#he made joe hold the gun when he couldve gotten literally anyone else

[eagleeyethree]

Mafia protagonists and violence

One origin of the Sicilian Mafia is said to be from the protection of lemon trees—the Italian state was very weak during the 19th century, and so it could not protect the people or their property very well.

Violence and the threat of violence then became a tool to solve problems with.

And each Mafia protagonist views and uses violence differently, sometimes closer to the original idea of protection, sometimes further.

Violence has never really been Tommy Angelo's choice of language. He's the least likely to resort to violence, and he views the Mafia as his job that just happens to be illegal. In fact, he never really gets used to violence, not really. He wanted to be able to talk about it with his wife like it was a normal job. Frank tried to teach him that enforcing Salieri's laws was no different than enforcing the state's. But still, Tommy only stomachs violence if he can justify it as self-defense. Ironically, the only time he's able to kill outside of that frame is in his last act of violence to leave the Mafia for good. To protect his family.

Vito Scaletta, by nature and by environment, resorts more quickly to violence. He's constantly surrounded by the idea that violence solves problems. The largest influences in his life--his father, the military, jail, and Joe—all reinforce this idea, and his mother and sister who don't, serve as an example of how to be exploited.

But, he also only uses force in an aggressive environment, whether that's in a shootout or to defend someone being harassed. In fact, Vito was the one trying to convince Joe not to go in guns blazing after Henry's death. He wanted to know why Henry was killed. What was the problem that pushed Wong toward murder? Was it justified?

In Mafia 3, he works fine with Cassandra despite clashing with them in the past because it was all business. No hard feelings because now he knows the rules to violence.

On the other hand, Lincoln Clay knows violence is just a means to an end. He's the most aware of the psychological intimidation factor associated with violence, and that's the entire basis of the game. A fight where no one fights is ideal, but the next best thing is a fight where the opponent is emotional and irrational and you have the advantage. Hell, he's probably been aware of that from a young age—how he appears to people, society and how to play to expectations. It's only gotten reinforced by the Vietnam War and CIA.

It's his tool for revenge, for interrogation, but he doesn't like prolonging it unnecessarily. He falls into violence as a way to ease his feelings for guilt a little bit, but then spares Alvarez when he remembers the ultimate purpose behind his violence: to protect others from Marcano.