GOODFELLAS

A detailed Summary of GOODFELLAS

The movie "Goodfellas" is a dramatization of life in the New York Mafia. It is based on the accounts of real

life ex-gangster turned state evidence. He tells his story from when he was hired by a wiseguy as a teenager

in the fifties to the time he is put in the witness protection program in the seventies.

The movie portrays the spirit of the Mafia subculture and demonstrates their distinctive values, customs,

norms, and deviant lifestyle. The Mafia is a subculture of localized groups of criminals that developed for

the purpose of protecting those who can not go to the police for protection. Its roots can be traced back to

Sicily, where the Mafia was based on the premise that any member suffering an alleged injustice was obliged to

take personal vengeance while avoiding all contact with legal authorities. Even in the modern day American Mafia,

each family ruled it's own territory and when others from outside the territory interfered they were dealt with

through violent methods. The wiseguys (or local gangsters) paid for their protection by paying the head of their

local family. This payoff was also known as paying tribute to the boss.

Many of the Mafia's folkways and mores' were identified through

the Mafia were the codes of trust and silence. In other words, never rat on a friend and keep your mouth shut. These

to look the other way when crimes were committed.

a dispute with a different family's member, the bosses communicated directly. They were private conversation between the

took a liking to a neighborhood kid and offered him a job. As

his Mafia graduation and as important as losing his virginity.

The symbols of the family values were the huge lavish children's birthday parties, the expensive gifts given to the wives and

deviant and criminal behavior as nothing more than carrying out every day business transactions. That is how they got the name

Approximate Word count = 901
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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