- How does Pileggi manage to get us inside the mind of a gangster? Put another way, how is Henry Hill different than you?
- What part does ethnicity play in the lives of these gangsters?
- How is Karen, Henry's wife, an enabler of Henry's crime career? What is/are her role(s)?
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Unit II: Violence in the USA
For this second unit, we're going to look at several genres and several mediums which address the issue of violence in the USA. Our first reading is Nicholos Pileggi's true crime book Wise Guy. True crime has been an incredibly popular genre ever since Truman Capote's bestseller In Cold Blood came out in 1965. In fact, it's no longer just a book form, but also film (Zodiac, 2007), TV (American Crime Story, 2016), and podcasts. Wise Guy (1985) is about the Italian mob in Brooklyn and Queens and is the basis for Martin Scorsese's 1990 film Goodfellas. Some quesetions I have about the opening of the book:
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Henry Hill did not belong to his own parents when he was a kid. Actually, it started when he was 11. This is the different between him and me. He has 6 siblings live with their father and mother. They are not terrible. I mean they never neglect Henry, they never abuse their kids, and they are not in criminal at all. Henry's character isn't so different than me. He loves to be a part of family member. However, what he is different than me is: he chose other family, Vario's family, as his family when he was very young. Vario's family helps him and cerebrates him as normally what family does. But the family is involved in criminal.
ReplyDeleteI mean the environment (back ground) is more important than the personal character to create a big criminal.
ReplyDeleteI think the combination of both environment and individual character is equally important contributing factor.
DeleteAnybody who is a good learner can be a criminal if the environment (his/her teacher, parents) involves criminal background. But this isn't always true so Henry's character, of course, is also a contributing factor for him to be a criminal.
ReplyDeleteHenrys wife does not tell Henry no. She lets him do what ever he wants. When her parents are telling her the truth and not lying to her she rather not believe or listen to them. Then when she finds out that they are telling the truth instead of saying to her parents that they were right, she rather keep pretending that they are wrong. She doesn't want to look wrong or give her parents the upper hand. She is a wife that sits back and just lets her husband do what ever he wants like go out on Friday nights which are girlfriend nights. Then go out with her(wife) on Saturday nights. She just sits back and does nothing.
ReplyDeleteI think one way that Pileggi gets us inside the mind of a gangster is by simply letting Henry talk. He's incredibly generous with quotes from both Henry and Karen and both of them are very articulate about their experiences and history. Henry seems to be an interesting combination of perceptive and clueless. In the segment I wrote, he seems very aware that Tommy Morton should be pissed off b/c he's stuck w/ these spoiled worthless kids as employees (who are stealing from him and who, unlike any other employee, can't be fired since they're connected). But he also seems to think that the German chef is terrible b/c he feeds he and Lenny chicken and rice like the "regular employees." He's so used to taking what he wants that he feels offended when people don't immediately do that. (A similar thing happens when a waiter spills a glass of wine on Paulie's restaurant and he sends his whole gang after the employees.)
ReplyDeleteA great way that Pileggi lets us get inside Henry's mind is by having Henry be the main voice throughout the story. The story is set up as an interview and Henry tells his story versus an interpretation of the story. The interviewer (presumably Nicholas Pileggi) rarely interjects in the story with his own opinions or statements. Instead, Henry Hill is able to depict his life the way he lived it and his experiences, thus providing a more authentic narration. Reading it as someone growing up in today's age, it's very easy to distinguish myself from Henry Hill since there are immediate differences, such as Henry getting a job at the the age of eleven.
ReplyDeleteEthnicity seems to play a big part in the lives of these gangsters. Throughout the reading there are strong bonds amongst Paulie's "gangs" and is evident in their origins. This bond of ethnicity is best shown through Henry's mother when she instantly feels relief knowing that Henry is working at a place owned by Italians/Sicilians. She describes a feeling of comfort knowing that there is a connection. This comfort translates among the gangsters, since they feel more comfortable with/trusting of someone who shares their ethnicity.
Reading the book makes me think of the different lifestyle everyone is raised in. For instance Henry grew up around mobsters and it's the lifestyle he saw and he admired. When he was 11 he was determined on getting a job at the cab stand where the mobsters would hang in hopes of becoming one of them. It's not like his parents didn't care but they also weren't always on top him. Like my up bringing wasn't around any bad influences not to say that there wasn't any but not enough to make me a criminal like Henry. People like Paulie wouldn't bring around anyone around his crew who wasn't trustworthy or of the same cultural or the organizational structure. Which is why you would only see them hanging around people from the same place like Italians. Being half Italian is what helped Henry be a part of the crime family. When it comes to his wife I don't think she was an enabler until maybe later on in their marriage when she starts getting comfortable with the lifestyle she lives in with all the good things because in the beginning she was very clueless as to what Henry did and was a part of.
