If Sonny hadn't died...

...would Michael have still been a part of the family business when he came back or would he have been able to do what he wanted? I'm guessing Vito wouldve made Sonny head of the family when he realized he was getting too old and Michael wouldve been forced to remain a part of the business since he had already killed. I dont know for sure tho, so would Michael have still had a choice or was he automatically sucked in after he shot Sollozo?

I think things would have gotten VERY interesting had Sonny survived. You gotta remember, in the scene where Vito is explaining to Tom why he's out as consigliere, Vito says "I never thought you a bad consigliere. I thought Santino a bad Don, rest in peace." I think that Michael would have still taken his position as Don, and God only knows the possibilities of what could happen, what with Sonny's habit of going into fitful rages. Sonny would be expecting to become Don, and when pop passes the reigns to his kid brother, I'm pretty sure the shit would hit the fan. Oh man, the possibilities!

In the novel, even after Michael had shot Sollozzo, he felt that his role within the Family business was finished. Sonny's death, along with Apollonia, forced Michael to take over. Michael had to avenge their deaths. I don't think Michael would have stayed involved if, after coming back from Sicily, Sonny was still alive. And I don't think that Vito would have passed over Sonny to give the Family business to Michael. If Michael chose to be involved, they probably would have run the Family together.

Had Sonny lived, the Family was heading into a bad situation because of the war. Tom couldn't rein in Sonny's temper, which clouded Sonny's judgment and decision-making. But even Sonny recognized that Tom was not capable of being an effective wartime consiglieri.

I always thought that Vito wanted Michael to be a civilian and not part of the family business. When Vito learns it was Michael who killed Sollozzo and McKlusky, Vito kind of waves them off, as if to say, "I never wanted this."

In the garden scene, Vito even says that he thought Michael could have become a senator, or even something more.

No doubt that being a senator he still would have had the family's interest at heart - and another way to gain influence within the authority - but at least he wouldn't be in the middle of wars, etc.

I think Sonny would have been Don by default. Vito couldn't deny his oldest son the position. Imagine the power struggle that would have happened had Mike, a war hero and otherwise civilian, being picked over Sonny to be the next Don.

That would have been interesting...

It would have been bad news, good news!

bad news: we proably wont have had GFII

good news: we would have been spared GFIII

The book speaks more to the fact that the Corelone's were quite fatalistic. They believed that every man has his destiny - and that this was Michael's.

I don't think GF III was all that bad. Sonny and Fredo are two sides of the same coin. Sonny with his lack of patience and impulsivness and Fredo's niavety both give them serious handicaps in terms of living the life they were living. Sonny's death wasn't a surprise, the cunning enemy could use someone's weaknesses against them as they did Sonny and Fredo.

I think if Sonny had survived it would olbviosuly be a different story. He could may have became the Don, through succession, although in the past Vito has shown enormous wisdom and may have still went with Michael. I think what happened was Sonny's death just expedited the process of Michael becoming th Don.

It's true that in the novel, the Don said, "every man has but one destiny"--but he said it about Sonny, after Sonny told him he'd seen Vito kill Fanucci. But Michael? I think that if Sonny had lived, Michael could have returned to "civilian" life and even become the senator or governor his father wanted him to be. The novel shows how the Bocchicchio family provided an iron-clad way for Michael to come home from Sicily and to escape arrest for the McCluskey/Sollozzo murders. Assuming he could have forsworn vengeance for Apollonia (or postponed it for an opportune time), I think that Michael would have welcomed the opportunity to return to college, marry Kay and live a "normal life." Sonny, IMO, was destined to die by the sword. If he'd survived long enough for Michael to have returned to civilian life, and died afterward, it would have been very interesting to see if Michael stepped in or not.

If Sonny would have become the don, I think Mike still would have been pulled back in. Sonny was a smart guy, no doubt, but he had too short of a fuse. If he blew up before he became the Don, what is to say he is going to stop once he becomes the Don. I think Sonny would have done something stupid,getting killed or seriously hurt, and Mike would once again be pulled back in.

I think in a way MP's intention was to show the shortcoming of attitudes and perpensities that if cemented will cause the downfall in one way or another of the characters.

Sonny's was his rage. In the world of the GF, MP, is basically saying if you even have one thing that the enemy can manipulate, well you are indeed weak. I think it's no coincidence that SOnny was killed the way he was or Fredo for that matter. They bother are two sides of the same coin. For instance, Fredo fucked up, pleyed the wrong side, and although he may have thought he was doing the right thing, his weakness is what caused him to succomb and evenetually die. Sonny likewise but in a similar albiet inverse manner.

Interesting dilemma for Vito! I doubt that he would make Sonny his successor after witnessing his conduct. He did not Mike in the business at all. Fredo was never in the running. I would not be suprise if he made Tessio or Clemenza his successor