Originally posted by Turnbull:
Near the very end of the novel, Kay prepares to go to daily Mass with Mama to pray for Michael's soul. The narrative notes that Kay had taken instruction in the Catholic Church. Michael was "disappointed...he had wanted his children to be raised as Protestants...it was more American..." [emphasis added].
I don't doubt that Michael loved Kay, in his own way. But I also think he used her to prop up his own obsession with "legitimacy."
Turnbull, did you read my "last chapter analysis"? I explaned there how I understand this phrase.
In short, it was no obsession of Michael's, it was another example of his endless manipulativeness. What ever career his children would choose, they must be on top, and he calculated that a more American religion will help them, clearing their way to success. Not that he wished them to be less Sicilian inside at the same time. It was to be the most convenient surface to
get there . He was manipulating the whole American society at once
.
