Warren Character Analysis in Pride

In Pride’s “remix” of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Warren corresponds to the dastardly Mr. George Wickham. Warren is a handsome, charming, flirtatious Black teenager who attends the same Manhattan private school as Darius Darcy; though Warren comes from a poor family in the Hope Gardens Projects, he has attended fancy private schools since seventh grade due to scholarships he has earned with superlative test scores. When protagonist Zuri Benitez first meets Warren, she compares him favorably with Darius, believing that Warren is more authentic and has more “swag” than uptight Darius. While hanging out one-on-one with Zuri, Warren tells her that he and Darius were friends until Darius’s parents, believing Warren to be a bad influence, tried to get Warren expelled from private school—and Darius didn’t defend him. This story confirms Zuri’s negative opinion of Darius until Darius reveals that in fact, he hates Warren because Warren spread “sexy” photos of his younger sister Georgia around school, irreparably damaging Georgia’s social life and leading his parents to send her away to boarding school. Zuri immediately cuts off contact with Warren. Later, when Warren makes moves on Zuri’s 13-year-old sister Layla at a party, Darius helps Zuri swoop in and save Zuri, cementing his and Zuri’s fledgling romantic bond.

Warren Quotes in Pride

The Pride quotes below are all either spoken by Warren or refer to Warren. 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:

Warren is smooth and easy. Warren is Bushwick.

Related Characters: Zuri Benitez (speaker), Darius Darcy, Warren, Janae Benitez, Ainsley Darcy

Page Number and Citation: 70

Explanation and Analysis:

While unwillingly accompanying her sister Janae, Ainsley, and Darius to a concert in a park, Zuri meets fellow Black teenager Warren when Warren approaches the Darcy brothers. Zuri quickly learns that although Warren attends the same fancy Manhattan private school as Darius, Warren is a working-class Bushwick native who attends the school on scholarship. Due to Zuri’s neighborhood pride, which condescending Darius Darcy insulted earlier in this scene by implying that growing up in Bushwick has left Zuri unworldly and inexperienced, Zuri is immediately prejudiced in Warren’s favor. She declares him “smooth” and “easy” (in contrast with the prickly, difficult Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus

“He’s black, but he ain’t that black, feel me? The way we do it out here, if your boy gets into a fight, ain’t you supposed to have his back? But instead, his pops tries to get me kicked out of Easton.”

Related Characters: Warren (speaker), Darius Darcy, Zuri Benitez, Georgia Darcy

Page Number and Citation: 132

Explanation and Analysis:

When Zuri asks Darius Darcy’s private-school classmate Warren for negative gossip about Darius, Warren claims that he and Darius used to be friends even though Darius’s parents disapproved of Warren for being a scholarship student from the “projects”—until Warren got into a fight and Darius’s “pops,” seeing an opening, tried to get Warren “kicked out of Easton,” the private school in question. Warren concludes that because Darius didn’t “have his back” during the controversy, Darius “ain’t that black” according to the racialized social codes “out here” (i.e. in Bushwick). Zuri will later discover that Warren has lied to her. In Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipi

“I can’t believe you would ask me out after what you did to both my sister and Warren. In fact, we shouldn’t have kissed at all. Now that was a mistake.”

“So you think I’m a bad person?”

“Yes! You judged them, and you turned your nose up at them. And me.”

Related Characters: Zuri Benitez (speaker), Darius Darcy (speaker), Ainsley Darcy, Janae Benitez, Warren, Layla Benitez, Georgia Darcy

Page Number and Citation: 196

Explanation and Analysis:

After Darius and Zuri kiss at a rest stop on their drive back to Bushwick from D.C., Darius asks Zuri how she feels about him. Zuri, unable to answer directly, asks how Darius’s brother Ainsley feels about her older sister Janae, whom Ainsley dumped. When Darius admits that he advised Ainsley to dump Janae but knows now that he was wrong, Zuri vocally regrets kissing him, not only for how he treated Janae but also how he treated Warren, a Black private-school classmate of Darius’s who told Zuri that Darius failed to “have his back” when their predominantly White school’s Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Excepturi ullam nobis. Ducimus odio quo. Ut autem harum. Omnis vel voluptatum. Assum

You’ve got this whole white audience

Watching this fight like some sport

So to whom do I pledge allegiance

To my heart or to this war?

Related Characters: Zuri Benitez (speaker), Darius Darcy, Layla Benitez, Warren, Carrie

Related Symbols: Zuri’s Poems and College Essay

Page Number and Citation: 244

Explanation and Analysis:

Zuri and Darius have just broken up over their different class backgrounds and relationships to Blackness when Zuri sees photos on her phone of Warren flirting with Zuri’s 13-year-old sister Layla at Carrie’s party. When Zuri shows Darius the photos, the two immediately put aside their differences to go rescue Layla. Zuri locates Layla and extricates her from the party while Darius starts a fistfight with Warren. After Zuri and another partygoer break up the fight, Zuri mentally composes a poem in which she expresses both her gratitude to Darius for his protectiveness and her discomfort at his willingness to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corpor

“You treated my sisters like shit, and I needed to call you out on it. And I can’t help that or change that.”

“But I wasn’t . . .” He pulls my hand toward him a little bit.

“Darius.”

“You judged me too. You treated me and my brother like shit too.”

