Now, keep in mind that it is his father who has been attacked. He was too young to be aware of previous attacks on his father such as Sonny referred to in the Saga and is stated in the novel. Thus, this attack would be expected to ignite in him the same passion that it would probably ignite in most if not all of us in the same situation. Had Sollozzo been killed soon thereafter, then Mike never volunteers for the assignment, never indulges in bloodletting, never goes to Sicily, never, experieinces life with Appolonia and her death, Sonny never gets killed, and on and on. Mike becomes a mathematics professor.