i was thinking about it the other day, and i think i underestimate apollonia's impact on michael. at first, i didn't think he truly loved her completely, i just think he did it out of necessity. the man had not dated in a while, didn't know when he was going home. but i think about it some more, and i do think he really loved her (from his actions in godfather part III and also the deleted scene from part I).

similarly, i underestimate the effect her death had on michael. i think this made him hate his father's enemies all the more, and made him want to exact his revenge. also, he seemed so much more innocent before her death. it must have really shook his faith in God and in humanity. the woman you love and want to spend the rest of your life with and raise your kids with....dying...that must really suck the life out of you. maybe this was the real defining moment that sucked all the love for life out of him, and turned him cold.

Remember, too, his guilt over her death.

It was he that was supposed to die, not Appolonia.

Another point: Revenge is a powerful motivator, but had Michael's personality been different, I think, Appolonia's death might have made him hate his father's life even more, rather than draw him closer to it.

Appolonia woyuld have made a superb wife to Michael..much better than Kay. Was Micheal really home a year or more before we went after Kay in the school yard or was that a fabrication?

Appolonia represented our last view of Michael as a young, decent, emotionally expressive man. The very fact that he was "hit by the thunderbolt" indicated that he was still open to love and emotion. After Appolonia, he became hard and cynical. The scene with Kay in New Hampshire perfectly illustrates this: he's dressed like a banker on a business trip, wearing a homburg, followed by a limo; his tone is cold and calculating; he gives Kay all the reasons why he thinks things are changing (business conditions), then, finally, gets around to telling her he needs her and wants her--in a tone that hardly suggests unbridled passion.
I also believe that Michael may have felt that it was possible for him to return to "civilian" life after Sicily. But when Sonny was killed, and then Appolonia, his course was set in concrete.

No I totally disagree. There was nothing that could stop him for becoming the Don. He was the smartest and because of his characteristics (calculated but deadly mind) he would be a big mob boss. The killings of Sonny and Appolonia helped a bit, but I think the desicion was already made when he decided to kill McCluskey/Sollozzo.

I agree with M.M. Floors on this issue, as I totally agree that Michael Corleone had formed into a new man when he performed the hit on Sollozzo and McClusky.

I agree with this assessment, Turnbull. I had never really thought about this point, but Michael did have the possibility, albeit a small one, to return to his previous life after the Sollozzo murder. Had Sonny & Appolonia not been murdered, Michael's sense of "duty to family" would not have been as strong. As he stated throughout the Triology, Michael was ALWAYS looking to protect his family. Once he saw that his family was vulnerable after his wife & brother's death, Michael felt that protecting his family was his #1 priority. The sacrifice was entering the business he grew up despising, which I believe Michael felt was a necessary trade-off for protecting his family. The great tragedy is that Michael failed to protect those he loved most in his family: Sonny, Appolonia, and Mary. Kay was almost killed from the traitorous act begun by Fredo. In reality, the ones that survived with Michael were Mama & Connie.

I always considered the hit on Sollozo and McCluskey as the turning point in Michael's life.

However, reading all these thoughts, got me thinking or maybe speculating is a better word. Perhaps Michael knew he was "in" the business after these murders, and yet perhaps had Appollonia lived he may have tried to go back to normal.

I think of that short scene when Michael was walking in Sicily and Don Thomissino drives up to him and Michael asked "Did they say when I can come back to America?". Then too, the loving looks and gentle manner he had with Appollonia during the dinner at her house. I don't know these seemed more down to earth and lacking of any of Michael's later "cold" traits.

Then again, if Puzo would have wanted the story to go that way, he would have written it that way. Still it's interesting to speculate since we all seem to know these characters so well.

TIS

Some real good points here by everyone...

I think Michael's turning point was even before the Solozzo scene.

Remember at the hospital, when Michael realizes that a hit is about to take place against his father. He tells his father "I'm with you now. I'm with you now." And Don Vito is smiling as tears trickle down his cheek.

THAT point is when Michael realizes that he is and will always be a part of his father's family.

How could Michael come up with the idea for the Solozzo hit if he wasn't already there?

Not that the Solozzo scene didn't have a huge impact on Michael. It was his first killing (except maybe for some unkown, distant killings in war.) But by that time he was already on board.