DNA: Themes (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Themes 

In your GCSE English Literature exam, the essay questions on Dennis Kelly’s DNA may ask you to consider any of the themes of the play (or its central ideas). You will also need to demonstrate that you understand how the playwright presents these ideas, and why they may have been presented this way. This is what we call the text’s social and historical context, covered by Assessment Objective 3 (AO3). 

Here are some of the key themes in DNA to revise:

• Bullying and violence 

• Innocence and sin

• Truth and reality 

• Responsibility 

Bullying and violence 

In the play DNA, Kelly portrays how cruel, violent acts are inherent in bullying behaviour. The play examines how peer pressure leads to the normalisation of violence and perpetuates it.  

Knowledge and evidence: 

• Act 1 shifts between scenes of dialogue amongst various smaller friendship groups and Kelly illustrates the process that culminates in the group decision:

  • Each small group discuss their response to the death of Adam and express their fear

  • Some characters (such as Mark) display bravado, which suggests their behaviour is influenced by other members of the group

• The play dramatically depicts physical and psychological bullying:

  • The genre, known as in-yer-face theatre, depicts events with crude language and gritty dialogue to accurately portray real life 

  • The torturous “death” of Adam is described callously by Mark, and the audience learns how cigarettes were stubbed out on him and stones were thrown at him

  • Physical abuse is detailed with harrowing precision, such as when Phil threatens to throw Brian in the dark hole to “rot” with “Adam’s corpse”

  • Kelly also depicts the consequences of emotional abuse in disturbing scenes, such as when Leah attempts to strangle herself, and nonchalantly shows Phil a tortured dead pet

• The structure of the play reflects the cyclical nature of violence in the play:

  • By Act 3, all of the characters are out of control and emotionally unstable as a result of the casual and reckless violence

  • The bleak end of the play suggests an endless cycle of violence and abuse as the audience learn that Cathy has become the new gang leader, and that Mark and Jan shoplift, suggesting the perpetuation of violence and crime 

What is Kelly’s intention?

• Kelly’s play implies that fear and pressure to conform can lead to violent behaviour 

• While suggesting empathy and kindness exists, Kelly highlights the capacity for cruelty that comes as a result of groupthink

• Ultimately, Kelly suggests that peer pressure and bullying can damage everyone  involved in these power struggles  

Innocence and sin

DNA portrays a group of teenagers forced to face their own moral dilemma under challenging circumstances, and within a dangerously corrupted environment. Kelly presents innocent characters who illustrate a strong sense of justice and compassion in contrast to others who lack empathy, or whose fear leads them to submit to evil.   

Knowledge and evidence: 

• By forcing each character to choose to act with integrity or to abandon their sense of morality, Kelly depicts their moral corruption: 

  • The group’s response to the framing of the innocent man, a postman, illustrates how some choose to sacrifice what is right when faced with consequences 

• Kelly considers science and religion in the play’s exploration of the themes of sin and virtue: 

  • Leah questions humanity, pondering how the “tiniest change” in DNA means humans are much like bonobos, a kind and peaceful species

  • The play’s main victim, Adam, is presented as innocent, “new” and otherworldly when he emerges from the darkness and “comes to life”

  • Kelly uses metaphor to suggest he experiences a spiritual awakening and his name may allude to Adam, the biblical “first man”

• By Act 3 Kelly exemplifies the idea of empathy and compassion as morally good:  

  • Kelly illustrates sympathetically how Leah, Brian and Danny are ignored or violently threatened when they express their distress at the others’ cruelty 

  • The group are offered a chance at redemption when Adam appears

  • When certain characters choose not to take this offer, Kelly portrays how their decision leads to unescapable guilt or a life of crime

  • The ending conveys a sense of nihilism within the community as the play’s last words are Richard’s unanswered call to Phil

What is Kelly’s intention?

• Kelly indirectly alludes to religion as he examines the characters’ morality and the capacity for evil

• Kelly’s examination of innocence and sin suggests that everyone must make a conscious choice to be good, especially when faced with temptation or challenges

• The play considers the idea of evil and suggests that it relates to a lack of empathy

• The play portrays the intense guilt felt by those who are complicit in wrongdoing (and the profound consequences) 

Truth and reality

Dennis Kelly’s play, DNA, questions the nature of reality as it depicts a group of teenagers who are forced to choose the version of truth that best suits them. The play explores the way truth is manipulated or viewed according to an individual’s perception. 

Knowledge and evidence: 

• The play begins by introducing characters who must either accept or deny truths: 

  • In the opening scene, Mark works hard to convince Jan that Adam is really dead 

  • John Tate is accused of “denying” reality and insists that they should not “overplay” Adam’s death

  • His attempt to ban the word “dead” portrays his desperation to avoid the truth

• Phil’s version of reality is warped, but Kelly emphasises how this does not hinder his ability to lead the group convincingly:

  • Phil’s use of factual evidence (DNA) to corroborate a lie portrays how his clever manipulation of the truth serves to convince the others

  • While Leah is the most sensible, she expresses doubt, and this contrasts Phil’s certainty in his lies, which earns him respect 

• Kelly also examines how Phil uses the perception of reality to his advantage:

  • He justifies Adam’s murder, commenting that there is no difference between truth and reality if the town already believes him to be dead

• Kelly juxtaposes truth and deception as some characters pass lies off as truth while Leah consistently challenges their deception:

  • Leah is focused on reality, reminding the group that the kidnapper they are framing “doesn’t actually exist”

  • Her sarcastic comment to insist on the truth, “I’m not being fussy”, humorously emphasises the others’ bizarre delusions 

• Despite her clear confusion, Kelly uses Leah’s character to represent truth:

  • She questions the nature of what she calls a “fragile” reality, suggesting it is “not what we think”, and that “maybe, this isn't real”

  • She changes her own reality by leaving the group

What is Kelly’s intention?

• Kelly portrays the way truth is manipulated to excuse violence 

• Kelly explores how subjective perception can create a form of reality

• The play illustrates how and why characters choose self-deception rather than truth

Responsibility  

Dennis Kelly’s DNA portrays a group who work together to cover up one crime and go on to commit another. In this way, Kelly draws attention to how crime and violence can escalate when individuals avoid accountability. 

Knowledge and evidence: 

• As scenes shift between conversations amongst small friendship groups, Kelly shows each of the character’s different reactions when told about the crime:

  • Kelly illustrates how the characters become complicit in Adam’s death when they discuss it as a group but choose to remain silent 

• The play considers how easy it is to avoid accountability within a group: 

  • For example, Mark says that “someone” threw stones at Adam

  • Jan and Mark ask repeatedly, “What are we gonna do?”

  • Jan says that Adam “Let us punch him”, absolving the group from responsibility for their actions

• On the other hand, the play juxtaposes the idea of personal responsibility with social responsibility as Kelly highlights the struggle to challenge the majority view: 

  • Phil insists the group work together to ensure success and instructs the group to cover up the crime, but Brian and Leah detach themselves 

  • Leah is isolated as a result of Phil’s challenge: “What’s more important: one person or everyone?”

  • Brian attempts to stand his ground until he is violently threatened

  • Kelly portrays the dramatic decline of Leah and Brian’s mental health

What is Kelly’s intention?

• Kelly explores the idea of Machiavellian success — that the end justifies the means

• The play suggests that social responsibility can be corrupted by manipulative leaders

• Kelly raises the importance of personal responsibility 

Sources

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