Fredo wanted to prove himself after years of being passed over.
Fredo's choice to turn on Michael stems from his feelings of inadequacy relative to his father, brother, and more generally strong family. Fredo's incompetence is crucial in his fall from grace, but his ambition to flourish outside the mob brings about his fate. Fredo sees Hyman Roth as a slick operator who can run interference between the two parties when his associate Johnny Ola tells him Michael is acting disruptively in their strained business relationship. Fredo perceives himself as free from the mob of Michael and Roth, hence he can control both sides for his own benefit.
Fredo dies in the ending of The Godfather Part Ii since he lacks Michael's deadly instinct. Paradoxically, the flashbacks in The Godfather Part II show that Fredo was the only family member who backed Michael's choice to enlist the Marines, where he gained the cold-blooded pragmatism that would later on in life make him an effective, lethal Mafia boss. Fredo was unstable and insecure enough to turn on Michael, but apparently he gave Ola and Roth little information to effectively have his brother killed. He so found himself living the worst of both worlds.
The Villains of Hyman Roth and The Godfather 2 Manipulated Fredo
Although Fredo's exact offer is unknown, it is apparent that Ola intimated Fredo, along with Hyman Roth, would be arranging what Michael had avoided. Fredo felt he was establishing himself and striking out alone working with Hyman Roth. Rather, he was under control of a more formidable and seasoned gangster. Fredo equivocates and tries to align with both his brother and Michael's foes whereas The Godfather Part Ii's younger Vito acts with obvious savagery as he confronts the local mob and grabs their territory. Although Fredo's exact offer is unknown, it is clear from dealing with Hyman Roth that Ola hinted at Fredo repairing an arrangement Michael had scuffed-through.
The possibility of putting one up on Michael was too much for Fredo to resist since the older brother was the face of the family's failings and a regular figure of fun. Early in the sequel, Fredo embarrassed himself by openly battling his wife at a family gathering; his character arc was mostly motivated by shame all through the narrative. Michael cared more about Fredo's death than he was ready to confess, but his iron will in the sequel's ending makes the difference between the two obvious. The contentious The Godfather Part III
Fredo Ignorant Of The Scheme To Kill Michael Corleone
Fredo might have honestly not known about the actual goals of the competing Mafia. Though it's difficult to say whether Fredo is lying, he says he was unaware Ola and Hyman Roth were developing a scheme to assassinate Michael. According to him, Roth and Johnny Ola informed Fredo he would be doing Michael a favor by smoothing out the discussions between them, therefore he thought he was assisting the family and had no idea they would try to take down Michael at his family home. But given the circumstances of the scenario, it is unclear whether Fredo provided Michael's opponents with information knowing their actual intentions.
Michael has already survived the attempt and found Fredo's involvement with Roth and Ola by the time Fredo swears he had no idea they intended an assassination attempt. From Sonny's horrific murder to the head left in Woltz's bed, Fredo knows that both the family and their rivals are capable of some quite horrible acts of violence. Having said that, Fredo seems really naïve in comparison to Michael and Tom Hagen; previous scenes clearly show his relative stupidity. Fredo might thus really have had no notion about the actual aims of the competing gang.
Fredo Really Did Love Michael in The Godfather 2
Michael never pardon himself for the command, even although Fredo probably brought it upon himself by betraying his brother. Whether Fredo was fooling himself or truly clueless about Hyman Roth's scheme, it is important to remember that he loved Michael sincerely. This is fundamental to the real tragedy of The Godfather trilogy as, in killing his brother, Michael also gives his own soul the kiss of death. Since this would have been seen as a sign of weakness in the merciless world of the mafia, Michael couldn't pardon his brother's Betrayal; it would have open season on the godfather from thereon out. But killing Michael's sibling killed his own conscience.
Notwithstanding all the flaws in The Godfather Part III, the last chapter of the trilogy does a fair job of showing the consequences of Fredo's death. Though Fredo most certainly brought it upon himself by betraying his brother, Michael never forgives himself for the order. With Michael's anguish over his greatest fault casting a shadow over his whole career as a mob leader, the topic of whether an apparently stronger, smarter figure like Michael is his brother's keeper becomes dubious as The Godfather trilogy draws to an end. Thus, the defining tragedy of the trilogy is the Fredo death in The Godfather Part II.
Fredo's Tragic Journey
The killing of Fredo marks the worst tragedy in The Godfather Part II, and many viewers are left naturally perplexed as to why the apparently perfect supporting character turned on his brother. Though Michael Corleone ends up substituting The Godfather's Vito Corleone as the godfather for the mafia family before The Godfather Part II, Vito was not without possible contenders. Although Michael's older brother Fredo seemed had a claim to the position, Vito's Consigliere, Tom Hagen, could never have assumed the position as he was not a blood relative of the godfather. Vito passes Fredo in favour of Michael at the end of the Godfather.
This decision haunts the family in The Godfather Part II once Fredo assigns Michael a fresh personal offense. Tensions between the inept, insecure Fredo and his frigid, austere younger brother abound throughout the movie. Fredo betrays Michael eventually, although the sequel takes care not to say exactly what information he supplies the enemies of the family. Hyman Roth's rival mob thus targets Michael's life and he barely escapes. Though The Godfather films never fully explain what drove Fredo to make this sad, fatal mistake, his Betrayal costs him his life.
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