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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:
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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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John Tate Character Timeline in DNA
The timeline below shows where the character John Tate appears in DNA. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Scene 1
In a small wood, Lou, John Tate , and Danny stand around talking. Lou worries that the three of them are “fucked,”...
(full context)
...career as a dentist, and he doesn’t want to risk messing it up. Lou tells John Tate that someone is dead—and that that fact can’t be underplayed. John Tate says the word...
(full context)
...are with him. Cathy is grinning, but Brian is crying. “He’s dead,” Richard says, and John Tate informs Richard about the ban on the word. Cathy says that everything that’s going on...
(full context)
After securing 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...
(full context)
John Tate asks the group what they should do. Phil sets down the Coke he’s been drinking...
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Phil continues. In a day or two, once Adam is declared missing, John Tate will come forward and say he may have seen Adam with a fat, uniformed man...
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Scene 2
...put aside all their petty quarrels. People are getting along and acting happier—all except for John Tate , who, according to rumor, has “lost it” and won’t come out of his room....
(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 they all framed is facing life...
(full context)
Scene 4
Richard tells Phil that John Tate has found God and become an evangelist. Danny is doing an internship at a nearby...
(full context)