Related Characters: Zuri Benitez (speaker), Darius Darcy (speaker), Carrie, Warren, Ainsley Darcy, Layla Benitez

Page Number and Citation: 256

Explanation and Analysis:

After Zuri and Darius rescue Layla from Warren at Carrie’s party, they return to Darius’s house and talk on his roof while Layla sobers up downstairs. Darius, attempting to reconcile with Zuri after their breakup, says that he can’t alter his class background. In response, Zuri tells him that his class background hasn’t exactly been the problem: rather, the problem was that he “treated [her] sisters like shit.” In response, Darius claims that Zuri “judged” him and treated him and his brother Ainsley “like shit” too. Readers may have trouble deciding exactly how to interpret this moment. On the one Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta

Warren Character Timeline in Pride

The timeline below shows where the character Warren appears in Pride. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...knows the Darcys approaches their group, Darius greets him coldly. The boy introduces himself as Warren. Zuri, intrigued by Warren’s “swag,” makes eye contact with him—extending the look so both Warren... (full context)

Money, Gentrification, and Class Theme Icon

When Warren mentions that he’s from the Hope Gardens projects, Zuri says that Darius never mentioned knowing... (full context)

...of the two. Zuri says that the Darcys are “too stuck-up” for Bushwick, not like Warren, with whom Zuri has been texting. He doesn’t make a big deal out of his... (full context)

...a boy for his money—and anyway, she hates Darius. Then she gets a text from Warren asking her out on a date that night. (full context)

...she can travel anywhere because her family’s love will always be waiting for her. Meanwhile, Warren seems to her like someone simultaneously “new” and “home.” When they meet on the street,... (full context)

Warren gets a cab and volunteers to pay for food and a movie. When Zuri asks... (full context)

During the 30-minute cab ride, Warren and Zuri chat, but she’s distracted by the “familiar but changing” landscape of gentrifying Brooklyn.... (full context)

As their evening out ends, Warren walks Zuri to the stoop of her apartment building. After they exchange some flirtatious banter,... (full context)

...one guy calls to Zuri that he heard she was spending time with “[his] boy Warren”—and asks whether he should tell Warren that Zuri is hanging out with Darius too. Zuri... (full context)

...asks whether he’s in summer school. He explains that he’s actually doing SAT test prep—but Warren is in summer school. Zuri pretends that she already knew. To nettle Darius, she asks... (full context)

...have a relationship and still have other goals. Then she asks what Zuri’s doing with Warren. Zuri claims that she and Warren are just hanging out. When Janae laments that Ainsley... (full context)

...Janae—Ainsley really hurt her. When Madrina asks about Zuri’s romantic life, Zuri thinks about both Warren and Darius—but she tells Madrina, “Ain’t nobody seducing me.” Madrina invites Zuri to dance, so... (full context)

Chapter 13. Zuri is alone in her apartment when Warren comes by to give her flowers. While they talk, Zuri notices him check his phone,... (full context)

Zuri changes her mind about Warren meeting her parents that day and decides to walk with him instead. They stroll outside,... (full context)

After hearing Warren’s story, Zuri is furious at Darius and the Darcys. She tells Warren as much. When... (full context)

...bookstore and browses the books while texting her family and reading texts from Charlise and Warren. Then someone speaks over a microphone elsewhere in Busboys and Poets, and Zuri hears that... (full context)

Darius expresses surprise at running into Zuri. Zuri remembers Warren’s story about how awful the Darcys are, yet she notices Darius seems friendlier here, “more... (full context)

...condition that she gets to choose the music. When Darius grins, Zuri suddenly wonders what Warren would think of this arrangement. As Darius, Zuri, and Georgia walk to the car, Zuri... (full context)

...Zuri can grab dinner. She hesitates but agrees. As he drives, she receives texts from Warren and her sisters, but she’s not sure how to respond. When Darius pulls into a... (full context)

...wrong given what she knows now about how he’s treated not only Janae but also Warren—stereotyping them and believing himself better than them. Darius sarcastically apologizes for not being more like... (full context)

The next day, Darius calls Zuri and asks to meet. She gets a call from Warren and puts Darius on hold. Warren asks her to come play basketball with him. Zuri... (full context)

Zuri wonders how much Warren has lied to her and whether pictures of Georgia are the real reason he almost... (full context)

Charlise asks how Warren’s doing. Zuri says she and Warren are no longer hanging out but avoids explaining why.... (full context)

Chapter 22. Via text, Darius apologizes for “everything,” even for revealing the truth about Warren, whom he knows Zuri liked. Zuri says Darius shouldn’t be sorry about Warren, who is... (full context)

...reaches the nearest train platform, she is scrolling Instagram when she sees a picture of Warren at an outdoor party—with Layla sitting in his lap. When Darius walks up, clearly still... (full context)

...horror. When Layla yells that she’s fine, Zuri threatens to tell their parents and mentions Warren. Layla retorts that she likes Warren—and Carrie cuts in, saying that Warren has a “bad... (full context)

...starts yelling “Fight!” Layla wobbles upstairs, Zuri and Carrie follow, and they see Darius and Warren outside fighting on the sidewalk. Zuri, leaping into action, pulls Darius away from Warren, while... (full context)

Zuri tells Darius he didn’t need to fight Warren. When Darius retorts that he wanted an excuse, Zuri asks whether he wasn’t defending Layla.... (full context)

Warren Character Analysis

Warren Quotes in Pride

Chapters 6–10 Quotes

Chapters 11–15 Quotes

Chapters 16–20 Quotes

Chapters 21–25 Quotes

Chapters 26–30 Quotes

Warren Character Timeline in Pride