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Marilyn Monroe
Guns crop up over and over again over the course of the musical, foreshadowing the terrible violence that sits at the narrative’s end. They at first seem relatively innocent, as when the neighborhood children use pretend weapons to play war games, and when Mickey hides his brother Sammy’s air rifle. Quickly, however, they turn sinister, and eventually Sammy accidentally uses a gun in a robbery, an act that ends in a murder. Of course, the fearsome power of guns is finally demonstrated in full when Mickey confronts Edward with a gun at city hall. Although he does not intend to shoot his twin, he is so crazed and enraged that he does so accidentally, and is then shot by policemen. By the end of the play, Russell has demonstrated that guns cause violence and havoc in a variety of situations.
Guns Quotes in Blood Brothers
The Blood Brothers quotes below all refer to the symbol of Guns. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1
Quotes
But you know that if you cross your fingers
And if you count from one to ten
You can get up off the ground again
It doesn’t matter
The whole thing’s just a game.
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Act 2
Quotes
There’s a man gone mad in the town tonight,
He’s gonna shoot somebody down,
There’s a man gone mad, lost his mind tonight
…
There’s a mad man running round and round.
Now you know the devil’s got your number.
He’s runnin’ right beside you,
He’s screamin’ deep inside you,
And someone said he’s callin’ your number up today.
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MRS. JOHNSTONE: Mickey. Don’t shoot Eddie. He’s your brother. You had a twin brother. I couldn’t afford to keep both of you. His mother couldn’t have kids. I agreed to give one of you away!
MICKEY: You. You! Why didn’t you give me away? I could have been…I could have been him!
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Get the entire Blood Brothers LitChart as a printable PDF.
Guns Symbol Timeline in Blood Brothers
The timeline below shows where the symbol Guns appears in Blood Brothers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
...son whom Mrs. Johnstone kept, Mickey, knocks on his mother’s door while carrying a toy gun. His mother comes out, relieved to see him, and embraces him. He begins to complain,...
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Sammy enters and interrupts the moment, holding a toy gun. He demands a sweet, and Edward agrees, even as Mickey frantically attempts to get his...
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...to Mr. and Mrs. Lyons’ house. Mr. Lyons gives Edward the present of a toy gun, and then pretends to die. Mrs. Lyons begins to read her husband and son a...
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...last be able to see his twin again. Mickey brags that he’s stolen Sammy’s best gun, and tells Linda that they can play with it with Edward.
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...commands. Mickey introduces Edward to Linda, and the three decide to play together with Sammy’s gun by trying to shoot at the “thingy” on the Peter Pan statue in the park....
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The three children, meanwhile, are playing with their stolen toy gun. Only Linda hits the target, until Mickey declares that they aren’t playing with the gun...
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Mickey and Edward say a wordless goodbye. Edward gives Mickey a toy gun, and then travels away with his parents.
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Act 2
...to be a lookout during a burglary, promising that although he will be carrying a gun, it will not be violent.
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...to pay. Mickey keeps watch as Sammy argues with one of his partners over a gun. Abruptly, an alarm bell sounds and a shot is heard. Sammy tries to escape but...
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...and calls for Linda. Then he races to his mother’s house to pick up the gun that Sammy hid under the floor. As he runs out, Mrs. Johnstone sees him, and...
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...has finally arrived. Mrs. Johnstone arrives at Linda’s house, warning her that Mickey has a gun. Terrified, Linda realizes that he must be looking for Edward at town hall. The Narrator...
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...shifts to town hall, where Edward is giving a speech. Mickey abruptly appears, gripping his gun in shaking hands and screaming for everyone to “stay where you are.” Edward calmly greets...
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A policeman calls through a megaphone, telling Mickey to put down the gun, and that there are armed marksmen outside. Mickey remarks that he fails at everything, even...
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