Preview

Good Fellas

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
890 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Good Fellas
GoodFellas What is a gangster? A gangster or mobster is a criminal member of a crime organization. It is a criminal organization that associates with the Italian Mafia. Its an addictive way of life that leads to two places; six feet under or in jail. However, everyone wants to be a gangster. Is it because of the power, the fame or the fortune. In the classic movie “GoodFellas” the characters Henry Hill, Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito grow up to be gangsters. They experience many life- threatening situations that ultimately prove they were born to be gangsters. They become successful, daring and dangerous all at one time. The film takes place in East New York in the heart of an Italian neighborhood. Controlled by the Mafia. Everyone knows the of the criminal organization but no one has the guts to stand up to them for fear of being killed. The neighborhood is taught two vital lessons in life to keep them safe, “Never rat on your friends and keep your mouth shut.” At a young age, Henry Hill and his friends learn those lessons rather quickly. The movie begins with character Henry Hill stating, “as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” Not knowing the meaning of a gangster, Henry Hill, was forced to conform to what he observed. Amazed by how much fun and excitement he and his friend Tommy were having, the two young gangsters were influenced to perform deadly task under the wing of the local mob captain, Paul Cicero. Henry, Jimmy and Tommy were conformed to the life of a mafia members. The great number of people that were already to conformed and the type of responses they received intrigued them. The Solomon Arch Experiment demonstrated the social psychology theory of Obedience. Obedience is defined as changing one’s behavior at the command of an authority figure. Just like in any organization, there is always one person who is in command. In the movie, Paul “Paulie” Cicero is looked at as the authority figure because he makes all the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Scarface tells the story of a Cuban refugee who goes by the name Tony Montana. He arrives in Miami from Cuba with his friend Manny. After they arrive, they quickly realize that lowly work does not suit them. They want to make money the easy way; so they start doing jobs for wealthy drug dealers in Miami. Through the process, they meet and become very good friends with a very wealthy drug lord named Frank. It 's not long before Tony starts to think about starting his own drug empire and getting rid of Frank.…

    • 1796 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gangster Disciples

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The organization of the Gangster Disciples and their battle plans were created by Gangster Disciple's chief, Larry King Hoover. They modeled this after Chicago's Italian Mafia, the top-down organization has always strived for discipline, respect, and to respect the hierarchy. At the top is the chairman, in this case it is Hoover, and two boards of directors, one controls street operations and the other controls imprisoned gang members. Under the directors are about 15 governors who look over up to 1,500 members each in specific territories. These territories are subdivided between regents and coordinators in which they distribute drugs, oversee operations, manage security forces, and collect profits and dues called street taxes. At the bottom of the organization are enforcers and shorties. Enforcers mete out fines and violations which included punishments ranging from beatings to death for members who break gang rules. Shorties execute drug deals and guard gang territory.…

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through out history crime has existed not only through individuals but groups, some organized others not. Crime knows no boundaries: it exists in all cultures, is committed by every race, and has existed in all time periods. The Mafia was started for the purpose to create a family orientated organization of Sicilians to gain freedom, and has grown to become one of the most successful organized crime syndicates, that over time has fascinated many people. The mafia through all its publicised terror and famous court hearings have left an impression on our society that will not be forgotten. For many incentives such as money and power, the mafia grew popular and eventually spread through out the world.…

    • 906 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When talking about the history of prohibition and Mobs the most famous name to come up will usually be Al Capone, yet he was not the only big name in the bootlegging business and there war many gangs all vying for control of this illicit business. To name a few, there was Dion O’Banion who controlled Chicago’s Near North side, Klondike O’Donnell and his brothers who commanded the Northwest side, the “Terrible Genna brothers” who controlled the Near West Side, and Irish O’Donnell brother on the Southwest side (Lombardo 81). These gangs and others not listed were all grabbing for power in a seemingly cold war against each other. Gang violence would later become increasingly common and violent once these gangs became more established and hungry…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Mafia is an Italian-American organized-crime network with operations in places all around the United States, especially in New York and Chicago. The reason why the Italians got involved with the Mafia in America is because in Italy, the Sicilian Mafia was under attack by Benito Mussolini. Some of them escaped to the United States, and joined the American Mafia in things such as bootlegging, smuggling, money laundering, and bribing police. In the 1920’s is when the Mafia really started to get organized. What happened was a struggle known as the Castellammarese War broke out between New York City’s two biggest Italian-American criminal gangs. In 1931, a Sicilian-born crime boss Salvatore Maranzano came out on top and he called himself boss of all bosses, in New York. Another mobster called Lucky Luciano was unhappy with this and he had him murdered that year. Luciano then formed a central organization called the Commission to be a board of directors for the American Mafia. By then the Mafia already had at least 20 crime families across the United States. In New York, which had the most crime, was separated into five main Mafia families. Other than that there was just one crime family per city. The Commission’s job was to set policies and take care of disagreements between the different mafia families. Some rituals that they had before you could join the mafia were to…

    • 1754 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    How To Join A Gang Essay

