Well-posed scenario, Goombah.
I interpreted the passage in the novel to mean that Sonny was waiting for Michael to drop his Ivy League persona and help Sonny wipe out the "f***s who are trying to kill our father." I didn't interpret it to mean that Sonny wanted Michael in the family business (not what Vito said he wanted for Michael), but it's not impossible to imagine Sonny needing Michael's help down the road, or if Vito had died. BUT:
Turnbull, nor did I interpret that Sonny tried to lure Michael into the family business. But re-reading my post I now see that I didn't make that clear in writing, even though what you said is what I was thinking.
Thanks for making the point how I intended.
I think that is one of the brilliant storylines of the novel that should not have been left out of the film. Sonny calling Michael's b.s. and saying "it's about time you joined us."
Which to me begs another question. It is quite clear from the novel and the film that Vito was highly intelligent. From his own experiences, Vito knows that politicians, judges, and police were very easily bribed/bought. Why would Vito want to make his own flesh & blood part of the "same hypocrisy" that he held with such contempt? I get that having Michael in would be beneficial to the Corleone empire, but for a man with such high standards, it seems to me that Vito would have been selling out putting in his son. I could see a nephew or other familiy associate as a well-placed pawn, but this just seems like too big of a contradiction to my eyes.
