DNA: Key Quotations (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Key theme quotations

To successfully answer a GCSE English Literature exam question on DNA, you’ll need to have a thorough knowledge of the play. 

You don’t have to memorise long quotations from across the play. Instead, try to paraphrase quotes, use key word quotes or mention patterns of language. 

Although you have a choice of questions, and one of these may focus on character, remember that even with a character-based question you will need to refer to themes. The best way to revise quotes is to group them by theme. 

Below you will find definitions and analysis of some key DNA quotations, arranged by the following themes:

• Bullying and violence 

• Innocence and sin

• Truth and reality 

• Responsibility 

Bullying and violence quotes

In Kelly’s play, he examines how quickly peer pressure can turn into bullying. Kelly portrays how this leads to the normalisation of violence and brutality and ultimately can lead to tragedy. 

Meaning and context

• John Tate warns Danny to ally with the group or risk becoming isolated and vulnerable 

Analysis

• Kelly shows that some of the teenagers are threatened, forced to remain silent and complicit in the cover-up of a crime:

  • Tate’s manipulation of Danny shows the impact of peer pressure as he is threatened with isolation or (implicitly) future acts of violence if he refuses to comply

  • The repetition of “very” is emphatic, underlining the sinister threat

• Tate’s words are ironic, as the group’s silence and complicity ultimately leads to the characters’ decline and mental destruction as a result of their guilt 

Meaning and context

• Cathy explains that she threatened to dig out one of Brian’s eyes to force him out of hiding

• Brian explains that Cathy has become more violent, and then changes the subject to discuss what a warm day it is, and wonder at life’s natural pleasures 

Analysis

• Cathy’s pride at the violence of which she finds herself capable is shocking:

  • Her explicitly violent language and matter-of-fact tone suggests that her reaction to violence has been normalised 

• Brian’s tone is also matter-of-fact and reveals his disturbed state of mind, also perhaps the result of his exposure to violence and bullying

• His references to nature also suggest a desire to distract from the violence and Cathy’s cruelty 

Innocence and sin quotes

DNA examines what happens when moral values are challenged. Kelly portrays the damaging effects of guilt, crime and brutality for all his characters, but implies, through their various responses to the crime, that the fundamental difference between good and evil is the absence of human compassion. 

"If you go now and say nothing to no one about this, you won’t be in trouble" – Phil, Act 3

Meaning and context

• Phil tries to reassure Jan that they will not get into trouble as long as they all remain silent and do not tell anyone about Adam living in the hedge

Analysis

• Kelly examines deception and the corruption of the human soul when it is framed as loyalty

• Phil offers Jan a conditional reassurance, suggesting that compliance in the cover-up will keep them safe

• The alliterative phrase highlights Phil’s urgent warning that the group must remain silent and complicit “now”, speaking of “nothing” and “no one”

Meaning and context

• Mark describes Adam’s torture, explaining that seeing Adam scared made him laugh

• Later in the play, Leah tells Phil that Mark has changed, and is now helping others 

Analysis

• Mark’s initial description of Adam’s torture conveys the play’s central theme of bullying and violence, revealing their collective enjoyment in Adam’s suffering

• However, Kelly conveys Mark’s disturbed state with dialogue that reflects instability:

  • Kelly perhaps implies that Mark’s descriptions were designed to appease the group and his bravado is not genuine but a result of peer pressure

  • Kelly subtly depicts the danger of groupthink

• Although Leah’s character is cynical here, she is presented as more compassionate and her use of a simile describes the positive impact of acting kindly as a form of heroism 

Truth and reality quotes

Kelly’s play considers how his characters choose lies and the distortion of truth rather than facing a difficult reality — facing the consequences of their actions. 

The play presents reality as fragile or ephemeral, as characters manipulate the truth in order to achieve personal power and popularity or evade the moral implications of their crime.  

Meaning and context

• In the rising action of the play, Phil instructs the group to frame a postman and gives them a detailed description to repeat to the police 

• Later, Leah tells Phil why she is friends with him, explaining that it is because he understands the dichotomies of life

Analysis

• Kelly presents the complexities of Phil’s character as he instructs the group in a sinister and criminal cover-up of Adam’s death:

  • The sibilant phrase “sad eyes, softly spoken” is powerful because it hints at Phil’s deeper understanding of the realities of life

  • The description implies an intimate knowledge of sadness and shows how he exploits this

  • Kelly presents Phil as clever and sophisticated to highlight his callousness  

• The depth of Leah’s conversations with Phil imply there is another side to Phil that the audience never sees fully, presenting the inherent ambiguities of truth and reality

  • Arguably, Phil’s real emotions are hinted at in the final scene

• Leah’s words convey her sense of vulnerability as she accepts the fragility of her world while showing her love for it

Meaning and context

• Kelly directs Adam to appear nervous when he appears before the others and to look at them as if they are strange and unfamiliar 

Analysis

• Adam functions as a physical representation of the truth when he reappears, alive, and forces the group to confront the reality of the situation  

• Stage directions emphasise Adam’s nervousness and the disturbing impact of his experiences as he faces the group “twitchily”, a word with connotations of distress and illness 

• Kelly’s simile compares the group to “Aliens” to show Adam’s perspective that they are inhuman or “other, which presents the group of bullies as unnatural 

Responsibility quotes

While Kelly’s play depicts the challenges of taking personal responsibility, it also explores the consequences of not being accountable for your actions. Several of the characters exhibit obsessive behaviours and overwhelming guilt.  

Meaning and context

• Brian tells the group that they should seek help outside of the group and tell someone what has happened to Adam

Analysis

• From the beginning of the play Brian is isolated because of his desire to report the crime:

  • He is threatened, ignored and mistreated for his concern about Adam, becoming another victim of their bullying

• Kelly conveys the irony of the group’s perception of him as weak and childlike:

  • His guilt, manifesting in his fragile mental state, is presented as a frailty or weakness

  • However, Kelly presents him as personally and morally responsible in his stand against the other, more powerful characters

Meaning and context

• Leah asks Phil if he believes, as she does, that small actions have big consequences 

Analysis

• Leah’s optimistic attitude to the world is emphasised with syntactic parallelism

• The repetition of “change” alludes to Kelly’s ideas about personal responsibility and his sympathetic presentation of Leah as a character who attempts to change events 

• Her decision to leave, in the resolution, confirms her integrity and autonomy as she realises she can have no impact on the group’s behaviour

Meaning and context

• Phil tells Leah that the group needs a leader and that he is taking charge to maintain stability 

Analysis

• Kelly’s portrayal of Phil as a calm and decisive leader raises questions about responsibility:

  • While the group rely on Phil, and he steps up to the challenge, the play presents the danger of being led by someone as cold-hearted and corrupt as Phil

• Phil’s emphatic and confident tone is one of the ways he manages to convince the group he is a capable leader, but Kelly implies that this hides an unstable mindset

You might also want to revise DNA with our key character quotations. 

Sources

Kelly, D. (2021). DNA. Bloomsbury Publishing (edited by Clare Delijani).