Originally posted by Don Smitty:
Yes it is true that the old school Italian men wanted boys so they could carry on the family name. But Michael already had a son. So why was he so concerened that the baby that should have been born was another son? Was he scared that maybe in "his" world that only having one son was not safe enough to carry on the family name. maybe he was scared that perhaps one day his oldest son would get wacked perhaps and he wanted another son for insurance.
That is a very good point Don Smitty, but again, the old school mindset was one that if a man "produced" many sons, then he was a real man. But as you say in the case of Michael, the more sons the better. Case in point within his own family ; three sons, Fredo : not one that had the abilities to carry on the family business. Santino : one that could carry on the family business, but was killed which in reality only left one son, Micheal, who at first did not want to get involved in the family business but was eventually put into a position where he had no choice. So your theory of another son as insurance is a good one. In GF III we see that Anthony wanted absolutely nothing to do with the family, so Micahael had no choice but to take Vincent in like his own son and turn the business over to him. So in theory the more son's that Micahal would have had, the better the chances that at least one of them would have carried on the family business for him.
Don Cardi
