You could argue that Michael was drawn into the Mafia life by circumstance--in his case, Vito's shooting and Sonny's subsequent assassination. But, in the novel, Vito says more than once, "A man has but one destiny." Was Michael destined to be a criminal mastermind?

Ntra la porta tua lu sangu � sparsu,
E nun me mporta si ce muoru accisu...
E s'iddu muoru e vaju mparadisu
Si nun ce truovo a ttia, mancu ce trasu.