A very astute observation, Sicilian Babe. It's akin to a working class person's resentment of a rich person, or the jealousy that, say, the underachieving high school students feel for the bright and popular ones. What they REALLY despise about their antagonists is that they are not one of them.

I agree that the jealousy and resentment Fredo feels toward Michael will always be a part of him, deep inside (and I emphasize "deep" because, after the Roth fiasco blew up in Fredo's face, I expect that guilt and regret would be in the forefront of his psyche for quite a while to come. Nothing like the trauma of nearly losing a brother to smack that jealousy down a notch ).

But as to whether that resentment would grow, let's remember that Fredo's relationship with Michael is a love-hate one, and not a "hate only" one. After the devastation that his cooperation with Roth wreaked on Fredo's life, I don't think his original anger would spread like wild fire. I believe the results of the Roth affair and Michael's (perceived) forgiveness are in fact the very things that would keep it in check.

Actually, I think Michael is the offender here. Before Michael stated, "That's the way pop wanted it," Fredo poured out -- with justified anger and nearly uncontrollable emotion -- why Roth's offer was so attractive to him: he believed it was his chance to earn something on his own, something that wasn't given to him by Michael. He expressed the humiliation he felt at having to be provided for by his kid brother and at having to perform the most menial tasks.

And what does Michael do? He doesn't listen to a word Fredo says. He doesn't hear the hurt pride, the build up of indignities, the feelings of exclusion. Fredo's question, "Did you ever once think about that?" remains unanswered. All Michael sees is the betrayal. Michael's quiet, cold detachment is much more dangerous than Fredo's explosive and agitated state. When Michael embraces Fredo at Mama's funeral, poor Fredo thinks that Michael is acting out of compassion and understanding for why he did what he did. But, as we see shortly, that is not the case.

So I agree with the first part of your post Sicilian Babe, but I guess we'll again "agree to disagree" on the second part . I just don't think Fredo would betray Michael again, but that's just my opinion (and Don Cardi's, and plawrence's, and olivant's, and Cuneo's, etc. )