Michael has been in Sicily for five months and is beginning to understand his father, the other Mafia men, and his mother. He is staying with the local Mafia chief Don Tommasino, and his identity has been kept a secret. While there, he learns more about Sicilian culture and history, including how the customs followed by the families in the United States had their origins in Sicily. He spends most of his time taking walks with the two shepherds who have been assigned, as armed bodyguards, to watch him. Sometimes he walks all the way to Corleone, his father’s hometown. Michael’s face continues to have lasting damage from McCluskey’s punch. He refuses to have surgery on his face, and his appearance helps him blend into the local population; because they are too poor for medical care, such conditions are relatively common.

One day, seven months into his stay, Michael and the two shepherds go for a walk in the mountains beyond Corleone. The three men stop to eat lunch and see some local girls. One girl runs into them accidentally, and Michael is struck by the “thunderbolt,” as one of the shepherds say. All of the local men seem to recognize this expression, which represents love at first sight.