Who were those 2 guys who took advantage of his daughter? How did they get away with the crime? Did they bribe the judge or well connected?

According to the book, one of them was "the son of a powerful politician."

Did Don Vito know this powerful politician and carry him in his pocket? If so, how did he whack his son?

Vito didnt whack his son, he had him beaten up and he made him suffer as Bonasera's daughter suffered. And who says the politician knew that the Don was supporting him and beating up his son...and even if he did what could he do about it?

Vito does instruct Tom to get '...reliable people; people that aren't gonna be carried away...'

He was probably well aware of the connections enjoyed by the families of the young men. But on his daughter's wedding day decided to do Bonasera this favor and wanted to have just enough harm done to the boys to teach them a lesson. There would be little or nothing a politician could really do about it, as long as the victims weren't too seriously harmed. That's why Vito wanted someone who wouldn't get 'carried away'.

Apple

However, the beating described in the book was fairly extensive. If I remember, they even broke the back of one of the boys. And weren't there brass knuckles involved? OW!

Do you think the relationship Vito may have had with the boys families is why he really wouldn't kill them. I know it was done in the movie to make us side with Vito and show that he really did have compassion and wasn't just a criminal monster who ordered others' deaths whenever it benefitted him. For the sake of the movie, it wouldn't have mattered who the boys' fathers were, they weren't going to die so that part of Vito's character could be revealed, but if it was a real life situation and two random boys had done the same thing to bonasera's daughter, would Vito have stuck to the same definition of "justice" or would he have just killed them to get this damn undertaker out of his hair?

As Vito said...Bonasera's daughter was still alive. So to kill the young men would've been a vast miscarriage of justice, simply to satisfy a father's need for revenge.
A 'real life' Vito would probably have handled it the same way; thereby showing how he got as far as he did. Knowing when and how to handle what. Knowing when to think.

Apple

I wonder if Bonasera would have been a better friend, as the Godfather put it, would Don Corleon have handled it differently......he was not very happy with the way Bonasera addressed him or treated him in the past. This was a lesson to Bonasera......treat me with respect, and your enemies become my enemies.....Bonasera could have had his wish, if he was a better friend.

I think he would've handled those young men it the same way, even if Bonasera had been more friendly over the years. Even for a friend, he would not have had someone killed over what happened to the daughter.

Only difference here is that, he decided to make Bonasera grovel.

Apple

Yup thats right...
If Bonasera and Don Vito Corleone were better friends these two guys were DEAD ...

*Don Zadjali

if Bonasera had been a better friend...had he been inviting the Godfather and Mama over for coffee, he would never have had to ask for the favor. As a friend, Vito would either have fixed it with the judge that the boys went tVito's prison or would have hurt them in some other way. After all for Vito, once he had a friend he "took care of things." The reason Bonasera had to ask on the day of the wedding of Vito's daughter is because he was NOT a friend and he had to call in a favor.

Who carried out the job? Maybe it's in the book, but I forgot completely. I remember it were two men who did it.
My guess is that Paulie was there, and maybe someone under his command.

Almost right. Paulie and two guys (ex-boxers) under his command.

The whole purpose of people meeting with the Don at the wedding was to ask for favors regardless of their degree of friendship with the Don or lack thereof. Vito was very clear: murdering the two boys who assaulted Bonasera's daughter would not have been justice. His daughter was still alive. Bonasera did not bring his daughter's assault to Vito until after it had been disposed of by the court. Therefore, Vito was not in a position to intervene. Don't you remember how Vito excorciated Bonasera for going to the police and the courts first rather than coming to him first.

Anyone ask this same question about OJ and Michael Jackson? Or more pertinently, George W Bush, the Leader of the Free World with his DWI and drug offences? Oh I'm sorry, they conveniently disappeared

Puzo was spot on here - the rich and well-connected (the pezzonovante) never pay for their crimes in the same way as the common folk.

To give a more trivial (but still infuriating) example: millionaire sports stars (basketball in US; soccer in UK) who drive well in excess of the speed limit in their luxury cars. These £100,000-a-week "stars" are hit with a £250 speeding fine.

The irony is, of course, that if one of us common folk were actually to assert the true fact, e.g. that the world's richest and best-loved musician is into pederasty, we could be sued for libel and lose our livelihoods. A double whammy: for justice, and for free speech.


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Yeah, the judge played golf with one of the boy's fathers

I could not have said it better.