Johnny Tremain Friendship Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)

Quote #1

He could have easily made friends with stupid Dove, for Dove was lonely and admired Johnny as well as envied him. Johnny preferred to bully him. (1.1.36)

Johnny can be kind of a jerk, especially before his accident. Knowing that Dove didn't mean to seriously injure Johnny, it seems problematic to blame him too much when the prank he intends to be harmless goes awry.

Quote #2

There was not a boy on the wharf Johnny did not know. He had made friends with some and enemies of others, and had played or fought with all of them. […] Seemingly in one month he had become a stranger, an outcast on Hancock's wharf. He was maimed and they were whole. (2.4.36)

At the point in the novel where Johnny needs friends the most, he doesn't have any. Well, he still has Cilla, but he's pushing her away, too. It's dark days.

Quote #3

Although the boy had nodded casually as Johnny came in, he did not speak to him until after the woman was gone and he had set up the few lines of type. There was nothing rude about this seeming neglect. It was almost as if they were friends of long standing. (3.1.29)

One of our favorite things about good friends is that we don't have to talk to them 24/7 when we hang out. Good friends don't have to talk all the time to know they're friends. Also, check out the foreshadowing here—it seems like Rab and Johnny are friends, and then bam—they are.