Michael demotes Tom

I know that from reading some of the other threads on the Michael/Tom relationship is mostly about his blaming Tom for Sonny's death and such.


But I think there are different reasons. More prominent ones.

When I watch the movie and see Sonny and Tom interact in front of Michael. There is a issue there, one of a certain level of disrespect(for lack of a better word).


Tom and Sonny interact in such a way that Tom is yelling at Sonny. Atleast one time I can remember in front of Michael. I dont think Michael wanted any part of that and stripped Tom. "No chance" of (that disrespect) that happening

You cant have your Consigliere yelling at the Godfather especially in front of your underlings.

You're misinterpreting Tom's and Sonny's relationship. They were like brothers, such was represented in the flashback scene at the end of GFII between Sonny and Michael when Sonny went after Michael.

Michael reveals his feelings about Tom early in the film. He intriduces Tom to Kay in the course of which he tells her his last name. He then tells Kay that Tom is not a Sicilian. Both statements are accurate, but they are also indicative of Michael's lack of comfort with Tom.

I understand what you are saying. So you dont believe that Tom was out of line in how he talked to Sonny? (Just asking :))

I do remember Michael and his comments to Kay about Tom. I just think there is more to it. Michael's hearing testimony paraphrasing here "Godfather is a term used as a sign of respect" etc.

I am repeating myself here, but it is clear thatSonny and Tom had a much closer relationship than Tom and Michael. Sonny and Tom both knew each other's shortcomings and their strengths, and they were really more like brothers. While Michael was in his rebellion period and then fighting in WWII, Tom and Sonny were learning the family business at Vito Corloene's knee. Vito also had great affection for Tom. If you look at the dynamic Tom and
Sonny often raised their voices to one another when they got angry.

On the other hand you never see Tom get angry with Michael. He gets hurt, but never angry, and likewise Michael shows little emotion toward Tom unles it suits some ulterior motive of Michael's.

So when Tom yells at Sonny that he's getting quite a reputation as a hot head who is screwing up business, Sonny retorts by saying Pop had Genco, look what I got. Immediately Sonny apologizes and puts his arm around Tom and they go off to dinner.

When Michael wants to tell Tom his shortcomings as a wartime consigliere, he tells him just that in a measured, cold tone, and when Tom, hurt by the comment says "maybe I could help." Mike says "You're out." Sonny would have never spoken to Tom that way, nor would Vito. In fact in that scene Vito tries to save Tom's hurt feelings by saying he never thought he was a bad consigliere, but that his own son was a bad Don.

Even the little things show this distance. As was pointed out in this thread when Mike introduce Tom to Kay he goes through this whole thing about how he is not a Sicilian etc. Notice the scene when Michael leaves the house to go on his mission to kill Sollozzo and McCluskey, and knows he will be gone for a long time, he gives Sonny a huge bear hug, but when he says goodbye to Tom he just puts his hand around the back of his neck.

I agree with Olivant's interpretation of Tom's relationship with Sonny.

Michael never doubted Tom's loyalty or respect. This is made clear after the Tahoe assassination attempt, when Michael is unsure who the traitor is but never suspects Tom.

I'm not sure what more there could be to it. As others have posted, Michael just didn't feel the same way toward Tom that Sonny did. That's consistent with Michael's personality: to Michael, people were strictly utilitarian.

Sonny saved Tom from the streets. Sonny and Tom grew up together and were roughly the same age. There was a deep reservoir of shared experiences that Tom didn't have with Michael. So Tom feels free to speak his mind and occasionally show exasperation or lose his temper with Sonny.

Michael is just colder and quieter than Sonny. Tom doesn't have a brotherly relationship that he had with Sonny nor does he have the father-son relationship he had with Vito.

When Michael takes over, basically Tom is just like any other mope in the corporate world where there's been a change of management. He's just out of favor. Nothing personal, just business..

Also, Michael was a hyper-controller. He had to have things his way. Sonny chose Tom as his brother, Michael didn't. Vito chose Tom as his consigliere, Michael didn't. After the Tahoe shooting, when Michael tells Tom, "You're my brother," Tom almost gets tearful and says, "I always wanted to be thought of as a brother by you, Mikie." That tells me Tom didn't believe Michael thought of him as a brother.

Great point TB. Do you think even at the moment Tom utteed those words he knew Michael didn't think of him as a real brother, but instead knew in his heart that Tom's was Michael's choice of last resort under the circumstances?

Intellectually, he probably did know he was last resort. But, emotionally, at that moment, he meant what he said. "Hope springs eternal..." That hope got dashed when his "brother" returned from Havana.

In the novel, Tom's back story really explains his extreme devotion to the Corleone family. His father was an alcoholic and his mother went blind. He was homeless and starving when Sonny brought him home to live with them, and sick with an eye infection. He was convinced that he would go blind like his mother, but the Corleones took him to a doctor that cured him.

He often had nightmares about being homeless and blind, and only the sound of Vito's voice when he woke up could soothe him.

Tom's intelligence complemented Sonny's emotion, and so the two could work as a team. Michael's strength, like Tom's, is intelligence. Thus Tom, like Tessio, would eventually become a rival to Michael.

It seems likely that Vito saw Tom as a vehicle to provide Sonny with brains, so that Sonny could run the family and Michael would be free to pursue legitimate activities. When Michael joined the organization, it was only logical to switch Tom back out to the legitimate side.

Sonny had to have things 'his way' too. Evident in the staircase shoutout between him & Tom after Vito comes home from the hospital.

That aside, I do agree that Tom was much closer to Sonny than to Michael. I think until Michael returned from Italy to pretty much run the Family, Tom thought of him as the kid brother who needed looking after (and his future 'discussed' with Vito). He was clearly worried when Michael was about to go off & shoot Solozzo. The tables were a bit turned on Tom when Michael eventually became not only his boss, but The Don. While he got crap from Sonny as well, there was more of a warmth, even equality in their relationship.

Apple

In a deleted scene, Mike lost a huge bet on Tom's recommendation of a winner in the Mr. Potatohead world championship competition. Tom being Irish, Mike figured he knew what he was talking about when it came to potatos. If only ...!

I too have heard about the infamous Mr. Potatohead game incident!

ds