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A Boy/Adam
Brian is a sensitive, emotional teenage boy who crumbles under the pressure of lying to the police in the wake of Adam’s “death.” Brian wants to come clean to the authorities as soon as he learns what has happened to Adam, but his voice is drowned out as the others search wildly for a way to obscure their involvement in the crime. Perhaps as a result of the trauma of his schoolmate’s death compounded with the indignity of being ignored and underestimated, Brian soon finds himself strung out on several psychiatric medications which make him giddy, loopy, and childlike. Several weeks into the cover-up, Brian and Cathy find Adam living in the woods near their school—but this time, Brian doesn’t suggest they do the right thing, and instead complies with Phil’s orders to murder Adam for real. Brian represents the destabilizing, disorienting, and destructive effects of peer pressure, bullying, and groupthink. After such acute trauma and sustained cruelty, Brian is simply unable to stand up to his peers any longer, instead retreating into a world inside his head.
Brian Quotes in DNA
The DNA quotes below are all either spoken by Brian or refer to Brian. 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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Scene 1 Quotes
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 2 Quotes
He’s not joking, he’s not going, he’s said he’s not going, I said you’ve gotta go, he said he’s not going, ‘I’m not going’ he said.
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No, no, yeah, no, actually, because that man, the man who, he doesn’t actually, I mean I’m not being fussy or anything, but the man who kidnapped Adam doesn’t actually exist, does he. Well does he?
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PHIL: You’re going in.
BRIAN: No.
PHIL: Yes.
BRIAN: No, Phil –
PHIL: Yes, yes, shhhh, yes. Sorry. You have to go in. Or we’ll take you up the grille. […] We’ll throw you in.
RICHARD: Er, Phil.
DANNY: Is he serious?
LEAH: He’s always serious.
PHIL: We’ll take you up the grille now. Well get you by the arms. By the legs. And we’ll swing you onto the grille. We’ll throw rocks at you until you drop through. You’ll drop through. You’ll fall into the cold. Into the dark. You’ll land on Adam’s corpse and you’ll rot together.
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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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BRIAN: Don’t they eat earth somewhere? Shall we eat the earth? I wonder what earth tastes like, what do you think it, do you think it tastes earthy, or, or...
He bends down to eat a handful of earth. […]
That’s disgusting!
He suddenly starts giggling as he scrapes the earth from his mouth.
CATHY: I dunno how he’s survived, what he’s eaten.
BRIAN: (Like it’s hilarious) He’s probably been eating earth!
He bursts into laughter.
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BRIAN: That was great!
PHIL: You just do what Cathy says.
BRIAN: I am brilliant at doing what people say.
LEAH: No! Stop, don’t, don’t, Phil, don’t, what are you doing, what are you...
PHIL: He’s dead, everyone thinks he’s dead. What difference will it make?
She stares at him.
LEAH: But he’s not dead. He’s alive.
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Brian Character Timeline in DNA
The timeline below shows where the character Brian appears in DNA. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Scene 1
Richard enters. Cathy and Brian are with him. Cathy is grinning, but Brian is crying. “He’s dead,” Richard says, and...
(full context)
...promises of loyalty and solidarity from Danny, Cathy, Lou, and Richard, John Tate notices that Brian is crying. He demands that Brian, whom he calls a “little piece of filth,” declare...
(full context)
...he claims to be making it up on the spot. He orders Richard to take Brian to the head of the school and tell the man that he found Brian crying...
(full context)
Scene 2
Danny says the authorities are looking for Brian, the one who reported having seen Adam with a postman in the first place. Leah...
(full context)
...ran the DNA on Adam’s sweater through a database and pulled up a man matching Brian’s description of the postman. Leah asks how this could have happened. Cathy says that she...
(full context)
Jan, Mark, and Brian enter. Brian is crying and complaining that he doesn’t want to go to the police...
(full context)
...She asks Phil what to do. Phil doesn’t answer her, and instead goes over to Brian and puts a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Phil tells Brian that he has to...
(full context)
Scene 3
Not everything, Leah admits, is perfect. Brian’s been put on medication, John Tate hasn’t been seen in many weeks, and the postman...
(full context)
In the woods, Cathy, Brian, Phil, Leah, Mark, Lou, and Jan are standing around a boy who is dressed in...
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Brian says that when he found the boy, he didn’t seem to know his own name....
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...both ask what they’re going to do. Leah warns everyone to try not to panic. Brian starts giggling. Leah asks Phil what they’re all going to do, but Phil doesn’t answer...
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...science building after Adam. Adam asks if he’s dead, and Lou tells him he’s not. Brian starts giggling, declaring that everything is “great.” Jan and Mark ask what they’re going to...
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...happy living in the hedge. Adam thinks for a moment but doesn’t respond. Phil tells Brian to take Adam back to the hedge where he found him, then return alone. Brian,...
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...look at Leah, and instead asks Cathy if she understands him. Cathy says she does. Brian returns, giggling madly. Leah asks Phil what will happen if Adam returns to society in...
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As Leah tries and fails to interject, Phil tells Brian he wants to show him an experiment using a plastic bag. Brian is excited. Phil...
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...Leah points out that Adam isn’t really dead—he’s alive. Leah tries to stop Cathy and Brian from heading off into the woods, but they ignore her. Leah turns to Phil and...
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Scene 4
...an evangelist. Danny is doing an internship at a nearby dentist’s office but hates it. Brian has been dosed with an even heavier medication which has made him nearly catatonic. Cathy...
(full context)
