Goodfellas followed the rise and fall of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who ended up betraying his friend and boss, Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino), twice. Martin Scorsese has explored different genres in his career as a filmmaker, but he continues to be best known for his gangster movies, of which Goodfellas is still considered his best. Based on the non-fiction book Wiseguy, by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas tells the story of real-life mob associate Henry Hill, who became fascinated by the mafia presence in his neighborhood when he was a teenager and started working for Paul Cicero at a young age.

Henry earned Paulie’s trust as well as that of Jimmy “The Gent” Conway (Robert De Niro), becoming part of their “family”. Parallel to his rise in the mob, Goodfellas chronicles Henry’s marriage to Karen (Lorrainer Bracco), and how this, along with his status and links in the mob, began to crumble and eventually crashed and burned. Despite proving his loyalty to Paulie’s crew at a very young age during his first arrest, Henry ended up betraying his boss and friend twice in Goodfellas, with one being a consequence of the other.

Henry Got Involved In Drug Trafficking To Support His Family (Despite Paulie’s Rule Against It)

Paul Had Rules Against Drug Trafficking

At one point in Goodfellas, Paulie asked Henry and Jimmy to collect a debt from a gambler in Tampa, but upon returning home they were arrested as the gambler’s sister, who was an FBI typist, turned them in. Henry, Jimmy, and Paulie were sent to prison, where they continued living a pretty comfortable life despite the circumstances. Unable to keep supporting his family while in prison, Henry started dealing drugs, but once he got out, Paulie let him know he wasn’t going to accept that type of business, as he was not in prison anymore and could support his family in other ways.

However, Henry continued his drug business and expanded it with Jimmy and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), meaning they also went against Paulie’s orders. The reason why Paulie didn’t want his crew to get into drug dealing was to maintain the privacy and safety of the “family”. If his men got involved in drug trafficking, they would become easy targets to become informers, which posed a big threat to the “family”. Henry even mentioned in Goodfellas that Paulie didn’t use the phone, showing how far he went to keep his people and business safe.

Henry betrayed Paulie by continuing his drug business after getting out of jail, and his downfall confirmed Paulie’s rule and fears. After getting into trouble with the FBI for his drug dealing, Paulie, feeling understandably betrayed, gave Henry $3,200 and ended their association – and Henry’s next betrayal further proved Paulie was right.

Henry Testified Against Paulie & Jimmy At The End Of Goodfellas

Henry Hill Became An FBI Informant

Henry’s disaster with his drug business marked the beginning of his chaotic downfall, and the end of his association with Paulie put him in danger immediately. Fearing that Jimmy was planning to kill him, Henry accepted the FBI’s deal to become an informant and enroll with his family in the witness protection program. Henry’s testimony led to the conviction of Paulie and Jimmy, marking his second betrayal against Paulie.

Both times Henry betrayed Paulie in Goodfellas had to do with his family to some extent, as he continued his drug business to support Karen and their kids, and he testified against him and Jimmy for his and his family’s safety, but that wouldn’t be enough to shake off the label of “traitor” in the criminal underworld.