ReplyDeleteKaren seems wondering whether she admits the truth that his husband deeply involves in crime. But, when something happens to Henry (holds a gun when police officers show up, does not come back home till midnight and her mother upsets), she helps Henry to get over the difficult situation. This is how Karen enables Henry to be a criminal.
ReplyDeleteWhen Karen started to realize and witness Henry's career, she never questioned any of the work he was doing rather she rationalized every little event happens in front of her eyes. Her mom was complaining about Henry's bad habits and suspecting him to be a bad guy and she always thought in her mind that she doesn't want her mom to be true. So she was taking Henry's side all the time. When she met the wives of Henry's friends she didn't like them nor their description of their husband's work. She still didn't share anything with her mom. When Henry was arrested and explained her the reason, she accepted it as a normal occurrence. She was rationalizing about Henry's "T-shirts selling", "Cigarette selling" which were imported illegally. She herself said that whatever she experienced after meeting Henry those were not normal in her culture. Still she put herself in Henry's environment as if she was used to it.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes Henry Hill a gangster, and different from me, is the hustler mindset and the willingness to be violent. In most situations, they see a dollar to be made and they don't seem to care at what cost. They will not hesitate to knock your teeth out of your mouth or throw you off of the roof to make their point, or a profit.
ReplyDeleteEthnicity seems to play a large role in the lives of these gangsters. Firstly, they almost exclusively work with Italians; Henry Hill probably would not have had a job if he didn't happen to be Sicilian. Also, they treat the people who "work" with them as family, having them over for dinners and playing with their kids.
Pileggi manages to get inside of the mind a gangster or this case Henry Hill's mind by talking about his background, his upbringing, his environment, lifestyle, family, and talks about the things that Henry liked and what he wanted to be. Henry Hill chose to be a gangster and want to live that lifestyle. I am not about that life. Ethnicity plays a role in these gangsters life because in order for you to be a part of a crew or the mob, you have to be 100% Italian so the Mob leaders can trace your bloodline all the way back to the "old country" (Italy or Sicily to be more specific). Karen is an enabler to Henry's crime life because she enjoy's the lifestyle that they get to live. She loves the luxurious lifestyle that Henry can provide for her so that's why he continues to do it. She is blind to some extend and does not realize that sort of lifestyle always ends with the person being 6 feet under or behind bars. Or in Henry's case by being a snitch.
ReplyDeletePileggi writes about Hill idolizing gangsters as a child because of the freedom they seemingly had. It seemed that they did whatever they wanted and they also had the freedom that money provided. At the young age of 11, Hill also knew he did not want to end up like his father. His father worked hard and did not have much to show for it. Pileggi also describes how gangsters view law abiding citizens, they see them as already dead, as pitiful fools who work hard while waiting for their death and not having much to show for it
ReplyDeleteEthnicity decides the environment and the people that live within it. gangsters in the story are Italian american so they will wear their culture on their sleeves and influence others wither they know it or not. With the personality of the gangsters they are very extroverted so they will not hide too much about themselves. The gangsters seem proud of their culture so it is their lives and they not afraid to show it from the way they talk to their religion.
ReplyDeleteI think Henry's parents did not inquire about the job there son had gotten.After they found out that he was skipping school maybe that is when they found out what kind of job Henry had at the cab stan.I think eleven is too young to work however I guess they need the extra money, and I think their back ground is different.
ReplyDeletePileggi introduces the characters lifestyle, how Henry grew up, how his family raised him. Everything seems to be as any other usual typical family, until Henry gets a job across the street from where he lives. Henry was receiving praises and acknowledgement from these new members that he considered to be family. I understood why Henry enjoyed and loved being around this new family,as would any kid. Henry had all the qualities of being a good kid, but the guidance of these new family members were leading him to doing things that his bitrth parents would not be proud of
ReplyDeleteI wondered why the gangsters chose to live that lifestyle. They dressed in suits, double park, park in front of the hydrant without getting tickets.It seems like everyone respected or were afraid of them; however Henry was fascinated with the so called cabstand people
ReplyDeleteHenry gets us inside of the mind of a gangster by expressing what he around and what Viro family does. He shares the power that they have over people & respect people give the,.
ReplyDeletewhat makes Henry Hill different from me, I would rather work for my money the legal way knowing I earned it. Than going about it in an illegal way, gambling, loan-sharing etc.