AP+P2+Whitey+Bulger

__Aim:__ Alex Frank

Whitey Bulger seems to have been driven primarily by greed, and he boldly and cunningly sought to fulfill his desires as head of the Boston Irish Mob. According to the //Collider//, "Bulger brokered a deal with the FBI in the 1970s and became an informant in exchange for protection, and actually started using information from the FBI to aid his criminal work" (Chitwood). Whitey Bulger is very good at what he does. In fact, his aptitude for his occupation suggests that, beyond the greed, Bulger uses it to exercise his criminal mind. It takes respectable cunning to outsmart the FBI, and Bulger relishes the challenge. As a writer for the //Republican// observes, "Despite his impressive criminal resume, there's still a mild-mannered quality to the guy" (Berry). Bulger is not like the flashy and intimidating Al "Scarface" Capone, he is rather more similar to The Godfather: a quiet man confident in his abilities and his situation. He combines bold action with a quiet, almost machiavellian sense of planning that allowed him to go from an infamous mobster to 16 years of quiet life by the beach. Whitey Bulger worked as an Irish Kingpin as much for the thrill as for the profit.

__Works Cited:__

Chitwood, Adam. "Exclusive: Producer Brian Oliver Talks Whitey Bulger Project BLACK MASS, Reveals Story Details." //Collider//. TopLingo Development, 4 Oct. 2011. Web. 08 Jan. 2013.

Berry, Connor. "Wild about Whitey: Bulger Is Destined for the Gangster Hall of Fame."//The Republican//. Advance Digital, 28 June 2011. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.

**Cultural:** James “Whitey” Bulger  by Kelsey Thomas James “Whitey” Bulger was a Boston crime boss in the early 20th century. The Huffington Post stated that, “when James ‘Whitey’ Bulger ruled the streets of South Boston, the New England crime scene was a battleground for a bloody turf war between the Italian Mafia and Irish street crews” (Hanrahan 1). It was for these actions that he was known throughout South Boston, a predominantly Irish area. Bulger was involved in drug trafficking, and was involved in several murders, as well as similarly violent behavior. He was “indicted in 19 murders [and for] 16 years was one of the nation’s most famous fugitives” (New York Times 1). Bulger served as an FBI informant for several years, beginning in 1975. During this time, he continued his actions as a crime boss. It is suspected that many of these murders actually occurred when we was acting as an informant.

Campbell, Andy. "Whitey Bulger, Ex-Massachusetts Mobster, Seeks 8-Month Murder Trial Delay." //The Huffington Post//. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Oct. 2012. Web. 08 Jan. 2013. Hanrahan, Mark. "New England Mafia Is Weakened But Still Pursued." //The Huffington Post//. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 June 2011. Web. 08 Jan. 2013. "James (Whitey) Bulger." //Nytimes.com//. The New York Times, n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2013. McCormack, Simon. "Whitey Bulger Documents Shed Light On His Fugitive Life." //The Huffington Post//. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 June 2012. Web. 08 Jan. 2013. SourceURL:file://localhost/Volumes/Empire/Users/ravinthiranj1/Documents/AP%20Language/Southi%20Research.doc//
 * Works Cited:**

2. Whitey Bulger: Audience 3. Jishian Ravinthiran Whitey Bulger’s behavioral temper, successful tyrannical mob rule and Irish ancestry image brought attention to him by the FBI to un-root the system of mobs that they believed he would have connection too. Anthony Bruno states, “ Special Agent John Connolly had been pursuing him for some time, urging him to become a Top Echelon Informant, using Whitey's ice-cream argument to convince him: they were both Irish, both from Southie, and had both gone to church at St. Monica's” (“James ‘Whitey’ Bulger”). Known as one the most vicious and violent gang members in the late 20th century, Bulger began to attract attention as he became deeply involved in the Winter Hill gang, a predominantly Irish gang. Bulger’s audience in the FBI became the Irish agent John Connolly, as his ties to him in his childhood and their Irish ancestry illustrated potential trust within a gang and links to other dangerous members. In these interactions with potential audiences, like the gang and the FBI, it is clear the connection “they were both Irish” endows trust in the relationships, as the Winter Hill Gang utilizes Irish members only and the Irish FBI agent utilizes the Irish background to confide trust in the gang member. In addition to powerful audiences, Bulger also found audiences for recruitment purposes. Sarah Gold, Emily Chenoweth and Jeff Zaleski’s, in their book review, state, “…and feeling proud doing his boss's dirty work… MacKenzie's brutally honest account of a childhood branded by absentee parents, foster homes, physical and sexual abuse and poverty is moving…” (“Street Soldier (Book)”). The power that Whitey Bulger hoarded with aid from the FBI was especially attractive to audiences that were deprived and impoverished as children. In this case, Mackenzie’s deplorable “childhood,” may be correlated to the “proud” emotions he attains by working for Bulger because the wealth and thrill associated with the Bulger’s mob life clearly appealed to Mackenzie’s tastes due to the dearth of wealth and happiness in his past. This insinuates that those who wished to discover new and exciting avenues of life that also brought wealth came to Bulger in faith that he would be able to revolutionize their living, suggesting Bulger’s life appealed to audiences that were mostly impoverished and scarred.

Work Cited: Bruno, Anthony//. “//James ‘Whitey’ Bulger//.” :CRIMINAL MINDS AND// //METHODS//. Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc., n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.

Chenoweth, Emily, Sarah Gold, and Jeff Zaleski. “Street Soldier (Book).” //Publishers Weekly// 17 Mar. 2003: 61. //Literary Reference Center powered by EBSCOhost//.Web. 8 Jan. 2013.

History: Austin Hammonds



James "Whitey" Bulger is an infamous mobster, currently imprisoned, who was second on the FBI's Most Wanted list since 1999, behind the terrorist Osama Bin Laden. His crimes are at least 19 murders accredited to his name, and the Irish Mob he ran in Boston, Massachusetts.

Born September 3, 1929 as James J. Bulger Jr., the path his life would take was quickly determined. At the age of 14, Bulger committed his first crime, theft. His endeavors soon escalated further and by the time of 1952, when he was just 23, he had been arrested for incidents of "assault, battery, larceny, forgery, and armed robbery." (Biography). He was even discharged from the Air Force, albeit honorably, after an incident of going AWOL (Away Without Leave). Bulger is most well known for his actions as a leading figure of the Winter Hill Gang, one of Boston’s most notorious organized crime syndicates. While there had been other bosses before him, he was most infamous for informing for the FBI against the Patriarca crime family, a large Italian-American mob. While helping to cut down this family, Bulger was “building a more powerful and arguably more violent crime network of his own.” (Biography). He was arrested in June of 2011, after running from the FBI for over 16 years. In the 1990s, he was tipped off on an operation that was about to indict him and he had been fleeing ever since (Bidgood). In regards to the book, Bulger's "Southie" is the setting in which Michael Patrick MacDonald lives in. He was, according to some, a sort of folk hero. MacDonald said of this that, "People had a need to believe this guy was protecting us." (Bidgood). Bulger also grew up in the Old Harbor Housing Project, where the author of //All Souls// did as well.

Bidgood, Jess. "WGBH News: Arrest Of Bulger, Former Folk Hero, Is Welcome News." //WGBH//. N.p., 23 June 2011. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.

"Whitey Bulger Biography."//Biography.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.