Originally Posted By: mustachepete
In a similar situation, I think that Vito's thinking would have gone:

1. I am the head of the family (not "The Family," just the family);
2. Fredo is my responsibility;
3. Fredo's betrayal is due to my carelessness.

Had Vito still been around, and Fredo done something so stupid, I think that he would have been confined to the compound or sent to a sanitorium or something. He would not have been killed.

The tragedy to Michael is not so much that he killed his own brother, as that he killed his father's son.



In GFIII he said as much. He only mimicked what his father was; he lacked Vito's inherent qualities.

"Generosity. That was my first mistake."
"Experience must be our only guide; reason may mislead us."
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