But he is, Michael didn't have a choice. He had to defend his father by killing Zollozzo and McCluskey. And once Sunny was killed there was no one else to take

But he is, Michael didn't have a choice. He had to defend his father by killing Zollozzo and McCluskey. And once Sunny was killed there was no one else to take over the family empire. The reason the family is in the business is in is because it's the only path Vito Corleon saw as a way to scape poverty and discriminations. Once the path was set by him, it's hard for the family to escape it. The predominate theme is Michael's desire to get out of the life of crime but not being able to do it. He gets blocked by the family's history and what others expect of the family business and its leader. The story is a tragedy, Vito is a great success in an area in society that no one outside the crime families respects. Imagine what he and his family could have been had he not been discriminated.