II has often be described as how Michael becomes an evil man. The more I think about it, the more I think Michael became an evil man at the end of I. II could be better described as how an evil man manipulates the world around him.

My feeling is that if the murder of Sollozzo and McClusky didn't turn him to the dark side, so to speak, then I think his time in Sicily did. The dividing line, to me, lies in the long stretch of time between Appolonia's murder and Michael's surprise visit to Kay. Even in Sicily, he's still "Mike", perhaps beaten and bruised, but still capable of tender feelings.

Look at the way he courts Appolonia, and then he re-acquaints himself with Kay. One is romantic; Michael seems genuinely smitten. When he reappears in Kay's life, it almost feels transactional, like he's making a deal.

I'm not saying he doesn't love Kay, but rather the whole way Michael views the world after his return from Sicily has changed. He's cold, distant, and when he does show genuine emotion, you can never really be sure if it's genuine, or just manipulation. He seems to have replaced the notions of love that he must have held in his youth with notions of absolute loyalty. Even Vito, I think, understood the difference between love and loyalty. When Sonny opens his big mouth in front of Sollozzo, Vito's response is a sort of "You silly young fool", but with a tinge of understanding that Sonny isn't always the brightest of people. When Fredo does the same thing, and in a setting that represents far less of a potential threat to the Family, Michael's response isn't "You stupid moron", it's a cold response "Never take sides against the family". Fredo isn't a brother, he's a functionary. Sure Michael loves him, but he doesn't respect him, and I think the same applies to Tom. Michael and Tom certainly have their bond, and while it's not as familial as Sonny and Tom's bond, but that bond is nothing compared to the requirement of absolute loyalty.

I guess the point I'm trying to get to is that Vito, in a way, never lost his humanity. He makes it clear in his last talk with Michael that he won't apologize for the things he had to do to keep his family safe, but at the same he views himself first and foremost as a father, and not the Godfather. He still seems to know the difference. I don't think, by the end of I, and certainly throughout II, that Michael does know the difference. He's as smart as Vito, but he's almost more of a machine; a cold, cunning man capable of very little genuine warmth.

I think Coppola and Puzo underscored that point in how Vito died as compared to how Michael died. At the end of I, Vito has become a gardener and a grandfather, a man who plays with his grandson. Vito has found some sort of meaning or redemption at the end of a long path of criminality. Michael, on the other hand, dies alone, not even a young child to mourn his passing.