The Godfather

The Godfather

by

Mario Puzo

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Godfather makes teaching easy.
An organized criminal act that constitutes a type of substantial and repeated business activity. A popular type of Mafia racket is “protection,” in which mobsters demand that a business or individual pay them a fee in exchange for protection from dangerous individuals. Mafia members typically cause damage to the business of those who refuse to pay them for “protection.” Conducting a racket is known as racketeering.

Racket Quotes in The Godfather

The The Godfather quotes below are all either spoken by Racket or refer to Racket. 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:
Crime and Justice Theme Icon
).
Chapter 14 Quotes

When he became a Don and asked opponents to sit down and reason with him, they understood it was the last chance to resolve an affair without bloodshed and murder.

Related Characters: Peter “Pete” Clemenza, Salvatore “Sal” Tessio, Don Fanucci
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Godfather PDF

Racket Term Timeline in The Godfather

The timeline below shows where the term Racket appears in The Godfather. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 14
Crime and Justice Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
...Don Corleone proposes a partnership with the Mafia boss Salvatore Maranzano, who controls the gambling rackets in Brooklyn, Maranzano spurns his offer. Corleone retaliates by using his political connections and the... (full context)
Chapter 17
Crime and Justice Theme Icon
Power Theme Icon
...both sides, especially since police departments are clamping down on their “protection” for various mob rackets until they solve the murder of McCluskey. Eventually, however, newspapers print stories containing definitive proof... (full context)