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Gatwick “Gat” Patil
The patriarch of the Sinclair family, Harris and his late wife, Tipper, have amassed a considerable fortune. They use their wealth to buy a private island that they call Beechwood, where they build separate houses there for their three daughters—Penny, Carrie, and Bess—and their children. This allows them all to spend each summer together on the island, and as a result, the family is close-knit and closed off to outsiders. This becomes clear one summer when Carrie arrives on the island with her new boyfriend, Ed, and his nephew, Gat, both of whom are of South Asian descent. While Harris is superficially welcoming to the men, he subtly attempts to ensure that they do not really become part of the family. In addition, Harris has promised each of his daughters a large inheritance and has allowed them to become dependent on his money—none of them is financially self-sufficient. When Tipper dies, the family begins to unravel as the sisters openly fight over her possessions and try to curry Harris’s favor in the hopes of receiving a larger share of the inheritance. In the midst of this family unrest, his three oldest grandchildren and their friend decide to burn down the main house on the island, killing Johnny, Mirren, and Gat in the process. While their act of rebellion was designed to strip Harris of his power over the rest of the family, it is questionable as to whether it worked at all. He has New Clairmont built on the ashes of the old house, and the new building is bereft of the memories and home comforts of the original. In addition, Harris begins to lose his hold over much of the family, anyway, due to the onset of dementia.
Harris Sinclair Quotes in We Were Liars
The We Were Liars quotes below are all either spoken by Harris Sinclair or refer to Harris Sinclair. 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:
).
Part 1: Welcome
Quotes
“Watch yourself, young man,” said Granddad, sharp and sudden.
“Pardon me?”
“Your head. You could get hurt.”
“You’re right,” said Gat. “You’re right, I could get hurt.”
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Do you understand, Cady? Silence is a protective coating over pain.
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Part 2: Vermont
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“Cadence was the first, and it didn’t matter that she was a girl. I would give her everything. Just like a grandson. I carried her in my arms and danced. She was the future of our family.”
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Part 3: Summer Seventeen
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“I started over with this house,” he says simply. “That old life is gone.”
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Now, at the breakfast table, watching him eat my toast, “Don’t take no for an answer” seemed like the attitude of a privileged guy who didn’t care who got hurt, so long as his wife had the cute statues she wanted to display in her summerhouses.
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Part 4: Look, a Fire
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“He knows he’s not supposed to be that guy. He’s a Democrat, he voted for Obama—but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable having people of color in his beautiful family.”
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“This is the United States of America,” he said. “You don’t seem to understand that, Penny, so let me explain. In America, here is how we operate: We work for what we want, and we get ahead. We never take no for an answer, and we deserve the rewards of our perseverance.”
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Harris Sinclair Quotes in We Were Liars
The We Were Liars quotes below are all either spoken by Harris Sinclair or refer to Harris Sinclair. 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:
).
Part 1: Welcome
Quotes
“Watch yourself, young man,” said Granddad, sharp and sudden.
“Pardon me?”
“Your head. You could get hurt.”
“You’re right,” said Gat. “You’re right, I could get hurt.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Do you understand, Cady? Silence is a protective coating over pain.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2: Vermont
Quotes
“Cadence was the first, and it didn’t matter that she was a girl. I would give her everything. Just like a grandson. I carried her in my arms and danced. She was the future of our family.”
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Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3: Summer Seventeen
Quotes
“I started over with this house,” he says simply. “That old life is gone.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
Now, at the breakfast table, watching him eat my toast, “Don’t take no for an answer” seemed like the attitude of a privileged guy who didn’t care who got hurt, so long as his wife had the cute statues she wanted to display in her summerhouses.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Look, a Fire
Quotes
“He knows he’s not supposed to be that guy. He’s a Democrat, he voted for Obama—but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable having people of color in his beautiful family.”
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“This is the United States of America,” he said. “You don’t seem to understand that, Penny, so let me explain. In America, here is how we operate: We work for what we want, and we get ahead. We never take no for an answer, and we deserve the rewards of our perseverance.”
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
