Luke was the captain of the St. John's rugby team and one of Daniel's best friends. He dies when Daniel chooses to drive drunk after a party and crashes his car into a tree. Tom realizes months later that despite being the captain of the team, Luke, like Daniel, had checked out for most of their last season. He spent his evenings drinking and driving around with Daniel and Owen, another teammate, and often played hungover. After his death, Luke's father insists that Daniel should be locked up for good.
Luke Quotes in The Story of Tom Brennan
The The Story of Tom Brennan quotes below are all either spoken by Luke or refer to Luke. 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:
).
Chapter Six
Quotes
Somewhere in the bush, hard to say how far away, I could hear the painful sound of groaning, retching sobs. It was Daniel but I couldn't go to him. Part of me wanted to, the other part didn't. I knew I had to stay with Fin, stay with the mess Daniel had made. Yet a voice inside of me was screaming, "He's alive, he's alive. Daniel's alive."
Related Characters:Tom Brennan (speaker), Daniel Brennan, Snorter, Luke, Nicole, Fin, Matt
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
81
Explanation and Analysis:
Tom recounts the experience of staying with Fin after he, Matt, and Snorter returned to the accident site. Tom's desire to go to Daniel shows again how connected the two once were to each other, and how close Tom still felt they were despite Daniel's months of bad behavior at this point. This is further reinforced by the voice in Tom's head celebrating that Daniel lived through the accident. In turn, his reaction reinforces the novel's overall assertion that blood is thicker than water, while this also suggests that brothers are naturally closer to each other than cousins. This is 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. Commod
Chapter Seven
Quotes
Wasn't his life worth more? But that's exactly why he was here, because a life was worth something, and Daniel took two away. Whichever way I turned, my questions only found another one, always worse than the last.
Related Characters:Tom Brennan (speaker), Nicole, Daniel Brennan, Fin, Luke
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
109
Explanation and Analysis:
Tom, shocked that Daniel's trial only lasts twenty minutes, goes on to contemplate the value of a life. It's worth noting that in asking these questions, Tom tries to assign logical value and meaning to a situation that's extremely emotional and complex. While this is what the courts endeavor to do every day, Tom's inability to make sense of the situation suggests that the courts themselves are a somewhat ineffective way to answer questions regarding the value of life, or to dole out justice. This is reinforced by Tom's admission here that the two lives Daniel took were certainly worth Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia.
"Being a team player, you should have known better."
Related Characters:Judge Williams (speaker), Daniel Brennan, Luke, Nicole
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
128
Explanation and Analysis:
When Judge Williams sentences Daniel, he insists that he can't be lenient because Daniel should've been more responsible, given his involvement in a team sport. With this, the novel reinforces the importance of teamwork, while also showing that one can be technically part of a team without truly participating. Daniel didn't actually behave like a team player in the months before the accident; that's exactly why he behaved the way he did and got in the accident in the first place. Taken together, this suggests that acting as a selfish individual and removing oneself from a team has disastrous consequences Dolorem et quae. Exerci
Luke Character Timeline in The Story of Tom Brennan
The timeline below shows where the character Luke appears in The Story of Tom Brennan. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter One
...Fin would start a game of cricket while Dad grilled. In the afternoon, Matt, Snorter, Luke, and other friends would show up and the cricket game would become the loud event...
(full context)
Chapter Two
...in the running to win the Wattle Shield for the third year in a row. Luke, the captain, paced, and Dad gave a surprisingly calm pep talk. He gave special instructions...
(full context)
Chapter Three
...to convince Matt and Snorter that they should actually go. When they arrived, Daniel and Luke were already drunk, though Daniel was still happy. Tom went outside, where Snorter was telling...
(full context)
...to himself by treating Claire horribly. Daniel slammed Tom against a pole as Fin and Luke tried to talk Daniel down. When Daniel finally let Tom go, Tom walked away towards...
(full context)
Chapter Six
...move on. Tom doesn't want to remember the fear he saw in Fin's eyes, or Luke and Nicole dead in the car.
(full context)
...started to curse and scream "no," and he and Tom held each other and cried: Luke and Nicole were dead. Tom and Matt returned to searching the car and found Fin,...
(full context)
...car. Tom sat with him the entire time, thankful that Fin didn't see Nicole and Luke's bodies taken away. Dad and policemen coaxed Daniel out of the woods and they left,...
(full context)
Chapter Seven
...Matt lists who at St. Johns are taking Tom and Daniel's positions, and says that Luke's dad is going to coach. Tom flashes on him sobbing in the courtroom when the...
(full context)
...Matt explained that the police seemed to already know about the fight. Tom asked about Luke and Nicole, and Matt started to cry and said that he saw Luke's dad at...
(full context)
...he's guilty or not. When Tom closed his eyes that night, he could only see Luke, Nicole, and the terror in Fin's eyes. Fin was in critical condition, though Dad didn't...
(full context)
...only ate because Matt's mother kept bringing over casseroles. Dad and Brendan attended Nicole and Luke's funerals. The day before Daniel's court appearance, Talbot said the only thing they had going...
(full context)
...harm and two charges of driving dangerously and causing death. Tom knew that Nicole and Luke's families were there, but he didn't look around. The magistrate declared that Daniel's sentencing trial...
(full context)
Chapter Nine
Daniel wrote letters to Luke and Nicole's families and seemed truly sorry: he barely ate and spent most of his...
(full context)
In the courtroom, Tom could see Nicole and Luke's parents, as well as Matt and his mother. They all sat and listened to Judge...
(full context)
Chapter Sixteen
...now. Then, he drank a lot and was hung over all the time, as were Luke and Owen. Tom says he knew things were bad, but he's only recently realized that...
(full context)