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gang is: A group of people, youngsters or adolescent who associate closely, often exclusively, for social reasons, esp. such as a group engaging in delinquent behavior. It is said that there are about 750,000 different gangs in the United States, ranging from cultural meaning people from the same culture like the “The Latin Kings” consisting of Hispanic members to the “ Zoe pound” which include only Haitians or the well know the “mafia” which consist of the Italians. Other gangs are just diverse like the Crips and the Bloods, these gangs are like the country we live in the melting pot.…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the 1920’s and the Prohibition Era one of the most common practices for Mafia members was to provide illegal alcohol to speakeasy owners and citizens alike. Then moving into the Great Depression bank robberies and even some kidnappings became a popular practice. The economy was in ruins and members of the Mafia would do anything to make money. Other illegal activities that members of the Mafia participated in include killings of rival gang members or enemies and illegal gambling such as rigged slot machines. They participated in extortion which is obtaining money or goods through threats and violence and this was especially common amongst members of the Mob. Also very common was loansharking which is where someone would offer loans to others but had extremely high interest rates. Women also participated in illegal activities of their own such as prostitution. Although they were not full fledged members of the Mafia they certainly had ties to it. With all of these practices threats, blackmail and violence would be used regularly in order to get what they wanted. It was not uncommon for Mob members to pull guns on people they entered deals with or use their dirty secrets against them. The main goal of all of these activities was to make money for themselves and for the Mafia as an…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the past century, the field of Psychology has prospered, giving way to a more in depth knowledge and understanding of people’s social interactions with one another and what drives those connections. 20th century psychologist, Stanley Milgram, executed a series of Obedience to Authority test on random participants. As seen in the YouTube videos online and in class, Milgram’s study found that over 65% of the participants carried out the experiment, despite potentially hurting someone, due to the authority figure urging them to continue.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A gang is a group of people that shares a purpose or an identity. The shared identity can be based on culture, class, religion or even ethnicity (Delaney, 2006). Gangs have been around for hundreds of years. They go back as far as the early 1800’s. Their favorite crimes at that time were loitering and vandalism. After the 1920’s it was booze, gambling along with extortion. Gang bosses that were from Ireland and Italy took over the streets of New York, and Chicago. Some decided to have nicknames like “Crazy Legs, Sticky Fingers even The Nose” because they said their last names were foreign and sounded goofy.…

    • 1800 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Gambino Crime Family

    • 2174 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Gambino crime family is one of the most notorious gangs in the American mafia and was named after an infamous boss, Carlo Gambino. It all started in 1913 when a man Joe Masseria took over a gang of Italians known as the Morello Gang (Bruno, 2007). Another man known to be infiltrating the city from Sicily, Salvatore Maranzano, became a thorn in the side of Masseria. With two dueling leaders of two different groups in New York, the city became an open wound for the men of these groups to overthrow the dictatorship. In 1931, an underling of Masseria, known as Lucky Luciano created his own fate by arranging for the murder of Masseria while playing cards at a Coney Island…

    • 2174 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Goodfellas Paper

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Martin Scorsese does an exquisite job of making this film real. When Henry is still young, his innocence is displayed so subtly, but with profound clarity. The same can be said for all the scenes in the movie. The characters often seem to live in a different world, with their frequent killings and the absence of emotion that they display. Then all of a sudden, you'll find yourself identifying with the character, and they will seem so classically human. The Gangster, as Robert Warshow puts it, is a “quintessential 'tragic hero', a character whose very nature and deeds ultimately condemn them to a short and fruitless existence, outside of the boundaries of normal society”. The Gangster's place within cinema is an important one, and the genre has now developed to a point of sophistication far beyond the flailing reach of the petty criminals on which it was based.…

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is the larger picture the writer and director want people to see throughout it. The mafia is what ran the streets of New York during this time period. The entire movie was based around the mafia and their activities. The gambling, the bars, the violence. It was all a part of the mafia and its power. The opposing side to the power issue with the mafia is that of what his father tries to teach him in regards to it as well as to the issues of racism and the morals a person should have. The issues his father brings into the film all play into the way the characters interact with each other and the smaller picture that is going on inside the mafia-run streets of New York in the…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Goodfellas is a brash and ballistic gangster film which follows the criminal escapades of central character Henry Hill as he moves up the mafia food chain, the film itself takes place in a very claustrophobic environment, with the world’s axis consisting of New York City, Philadelphia and prison. The world the film presents is a gritty and pessimistic one, with this Microcosm reflecting the state of the real world and society at the time. From the derogatory locations seen it is obvious that a Marxist would agree with this being a true reflection of the state of the world, as greedy Capitalists control the way the world works and has a didactic grip on the world’s economy. In this sense the mobs seen in Goodfellas fully represent the bigoted views of the Capitalists in charge and show how organised crime is the perfect analogy for the exploitative nature of society and how those who run society are only doing so for their own benefits, not caring about anyone else.…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Sabela Burleson Vierra SOC 342 September 27, 2014 Wiseguy In a society with no privileges, a life of status and wealth was just outside of the window for Henry Hill. When Hill was only eleven years old he began a life of crime. It all started at a cabstand located across the street from Henry Hill’s small three-bedroom apartment which housed his parents and six other siblings. Henry’s father worked as an electrician and struggled to keep food on the table and a roof over the head of the family, Hill yearned for something better.…

    • 1194 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nice Guys

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Nice guys is a term in the popular culture and general public discourse describing a male, young or adult, with friendly yet unassertive personality traits in the context of a relationship with a woman. Nice guy is said to be who puts their interest aside and out others first, avoids confrontation, does favors, gives emotional support, tried to stay out of trouble and generally be nice towards women. Although many people would agree with the generalization of “nice guys always finish last” I would disagree and side with nice guys because bad guys may get the girls and sleep around but in the end of the day they end up with the nice guy.…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics