set the wheels in motion for ALL that follows.

But if you take it from the point when Mike decides to kill Sollozzo and McCluskey then some great points are raised here, though I do have to defend him on a couple of points

Michael did have to kill Sollozzo, as was said earlier in the film, he was considered a 'civilian' and not a danger to anyone, so Sollozzo had seemingly nothing to fear from Michael meaning he'd come out of hiding and sit down in a public place to meet him. No-one else could achieve that, plus the fact that Sollozzo requested Michael personally, no-one else could have been sent in his place, and had he not gone to this meeting, an insulted Sollozzo may have tried to hit Vito again.

Now whether Mike needed to kill McCluskey is another matter, if Mike just shot Sollozzo and then fled, they could have fed the story that McCluskey was on the take, and presumably, eyewitnesses would testify to McCluskey having dinner with a known criminal and crime-boss' son. That would be enough to see McCluskey done for corruption and a spell behind bars...but one snag, McCluskey broke Mike's jaw...that's the sole reason he killed McCluskey in my view.

I'll come onto some more points later - back to work for me.

In the novel, Sonny flat-out admits that "I shot my mouth off," and thus takes responsibility for Vito's shooting. But that's where Solozzo made a big mistake:

Sol, seeing that Sonny was hot for the deal at the meeting, figured that Sonny would still go for it with Vito either dead or incapacitated. But, Sonny could never have made the deal precisely because he showed himself hot for the deal. If he had gone for the deal, Clem, Tess and probably a lot of the men under them would have thought Sonny was a traitor to his father, and that he might even have welcomed Sol's getting his father out of the way. (N.B.: The novel says Sonny was anxious "to get out from under his father's thumb," and saw the drugs business as a way to get his own action.) Sonny could never have functioned as acting Don, or permanent Don, with that cloud over his head.

Mmm,true. In the book and the film, Sonny takes his father's shooting personally, he'd have never dealt with Sollozzo and would have sooner died first. That's not to say he wouldn't have gotten involved in the drugs business as the incumbent Don, just not with Sollozzo

Maybe, maybe not.

Sollozzo was not unaware of Sonny's situation. He was counting on Tom to both calm Sonny down and convince the others that the Sollozzo deal was "the right thing to do."

Really, the deal made a lot of sense. I think it's plausible that the Corleone Family would have gone along with it eventually. Maybe Sonny would have been deposed or there would have been some turmoil for a while, but that really didn't matter to Sollozzo.

Stretching the topic a little, did Vito's prediction about drugs come true? Well, obviously, the Mafia is still up and running. However, has its involvement in drugs injured it in America?

IMO, the long term trend in American Mafia has been the transition from Cosa Nostra to Cosa Mia. A big part of it is drugs: defiance by guys on the street of the Dons' "ban" on drug-dealing, and their selling out of higher ups when caught in return for shorter sentences. I don't think drugs, by themselves, have been the ruination of the Mob as Vito predicted. But they did contribute strongly to the Mob's decline.

Do you think the real life Don's banned drugs because Vito told them to?

Mafia has been dealing drugs since Day One. But, heavy penalties for drug dealers presents a dilemma for real Dons. On the one hand, a Mob guy caught dealing drugs and sentenced to double-digits is tempted to rat out higher-ups (per Solozzo to Vito). On the other hand, Mafia is a pyramid scheme, with a portion of each associate's or made-man's earnings kicked upstairs. If the Dons really enforced a ban on drugs, they'd be driving the traffic (and the profits) underground.

So they reacted with typical Mafia hypocrisy: They decreed death for anyone in the Borgata caught dealing drugs. If you were caught, they'd turn heaven and earth to kill you before you could testify against them. If you weren't caught, and kicked good money upstairs, well...what the Dons didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

But the whole "going legitimate" plan was one that Michael and Vito cooked up. It wasn't just Michael coming up with plans after Vito's death, the last conversation they have before Vito dies is about planning for how things are going to go down after Vito's death.

At the end of the conversation Vito does express some regret at dragging Michael into the business, but then I'm mindful of the birthday party scene in Part II, where Michael announces he's joined the army, and where Tom tells Michael that Vito and Tom have been talking about Michael's future. I think it's pretty clear that Vito's original plan, before Michael joined the Army and the whole Sollozzo mess and Sonny's assassination, was for Michael to take a legitimate course that would end up with him in a high political office (Senator Corleone... Governor Corleone), but as Vito himself says "There wasn't enough time".

I imagine Vito's original plan was for Sonny and Tom to run the "business", while Michael would split off and become the legitimate side of the Corleones (with a lot of quiet support from Vito and his political and union contacts).

It's largely what Michael was trying to do by Part 3; where Mary is essentially in the same position he was as a young man, destined to legitimize the Corleones, while Vincent, like his father before him, was supposed to take charge of the business.

I believe that if Vito had had his way, Michael would have finished law school and run for Congress in Vito's old Little Italy neighborhood, where the Corleone name was still magic. Vito would have channeled his labor support to Michael, who could have shared it with Congressmen who'd support him. Then, "Senator Corleone, Governor Corleone." He'd work to legalize gambling--if not nationwide, than in New York. The Corleone gaming interests would be used to dominate legal gaming. Sonny would be in charge of a decreasingly important traditional Corleone "olive oil business."

If that's how it would have turned out, it would have made an interesting subplot: rivalry between Michael and Sonny for the entire Corleone interest--legit and non-legit--perhaps leading to violence.

