Very good points you made TurnBull. Both Vito and Michael had free will, and they did have choices that would have resulted in both of them living legitimate lives. They choose to become criminals and cold-blooded killers. You are correct that both Vito and Michael could have made the right choices but then there would have not been a novel. This raises some interesting questions what was the Corleones's destiny? Did they have a destiny within the framework of the novel?