Why is fredo killed

They later talk and Fredo reveals that he resents how he was passed over and has to take orders from his little brother. Michael then decides to wait for their mother to die to have his brother killed. He claims to be all about the family, but then makes the ultimate move to destroy it. At this moment Michael was precautious cold-blooded criminal that protected himself and his family. When speaking to Cardinal Lamberto:. Michael: I killed -- I ordered the death of my brother. He injured me.

I killed my father's son. Fredo, while good-intentioned, was dim-witted. Michael obviously loved his brother and trusted him, as with the fact that he allowed his children to go fishing with Fredo. He knew Fredo would never intentionally betray him again, but that didn't eliminate the idea that Fredo was weak and dumb, and could eventually be exploited again somehow in the future. Michael from an ordinary man turned to cold-blooded murderer. He had lost feelings of pity and compassion.

Any feeling of empathy was gone since the moment of murder attempt on his father, death of his brother Sonny and his wife Appolonia. All his human feelings atrophied. He became suspicious and cold to everyone, even his family members. He was cold to his wife, he was cold to Tom, he was cold to Fredo. Michael as a Don is contrasted to his father Vito.

Vito since his youth to old age was always kind, fair and generous. He loved greatly all the family's members. If place Vito on Michael's place regarding Fredo's betrayal, he would never kill his brother, even for so many mistakes. Michael turned to heartless criminal and considered his safety as most prioritized matter. I looked through the other answers and this seems to be missing: In either the book or the movie perhaps Saga Michael says or thinks, that the problem is not forgiving Fredo but that it is Fredo forgiving himself -- he feels that Fredo will never do this.

Implicitly, this makes him dangerous since his self-hatred might be turned outwardly. I can sort of see this. However, if Michael was being completely pragmatic, why did he wait for his mom to die? If Fredo was indeed dangerous, then killing him asap would be the way Mike would have gone, I think.

I don't think it's a matter of forgiving Fredo. Michael had to kill Fredo because he can't let anyone do what Fredo did and not take appropriate action.

I am reminded of speeches from two other movies that articulate this point well:. He can't allow anyone to get away with going against him. He didn't think much of Miles, but because Miles was his partner, and if your partner is murdered, you simply have no choice but to do something about it. It was even more important than his own love for Brigid. That's why Michael had to kill Fredo in the end, even though Fredo was never going to be a threat to him, and Fredo was probably forgiven by Michael.

It's the principle behind it. Michael didn't articulate his principles the way Doyle and Sam did in those other movies, but it's the same thing. It's his consistent M. No matter how long he has to wait, he always kills whomever has betrayed or attacked the family. He waited until their mother was dead because he was also principled enough to take her into consideration. Just before Mikael says the famous quote easy to find on YouTube, saying "you are not my brother", there are explanations.

And Mikael is under trial. And he asks Fredo if he can tell him something about the investigation. And Fredo says that the Senate lawyer Questadt belongs to Roth. It it seems like Mikael feels betrayed again. For example Pantageli was tricked by Roth to believe that Mikael tried to kill him so that he can testify at court against Michael funnily he will do the opposite since he is an oldie friend of Vitto and his brother is present at the court maybe as a threat or reminder of good care of him.

And probably that Fredo does not say enough there. Maybe he expected that Mikael will lose the trial and get more place in the family and the mafia clans. That is what is awesome about this film. So many returnings of what we believe. You really have to dig deep to explain. Before we get into that, let's look at why Michael didn't kill Fredo at the end of "The Godfather. Originally, that role was designated for Sonny James Caan , and when Sonny is assassinated by Emilio Barzini's men, youngest son Michael becomes the heir instead.

Fredo really has no purpose in the family, so the Corleones send him to Las Vegas. His job is to help the Corleones make inroads into the casino business. When Fredo isn't disgracing the family name by impregnating Vegas showgirls, he's acting essentially as Greene's lackey. That's a shameful enough position for any Corleone. Even worse, when Michael tries to strong-arm Greene into selling, Fredo takes the latter's side. As the Don, Michael's cardinal rule is that nobody goes against the Corleone family and lives.

At the end of "The Godfather," he delivers bloody revenge to several people who have crossed him, including his abusive brother-in-law Carlo, his traitorous capo Tessio, and Greene. But Michael spares Fredo and warns him not to go against the family again.

This is because Michael understands that Fredo wasn't trying to deliberately subvert the family's interests. Rival gangster Louie Russo exploits rumors of Fredo's sexuality to make Michael look weak, and tries to have him killed while he is with a male lover. The novel also reveals that, in San Francisco , Fredo beats one of his lovers to death after the man recognizes him from a newspaper photo.

Hagen covers up the resulting scandal by claiming Fredo killed the man in self-defense. Fredo also has liaisons with many women, having "knocked up half the cocktail waitresses in Las Vegas". Though hesitant, they have sex, and Fredo pays her to tell Johnny it was the best she had ever had. The Corleone family would buy the former cemetery land, now prime real estate, and also be a silent partner in the graveyard business. Fredo proposes his plan to Michael, wanting to impress and convince him and others of his abilities.

Michael, however, dismisses the plan as unrealistic. Fredo arrives at the Corleone Christmas party with Deanna Dunn , a fading movie starlet. A few months later they are married. Dunn gets Fredo bit parts in some of her movies. Later, in September , Fredo's Hollywood connections allow him to get his own unsuccessful TV show, "The Fred Corleone Show", which aired irregularly, usually on Monday nights, until his death.

Meanwhile, Fredo's alcoholism worsens. He discovers Deanna cheating on him with her co-star, and shoots up the car he bought her. When Deanna's co-star tries to attack him, Fredo knocks him unconscious and is arrested. Hagen bails him out, and they get in an argument about Fredo's recklessness and Hagen's blind loyalty to Michael. Despite this, Hagen gets Fredo cleared by claiming the incident was self-defense.

Geraci and Ola meet with Fredo, who is blind drunk after having a fight with his wife, and promise to make his necropolis idea a reality in return for information about Michael. Fredo supplies them with information about the Corleone family, particularly financial interests. Anthony, about to go fishing with his uncle, is called away by his aunt Connie to go to Reno.

He actually never leaves and instead, he is sent to his room, where, from his window, he sees Fredo and Neri out on the lake. Anthony hears a gunshot and sees Neri returning alone, explaining Godfather Part III 's revelation that Anthony knows the truth about his uncle's death. In Winegardner's sequel, The Godfather's Revenge , Fredo appears in one of Michael's dreams, warning him about an unspecified threat and asking him why he had his own brother killed.

Much of the novel portrays Michael dealing with his guilt over Fredo's murder. In the final chapter of the book, Michael learns that Fredo had an illegitimate child with Michael's ex-girlfriend Rita Duvall before Michael and Rita's relationship. In , when Don Corleone is shot , Fredo asks Aldo Trapani to help him escort the ambulance to the hospital. Later on, he is seen at the hospital with Sonny Corleone , who sends Aldo away.

Not long after he fell into trouble with the Jersey police after they impounded his car while he was disposing a body for Moe Greene. Due to the car's destruction by Trapani under orders from Detective Campbell the department weren't able to convict Fredo.