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Johnny’s cup symbolizes Johnny’s identity, particularly as it pertains to his feelings about his Lyte family members. Johnny’s deceased mother, who claims that she and Johnny are descendants of the Lyte family, gave him the cup with the Lyte symbol engraved on it before her death. She ordered him to keep the cup and tell no one about it—that is, unless Johnny can’t sink any lower and is in desperate need of help. Only then may Johnny take the cup to wealthy Merchant Lyte, explain his mother’s story, and ask for help. However, when Johnny hits rock bottom and does as his mother told him to, things don’t go according to plan: Merchant Lyte accuses him of stealing the cup and insists that Johnny can’t possibly be a family member. While Johnny didn’t entirely expect Merchant Lyte to welcome him with open arms, he didn’t think Merchant Lyte would treat him like a thief and drag him before a judge in a Boston courtroom. Though Johnny emerges victorious in court, Merchant Lyte later goes on to steal Johnny’s cup and threaten him. Merchant Lyte’s behavior about the cup shows Johnny that Merchant Lyte’s wealth and prestige doesn’t make him a nice person. Indeed, it makes him someone Johnny emphatically doesn’t want to be around—and never wants to call family.
The Lytes do ultimately accept Johnny as a family member, but Johnny never fully recovers his image of the Lytes as good, kind people with whom he wants to associate. Indeed, he goes so far as to reject taking his cup when Cilla offers to return it to him. Johnny’s refusal to accept the cup shows that he no longer wants a physical connection to the Lyte family, even if he is genuinely a Lyte himself. With this, Johnny asserts his independence and expresses his understanding that just because the Lytes are his blood family, it doesn’t mean that they’re supportive and make him feel welcome and wanted.
Johnny’s Cup Quotes in Johnny Tremain
The Johnny Tremain quotes below all refer to the symbol of Johnny’s Cup. 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:
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Chapter 4
Quotes
Rab was obviously a Whig. ‘I can stomach some of the Tories,’ he went on, ‘men like Governor Hutchinson. They honestly think we’re better off to take anything from the British Parliament—let them break us down, stamp in our faces, take all we’ve got by taxes, and never protest. […] But I can’t stand men like Lyte, who care nothing for anything except themselves and their own fortune. Playing both ends against the middle.’
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Chapter 8
Quotes
‘It’s no good to me. We’ve… moved on to other things.’
‘But it isn’t stealing to take back what Mr. Lyte stole from you.’
‘I don’t want it.’
‘What?’
‘No. I’m better off without it. I want nothing of them. Neither their blood nor their silver… I’ll carry that hamper for you, Cil. Mr. Lyte can have the old cup.
‘But your mother?’
‘She didn’t like it either.’
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Chapter 9
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Johnny knew he longed to own [Goblin] himself. He could, any moment, by merely saying ‘commandeer.’ And Johnny knew he never would say it.
From that day he and Johnny spent hours together jumping or exercising horses. Johnny almost worshiped him for his skill and almost loved him, because, ever and anon, he looked so much like Rab; but still it was only where horses were concerned they were equals. Indoors he was rigidly a British officer and a ‘gentleman’ and Johnny an inferior. This shifting about puzzled Johnny. It did not seem to puzzle the British officer at all.
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He took one of [the smocks] from his sea chest in the attic. It was a fine light blue. He had never noticed before how beautiful was the stitching, and it hurt him to think he had been too proud to wear them, for now he was old enough to appreciate the love that had gone into their making. How little his mother had known of the working world to make smocks for a boy who she knew was to become a silversmith! She hadn’t known anything, really, of day labor, the life of apprentices. She had been frail, cast off, sick, and yet she had fought up to the very end for something. That something was himself, and he felt humbled and ashamed.
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Johnny’s Cup Symbol Timeline in Johnny Tremain
The timeline below shows where the symbol Johnny’s Cup appears in Johnny Tremain. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...unless he has nothing left. In that case, Johnny is to show Merchant Lyte his cup and beg for help. It’s now almost dawn, and Johnny promises to show Cilla his...
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6. After putting Isannah to bed, Johnny grabs his cup out of his chest in the attic. The silver cup is what inspired him to...
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Chapter 4
...and he’s no longer interested in being relatives. But, Johnny says, he does have a cup to prove his story. After he describes the cup, Mr. Lyte tells Johnny to visit...
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...Johnny says that he wouldn’t marry a “sniveling, goggle-eyed frog” like Cilla. He fetches his cup and passes Cilla peeling apples on his way back out. Sweetly, she and Isannah say...
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...them like “wax candles”—is assembled. Mr. Lyte studies Johnny and then asks to see the cup in the dining room. There, Johnny places his cup next to three matching ones on...
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...will come before Mr. Justice Dana on Tuesday, and he asks if Johnny showed his cup to anyone prior to when someone stole the cup from Merchant Lyte. Johnny says he...
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...Johnny’s case. In a friendly manner, Mr. Lyte details how his great-grandfather had six identical cups made. Four cups came to the colonies, and somebody stole one of them last August....
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With Mr. Quincy’s prodding, Johnny tells the story of how his mother gave him the cup and what she told him about the Lytes. He describes his accident and the difficult...
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Chapter 5
...and warm clothes he’ll need. So, Johnny decides to disobey his mother and sell his cup to Mr. Lyte.
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...office. The man is clearly furious with Johnny, especially when Johnny offers to sell the cup for 20 pounds. Mr. Lyte refuses, snatches the cup, and blocks Johnny’s exit. He calls...
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Chapter 8
...case he needs them later. Cilla calls for Johnny; she wants him to take his cup back. Johnny insists he is better off without it. Standing by Cilla’s fire, Johnny considers...
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Chapter 11
...Lavinia says that Merchant Lyte honestly thought Johnny tried to swindle him out of the cup—but he also never mentioned that five cups did come to Boston. Johnny interjects angrily, but...
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...Merchant Lyte also wants Johnny to know that he didn’t try to cheat Johnny; the cup was Vinny’s. He’s promised to write everything out so that after the war, Johnny can...
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