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Mafia
The Five Families are New York City’s five major organized crime syndicates in the Italian-American Mafia. Their structure dates to 1931, when a Sicilian mob figure named Salvatore Maranzano formerly organized warring factions of Italian-American criminals into Five Family groups with demarcated territories and a hierarchical structure. Each of the Five Families report to a ruling Commission, the Mafia’s governing body that mediates disputes among the families. In The Godfather, the Five Families are the Corleone, Tattaglia, Barzini, Cuneo, and Stracci families. The real-life Five Families are the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families.
Five Families Quotes in The Godfather
The The Godfather quotes below are all either spoken by Five Families or refer to Five Families. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 20
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Nothing was more calming, more conducive to pure reason, than the atmosphere of money.
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“We are all men who have refused to be fools, who have refused to be puppets dancing on a string pulled by the men on high. We have been fortunate here in this country […] Some of you have sons who are professors, scientists, musicians, and you are fortunate. Perhaps your grandchildren will become the new pezzonovanti.”
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Chapter 28
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“Revenge is a dish that tastes best when it is cold.”
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Get the entire The Godfather LitChart as a printable PDF.
Five Families Term Timeline in The Godfather
The timeline below shows where the term Five Families appears in The Godfather. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 11
...Michael that the hits will pit the Corleones in a war with all of the Five Families but insists that “these things have to happen once every ten years or so. It...
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...bomb into the Corleone mall, and two Corleone soldiers are murdered in another restaurant. The Five Families War of 1946 has begun.
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Chapter 14
...combination of calculated violence and tactful negotiation, Don Corleone organizes a working peace between the Five Families that control the criminal underworld. As World War II breaks out, the Don takes comfort...
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Chapter 17
...Sonny exit Don Corleone’s bedroom to discuss the ongoing war between the Corleones and the Five Families . Tessio explains that the other families have lost money in the wake of the...
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...infiltration—operations that are, by nature, more clandestine and therefore less vulnerable to attack. Meanwhile, the Five Families continue to murder Corleone associates in the garment and banking sectors, and they manage to...
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...on major Family matters. The war is now in a stalemate, but only because the Five Families have not yet dealt a crippling blow to the Corleone Family.
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Chapter 19
...Corleone massacres an army of pimps, “shylocks,” union officials, and bookmakers who work for the Five Families . The slaughter proves satisfying, but it does not turn the tide of the war...
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...seek vengeance without his approval. “There will be no further acts of war against the Five Families without my express and personal wish,” the Don insists. He also orders all Family business...
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Chapter 20
Sonny Corleone’s death hits the criminal underworld like a lightning bolt, as the Five Families scramble to prepare for the retaliation they believe is sure to come from the Corleones....
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...Families to come to the peace meeting,” Don Corleone meets with the heads of the Five Families and of the other Families across the country. The meeting takes place in the conference...
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...should be the Family’s top priority. He is more concerned about the police than the Five Families in regards to Michael’s situation. Despite the new peace, Don Corleone orders even more fortifications...
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Chapter 28
...meeting with Don Corleone, Tom Hagen, Carlo, Clemenza, and Tessio. Since the meeting of the Five Families and Don Corleone’s retirement, the Corleone Family’s strength has declined, leaving the Barzini Family as...
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Chapter 29
Don Corleone’s funeral is a “royal” occasion. The Dons of the Five Families attend with their caporegimes and Consiglieres, and a small army of Don Corleone’s friends come...
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...Family and forge an allegiance with Barzini that will end the long-simmering war between the Five Families . Unlike the late Don Corleone, however, Tessio does not understand that “political connections and...
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