, in Vito's drawing room, he explains to Sonny, Tom, Clemenza, and Tessio how he will kill Sollozzo and the corrupt cop McCluskey (Coppola, 1972).
By the time of that explanation, however, which cements the transformation of Michael's personal and professional priorities, Michael has already made his commitment. As he tells Vito in the hospital: "I'm here, Pop. I'm with you now" (Coppola, 1972). If that is an embrace of evil from the conventional standpoint, Michael still cannot be dismissed as a candidate for tragic stature. What makes him compellhng is that everxthing that flows to him after that decision is built on and compounds whatever error of moral judgment Michael has made. Further, Michael has the gift of intelligence and is completely conscious, perhaps not of the specific consequences of the choices he makes but surely that bad consequences may flow from them. Equally, Michael's self-consciousness makes him a rich candidate for detailed character analysis.
It is at this point that Freudian theory becomes rel
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