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Chris is a young African American man; he’s Cynthia and Brucie’s son and Jason’s best friend. In 2008, Chris and Jason are 29 years old and have just been released from eight-year prison sentences for assaulting Oscar, a busboy at the bar in Reading, Pennsylvania, that they frequented. During the beating, Jason also inadvertently hit the bartender, Stan, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury. Back in 2000, before the assault, 21-year-old Chris has followed in his parents’ footsteps and gone to work at Olstead’s Steel Tubing plant straight out of high school. But he has bigger aspirations than this: he’s been accepted to Albright College’s teaching program. However, this goes out the window when a lockout is instituted at Olstead’s, and Chris is swept up into the collective outrage and union protests that ensue. Seemingly more thoughtful and less impulsive than Jason, Chris is conflicted between walking the line and moving on from Reading altogether—especially having witnessed Brucie’s descent into drug addiction during his own lockout at a local textile mill. Eventually, tensions flare between the locked-out floor workers at Olstead’s and the Latinx temp workers who’ve been brought in (Oscar among them). Against his better judgement, Chris is swept up in Jason’s violent rage and joins him in beating Oscar. After serving his sentence for this crime, Chris is consumed with shame and guilt and struggles to reintegrate into society. He turns to Christianity for solace, and his parole officer, Evan, encourages him to forgive himself. Chris and Jason ultimately reunite amicably, and they both take the difficult step of returning to the bar to make amends with Oscar and Stan. Introspective, hard-working, and riddled with conflicting emotions, Chris’s character exemplifies how financial hardship can ripple outward to wreak havoc on people’s lives, as well as how shame can be destructive and forgiveness can be healing.
Chris Quotes in Sweat
The Sweat quotes below are all either spoken by Chris or refer to Chris. 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:
).
Act 1, Scene 1
Quotes
CHRIS (Escalating emotions): I dunno. A couple minutes, and your whole life changes, that’s it. It’s gone. Every day I think about what if I hadn’t…You know…I run it and run it, a tape over and over again. What if. What if. What if. All night. In my head. I can’t turn it off. Reverend Duckett said, “Lean on God for forgiveness. Lean on God to find your way through the terrible storm.” I’m leaning into the wind, I’m fuckin’ leaning […] What we did was unforgiveable…
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Act 1, Scene 3
Quotes
JASON: […] But seriously, man, why didn’t you tell me?
CHRIS: Cuz—
JASON: Shit, I just kinda thought we’d retire and open a franchise together. We’re a team, you can’t leave!!
CHRIS: Yeah, I can.
JASON: What about me?
CHRIS: What about you?
JASON: You coulda told me.
CHRIS: Dude, it’s just something I gotta do.
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Act 2, Scene 1
Quotes
CYNTHIA: […] You know after everything. I wanna say that…
(Cynthia fights back emotions.)
I’m sorry.
CHRIS: For what?
CYNTHIA: It’s just, I shoulda…
(Chris places his arms around Cynthia.)
CHRIS: C’mon. C’mon. I don't want this to be a big deal. Tell me about what’s been going on. You hear from the old gang? Tracey?
CYNTHIA: Fuck her. After what went down. We don’t really—
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Act 2, Scene 7
Quotes
EVAN: I’ve seen enough guys in your situation to know that over time it’s…it’s crippling. I’m not a therapist, I’m not the right dude to talk to about any of this. But what I do know, is that it’s not a productive emotion. Most folks think it’s the guilt or rage that destroys us in the end, but I know from experience that it’s shame that eats us away until we disappear. You put in your time. But look here, we been talking, and we can keep talking—but whatcha gonna do about where you’re at right now?
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Get the entire Sweat LitChart as a printable PDF.
Chris Quotes in Sweat
The Sweat quotes below are all either spoken by Chris or refer to Chris. 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:
).
Act 1, Scene 1
Quotes
CHRIS (Escalating emotions): I dunno. A couple minutes, and your whole life changes, that’s it. It’s gone. Every day I think about what if I hadn’t…You know…I run it and run it, a tape over and over again. What if. What if. What if. All night. In my head. I can’t turn it off. Reverend Duckett said, “Lean on God for forgiveness. Lean on God to find your way through the terrible storm.” I’m leaning into the wind, I’m fuckin’ leaning […] What we did was unforgiveable…
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Act 1, Scene 3
Quotes
JASON: […] But seriously, man, why didn’t you tell me?
CHRIS: Cuz—
JASON: Shit, I just kinda thought we’d retire and open a franchise together. We’re a team, you can’t leave!!
CHRIS: Yeah, I can.
JASON: What about me?
CHRIS: What about you?
JASON: You coulda told me.
CHRIS: Dude, it’s just something I gotta do.
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Act 2, Scene 1
Quotes
CYNTHIA: […] You know after everything. I wanna say that…
(Cynthia fights back emotions.)
I’m sorry.
CHRIS: For what?
CYNTHIA: It’s just, I shoulda…
(Chris places his arms around Cynthia.)
CHRIS: C’mon. C’mon. I don't want this to be a big deal. Tell me about what’s been going on. You hear from the old gang? Tracey?
CYNTHIA: Fuck her. After what went down. We don’t really—
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Act 2, Scene 7
Quotes
EVAN: I’ve seen enough guys in your situation to know that over time it’s…it’s crippling. I’m not a therapist, I’m not the right dude to talk to about any of this. But what I do know, is that it’s not a productive emotion. Most folks think it’s the guilt or rage that destroys us in the end, but I know from experience that it’s shame that eats us away until we disappear. You put in your time. But look here, we been talking, and we can keep talking—but whatcha gonna do about where you’re at right now?
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