Pretty good prognostication TB. However, I don't think Vito would have supported gaming legalization. As we both have posted before, Vito's perception of legitimate is different from ours, so he would have used Michael's political position to advance his criminal empire.

Toad Brother, Turnbull and others, all very good points. I know that we are talking the movie version here. However I would like to add to this by bringing up the point that in the novel there is a part which indicates that Vito realizes that;

1) Sonny is too much of a hot head to run the family business.
2)Fredo, well you know, is not 'smaaaht' enough to do so.
3)Tom being a lawyer and a non Sicilian could not be given that role.

Which he realizes leaves only Michael to be the most likely and qualified heir to the throne. In realizing this Vito probably did not want Michael to lead the illegitimate life that Vito was basically forced to choose, so he began to plan to have Michael go to law school and peruse a career in politics so that, as you correctly said Turnbull, he could legitimize the Corleone empire.

But it was Sonny's small outburst that caused everything to change for Vito and his plan for Michael to take the legitimate path on behalf of the Corleone family.

My take, for what it is worth!

I believe Michael had little or no choice in taking over the business because it seems the Corleones needed to re-establish their glory, standing, reputation etc. that they are smart not weak and crumbling like everyone says, that's ain't the way they wanted it! especially Vito?

Pretty much Tiger by the tail for Michael

Among others,

1. Vito survived two attempts on his life
2. Sonny has been brutally massacred
3. Apollonia car bombed, meant for Michael
4. The Corleones were being trampled by the other families
5. Fredo Corleone was being slapped and straightened out in public by Moe Greene
6. Greene openly insulted Michael that the Corleones were being run out of New York and he'd been talking to Barzini
7. Barzini's people were chiselling into Tessio's territory and pretty soon there won't be one place in Brooklyn, Tessio can hang his hat!
8. Vito always playing the nice guy He even tells Carlo, Vito was happy for him [right hand man to Michael] knowing Carlo was going to be murdered
9. Vito's “And Fredo....well, Fredo was....well” not giving Fredo at least a face saving role in the family
10. Neither Vito nor Michael had any inkling what a time bomb Fredo was
11. Vito could have cut their losses and handed the business over to Clemenza and Tessio thus giving Michael a second chance for a non criminal life
12. Vito though never wanted the criminal life for Michael indeed left a murderous legacy
13. Vito and Michael's unrealistic expectation that their criminal business could be made legitimate let alone in five years
14. Neither Vito nor Michael realised how extremely difficult and elusive the legitimacy would be
15. Michael as a powerful man was responsible for other people – his capos etc.
16. I suppose Michel had to keep his caporegime going Otherwise he'd be just another casino owner and could be moved out like the Corleones did with Klingman

How was it that Kay was happy to enjoy the spoils of the unholy and evil Sicilian thing for five years, the time frame for legitimacy

In fairness to Kay,
1. The bedroom shooting would have spooked and unnerved anyone
2. At the senate hearing, judging from Kay's reaction in the background, she probably figured out – made the connection when Michael suddenly disappeared - that Michael was personally responsible for the murder of McCluskey and Sollozzo

It seems Michael and Kay's marriage was already in trouble as evident from Michael's talk with Mama Corleone about losing the family

It was surreal when Michael returned home from Cuba, Kay was at the sewing machine but knew Michael was back, had nothing to say to each other especially after such traumatic events

The way Michael protected Kay during the bedroom shooting was indeed incredible

Perhaps Michael could [should] have handled differently

1. Killing his own brother Fredo
2. Michael not comforting his wife who just had a miscarriage
3. Perhaps if Michael had the same “losing the family” talk with Kay......second chance at their marriage
4. The treatment of Tom the only person Michael could trust even though Tom was not the most competent consigliere!
5. Hanging Frankie Pentangeli out to dry
6. Not taking care of the 'dead' capo Frankie's family

I don't think that Kay is just a passive party here - she likes that Michael is the alpha male and that she's the one sleeping he's sleeping with. You always have to go back to the bandleader story - she likes that excitement.



As the novel implies, Kay had made the connection herself (or had it made by the police), and then let Michael talk her out of it. I think any reaction in the hearing is more "...they're going back to that?" than "I can't believe that was him."

Fair enough! I thought Kay was shocked......

Then, wonder
1. why does Michael's world suddenly become unholy and evil?
2. why wouldn't Kay bring another one of Michael's sons into this [unholy and evil] world?
3. Why was Kay leaving Michael?
4. what is the real reason?

I'm just speculating: one thing that's happened for Kay is that she's been publicly exposed as part of this thing. We speculate sometimes that one of Roth's motives is to claw at Michael's public image, and reduce his support in the legitimate world. Kay just received a big dose of that herself by sitting behind Michael on TV, and inside she may be absolutely furious that she can't go to Tahoe social functions anymore without people laughing at her.

It wasn't sudden. Kay had been stewing about Michael's lies for a long time. When they danced at Anthony's party she reminded him that he'd said that the Corleone Family would be completely legitimate in five years--"That was seven years ago." AFter the Tahoe shooting, when she was clutching Mary, she gave him a look that said she was finished with his way of life. And, when he returned from Havana, she didn't even look up from her sewing machine.

Exactly TB. As you state, I reiterate: there was nothing sudden about her decision. Of course, the novel's final pages are more explicit as is the last deleted scene of her in church about her evolving feelings and realization about her husband.