Tommy DeVito and Henry Hill of the ‘Good Fellas’, are very different characters on the outside. However, when analyzed they appear to have very similar traits. Tommy is a very spontaneous person. He acts purely on instincts, and what he feels is the correct thing to do at the time. Most of the time it’s the wrong thing to do, but he still doesn’t regret it; that is until he is ‘whacked’. He stays loyal throughout the movie, and maintains the mobster ego. Henry on the other hand does what’s best for himself. He sells drugs, despite a promise that he won’t. He even started doing them, which eventually lead to the characters demise. Towards the end of the movie he even rats out on members of the gang, giving them all prison times. Both characters enjoy what they do for a living, and have a good time doing it; even while in prison.
Both Tommy and Henry enjoy having a good time. They honestly enjoy what they’re doing for a living, and have no regrets. We can tell this because Tommy shoots people for no reason at all. A waiter was too slow at getting him a drink, so he shoots him in the foot. Later on he killed the waiter because he smarted off to Tommy. Even after the waiter was lying on the floor dead, he was still laughing and having a good time. When he was required to dig up an old decayed corpse, Tommy did it..while laughing and joking. The rest of the people in his party were puking all over. Henry enjoys the criminal life, because he knows everything that’s going on before the ‘average nobody’. In fact, he even refers to people who aren’t crooks as schnooks. ‘I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.’ This was towards the end of the movie when he decided to go in to the witness protection program. In the beginning of the movie we see them driving down the road with a body in the trunk of the car. When they discover he was alive, they get out and stab him multiple times. They acted as if nothing out of usual happened, and it happened often. They even continued to laugh and joke. For these reasons, it’s become apparent that both of them enjoy doing what they do. No matter what the situation is, they’re always having a good time with it.
One of the major differences between the characters in question is loyalty. Tommy, who happens to be 100% Italian, is very loyal to the family. He shows minor tidbits of disrespect, but nothing huge. This might be due to the fact that he can be ‘made’. Henry on the other hand is a disaster towards the family; especially during the end of the movie. The mob wanted to stay as far away from the drug business as possible. Similar to ‘The God Father’, they felt it was nothing but trouble. Henry on the other hand saw drugs as an opportunity to further his financial state. Eventually the FBI catches on to him via helicopter, and phone traces. They recorded evidence of his drug trafficking, and followed him throughout the day while he was gun running. He was then in major trouble with both the law, and the family. The family shunned him after giving $3,200 in cash. Henry felt betrayed by this, and also assumed his life was in danger. He decided to testify against the whole family and send them all to prison. Tommy did a few stupid things, but overall stayed loyal to death. It should be noted he was involved in Henry’s drug trafficking, but not in nearly as deep. The only other instance of going behind the family’s back is when he killed a made man; something he’s basically forbidden to do. It’s one of the highest crimes in the family. Eventually he paid for it dearly; with his life. He on the other hand wouldn’t testify against his friends. He was killed because he was a loose canon, that couldn’t control himself.
Both of the men are complete criminals, and have both served jail time. Both of them stole a lot of money, and are valuables such as cigarettes when they were low on money. Technically the truck drivers let them steal their goods for a pay off. Both have killed people, and both have threatened to kill people. Out of all the people they threatened, it was a guy whose sister worked for the FBI as a typist. The man owed them an undisclosed amount of money, and refused to pay. Henry and Tommy traveled to Florida to collect. However, by killing the man, they’d never see their money. So they dangled him over lion cage in a zoo. Because of this event, they were eventually found guilty, and sentenced to four years in prison. In prison they both had easy lives. It was like living at home. They were also almost as well off in prison as they were on the outside. This is where Tommy also started betraying the family by dealing drugs.
Pride is something they differ in. Tommy has a lot of pride in himself, and is easily offended. In the restaurant they were all having a fun time, sitting around eating. The owner of the place they were in didn’t want to put food on Tommy’s tab, and kindly asked him to pay. He owned thousands of dollars, and hasn’t paid it for a while. Tommy got angered and broke a glass, and hit the owner. He then asked the others ‘if they believed this guy’. Later when a waiter told Tommy to go ‘fuck himself’, all Tommy’s friends laughed. Tommy, feeling embarrassed pulled out his gun and shot the kid; for the second time, only this time killing him. Henry doesn’t seem to have a lot of pride. He has a mistress, and doesn’t care what his wife thinks. Eventually she went so far as to hold a gun up to his face. He does drugs all the time, with his mistress, and his wife. His life basically started to fall apart. He didn’t take anyone’s advice, and eventually ratted out his friends. A person with pride would have stood up to the cops, and not given them what they wanted.
In conclusion, there are many instances of similar yet different personality qualities. Henry didn’t remain loyal to the family, and Tommy did. Tommy has a lot of pride, and is willing to defend it. Henry doesn’t really care what people think, as he thinks only about himself. They both went to prison, and enjoy their criminal lifestyle. When you look at the characters from a broad perspective, they’re quite different. However, when looked at with close detail there are many similarity traits between the two people.
