"Dead" (Motif)
In Scene One of DNA, Kelly introduces the motif of different characters repeating the word "dead." The first utterance comes from Jan, who opens the play by saying "DEAD?" with emphasis. In a quick back and forth, Jan and Mark repeat "dead" until Jan's incredulity is gradually replaced by acceptance. Lou is the next to use the word in the phrase, "He's dead," which he repeats to make John Tate come out of denial and accept the seriousness of the situation. Lou's persistence prompts John Tate to impose a rule: no one is allowed to say "dead" anymore. In an ironic moment of comic relief, "He's dead" is the first thing Richard says as he enters the scene a moment later. Kelly stretches the irony further by having John Tate himself say, "He's dead" to cap off Mark's recounting of how Adam ostensibly died. Ultimately, the motif of characters repeating the word shows how the teenagers reached consensus about Adam's death when, in reality, no one confirmed that he actually died.
Phil’s Snacks (Motif)
Early in the play, Kelly establishes another noteworthy motif: Phil is constantly eating or drinking. Initially, Phil's indulgent snacking provides comic relief as he shuns social interaction with Leah to tuck into yet another treat. As Phil's sadistic nature is revealed, his snacking takes on a sinister connotation: While Leah is torn over the conspiracy they've taken part in, Phil eats without apparent emotion. At the end of the play, Phil makes his only snack-free appearance as he sits in the field alone, now that Leah has run away. In resolving the motif this way, Kelly hints that Phil, despite his cold indifference toward her, did have a genuine attachment to Leah, and their breakup has rid him of his appetite.
Chimps and Bonobos (Symbol)
Leah's commentary on the difference between chimps and bonobos symbolizes humanity's conflicting impulses of cruelty and empathy. While carrying on a one-sided conversation with Phil, Leah talks about a nature documentary that depicted chimps as violent and cruel in their sometimes-cannibalistic wars against other groups of chimps. Bonobos, by contrast, welcome "stranger bonobos" into their communities with openness and curiosity; she says that bonobos will tend to the injuries of other bonobos, having felt their pain. Leah point out that humans, as a species, are more closely related to bonobos, yet we have long identified with the warring nature of chimps. Leah says, "If we’d discovered bonobos before chimps our understanding of ourselves would be very different." With this commentary, Leah highlights the conflict between humanity's capacity for cruelty and empathy, which proves to also be a major point of conflict between her and Phil.
Killing Jerry (Symbol)
The pet rodent Leah kills symbolizes Leah's psychological unravelling. Having gone through with Phil's plan to cover up Adam's death, Leah's mental health suffers as she grapples with the immorality of what they have done. Leah shows Phil a Tupperware container that holds the dead body of "Jerry," whose species is never identified but who is likely her pet gerbil, hamster, or rat. Leah admits to having taken a hammer and driven a screwdriver into Jerry's head, but she can’t say what compelled her. Just as Adam was ruthlessly tortured and killed despite having done nothing to deserve such cruel treatment, Leah's traumatized mind subconsciously prompts her to recreate the killing with another innocent creature.
Throwing Stones (Symbol)
The group's act of throwing stones at Adam until he ostensibly dies is a symbol of the sadistic human appetite for seeing others in pain. In Mark's recounting of Adam's death, he details how members of the friend group were chucking stones at Adam as he stood precariously balanced over a deep shaft. Mark explains that everyone, including Adam, was laughing hysterically as the stones hit him, which only encouraged more throwing until one stone hit Adam in the head and he fell into the shaft. Although Mark portrays the collective action of the group as innocent and playful, they were engaging in an improvised form of stoning—a method of capital punishment in which members of the public throw stones at a condemned person until they die of blunt-force trauma. In DNA, Kelly portrays a believable modern-day update to the ancient ritual of stoning in which the throwers deny responsibility for their participation. But regardless of how the group sees their actions, they cannot deny that they knowingly endangered Adam's life because they were caught up in the perverse thrill of exercising cruelty against another human being.
