This discussion raises a broader question: Why did Michael make the choices that he did?

In the novel, Vito says, "A man has but one destiny." Was Michael destined to be a criminal? You can argue that Michael's decision to kill Sol and Mac was motivated by saving his father's life, not the beginning of a plan for Michael to succeed Vito. But then there's his statement at Vito's bedside: "I'm with you now, Pop," which many here interpret as a commitment by Michael to be part of the family criminal enterprise.

I think the key to Michael's attitude is found in the scene where he's wooing Kay in New Hampshire. He says his father "is no different than any other powerful man with responsibility for others"; and when Kay replies that senators and governors don't have people killed, he answers: "Now who's being naïve?" He not only wants to be the top crime boss, he wants to consider himself "legitimate," and in the same league as senators, governors and other "legitimate" people simply because he thinks he isn't doing anything different from what they do. He thinks he's entitled to be considered legitimate.

There's the difference between Vito and Michael. Vito, who saw his father, brother and mother killed with impunity by a more powerful man, wanted power to keep himself secure, and to be strong enough not to be "a puppet on a string pulled by the pezzanovanti." His idea of legitimacy was to run his world as he saw fit, and to dispense "justice" and "order" to his suppliants. He never deluded himself by thinking he could be considered "legitimate" like the politicians he controlled--he simply used them toward his own ends. He aspired for Michael to be "legitimate" by becoming one of them--a senator or governor.

Michael never understood that he could never achieve real legitimacy as a crime boss while posing as a respectable businessman. He never saw that the "legitimate" people he associated with would never consider him one of them because their "legitimacy" would be tarnished by his overt criminality. He was clever, resourceful, at times brilliant, in pursuing his goal. But he never got it--he constantly won battles and lost wars because he never understood that he couldn't be a top Mafia boss and a "legitimate" businessman at the same time. That's the real tragedy in Michael's life.