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Brian
John Tate is a powerful and intimidating teenager who initially tries to control his group of friends after Adam’s apparent death. Though John Tate is, at the start of the play, ostensibly the leader of the group of teens at its center, it’s clear that his leadership is already on shaky ground. He tries to impose insane rules on the group, such as banning the use of the words “death” or “dead,” but even as he grapples for control, the others resist his rules and schemes and instead put their trust in Phil. John Tate, unable to control his peers any longer, soon leaves school and becomes a kind of evangelist, preaching at local shopping malls about the word of God. John Tate’s arc demonstrates what happens in the vacuum created by loss of control—rather than accepting that he may have been wrong, John Tate simply moves on to trying to control the beliefs of others who didn’t witness his embarrassing fall from grace.
John Tate Quotes in DNA
The DNA quotes below are all either spoken by John Tate or refer to John Tate. 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:
).
Scene 1
Quotes
JOHN TATE: Alright. New rule; that word is banned.
[…]
LOU: You can’t ban a word.
JOHN TATE: and if anyone says it I’m going to have to, you know, bite their face. Or something.
DANNY: How can you ban a word?
JOHN TATE: Well just say it then.
Pause.
Say it and see what happens.
They say nothing.
Look, we have to keep together. We have to trust each other and believe in each other. I’m trying to help. I’m trying to keep things together.
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JOHN TATE: Are you on my side? With Richard and Danny? Are you on our side, Cathy?
CATHY: Yes.
JOHN TATE: Good. Lou?
LOU: Yes.
JOHN TATE: You’re on our side, Lou?
LOU: Yes, John.
JOHN TATE: You sure?
LOU: Yeah, I’m –
JOHN TATE: That just leaves you, Brian. You crying little piece of filth.
Beat. BRIAN stops crying. Looks up.
BRIAN: I think we should tell someone.
JOHN TATE begins to walk towards BRIAN.
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Scene 3
Quotes
LEAH: It’s incredible. The change. This place. You’re a miracle worker. Everyone’s happy. […] Funny thing is they’re all actually behaving better as well. I saw Jan helping a first year find the gym. Mark’s been doing charity work, for Christ’s sake. Maybe being seen as heroes is making them behave like heroes.
PHIL considers his waffle. Decides it needs more jam.
Yeah, everyone happy. Well it’s not all roses, you know. Brian’s on medication. […] John Tate hasn’t been seen in weeks, and the postman’s facing the rest of his life in prison, but, you know, omelettes and eggs, as long as you’ve your waffle, who cares.
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Scene 4
Quotes
John Tate’s found God. Yeah, Yeah I know. He’s joined the Jesus Army, he runs round the shopping centre singing and trying to give people leaflets. Danny’s doing work experience at a dentist’s. He hates it. […] Brian’s on stronger and stronger medication. They caught him staring at a wall and drooling last week. […] Cathy doesn’t care. She’s too busy running things. You wouldn’t believe how things have got, Phil. She’s insane. She cut a first year’s finger off, that’s what they say anyway.
Doesn’t that bother you? Aren’t you even bothered?
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Get the entire DNA LitChart as a printable PDF.
John Tate Quotes in DNA
The DNA quotes below are all either spoken by John Tate or refer to John Tate. 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:
).
Scene 1
Quotes
JOHN TATE: Alright. New rule; that word is banned.
[…]
LOU: You can’t ban a word.
JOHN TATE: and if anyone says it I’m going to have to, you know, bite their face. Or something.
DANNY: How can you ban a word?
JOHN TATE: Well just say it then.
Pause.
Say it and see what happens.
They say nothing.
Look, we have to keep together. We have to trust each other and believe in each other. I’m trying to help. I’m trying to keep things together.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
JOHN TATE: Are you on my side? With Richard and Danny? Are you on our side, Cathy?
CATHY: Yes.
JOHN TATE: Good. Lou?
LOU: Yes.
JOHN TATE: You’re on our side, Lou?
LOU: Yes, John.
JOHN TATE: You sure?
LOU: Yeah, I’m –
JOHN TATE: That just leaves you, Brian. You crying little piece of filth.
Beat. BRIAN stops crying. Looks up.
BRIAN: I think we should tell someone.
JOHN TATE begins to walk towards BRIAN.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 3
Quotes
LEAH: It’s incredible. The change. This place. You’re a miracle worker. Everyone’s happy. […] Funny thing is they’re all actually behaving better as well. I saw Jan helping a first year find the gym. Mark’s been doing charity work, for Christ’s sake. Maybe being seen as heroes is making them behave like heroes.
PHIL considers his waffle. Decides it needs more jam.
Yeah, everyone happy. Well it’s not all roses, you know. Brian’s on medication. […] John Tate hasn’t been seen in weeks, and the postman’s facing the rest of his life in prison, but, you know, omelettes and eggs, as long as you’ve your waffle, who cares.
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Scene 4
Quotes
John Tate’s found God. Yeah, Yeah I know. He’s joined the Jesus Army, he runs round the shopping centre singing and trying to give people leaflets. Danny’s doing work experience at a dentist’s. He hates it. […] Brian’s on stronger and stronger medication. They caught him staring at a wall and drooling last week. […] Cathy doesn’t care. She’s too busy running things. You wouldn’t believe how things have got, Phil. She’s insane. She cut a first year’s finger off, that’s what they say anyway.
Doesn’t that bother you? Aren’t you even bothered?
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