West Side Story Loyalty Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from West Side Story.

Quote #4

RIFF: Oh, well now you're talkin'. Oh man, without a gang, you're an orphan. With a gang, you walk in twos, threes, fours. And when your crew is the best, when you're a Jet, you're out in the sun, buddy boy. You're home free home.

TONY: Riff, I've had it.

RIFF: Tony, Tony, look at me, will ya? Come on, look at me...Now, I never asked the time of day from a clock, did I? I never asked nothin' from nobody. But I'm askin' you: come to the dance tonight.

More trouble in paradise here, as Tony isn't quite willing to stand by his loyalties as a Jet. Riff has to appeal to their shared history in order to get him to come around, suggesting that Tony might not, in fact, be there for the Jets the way Riff promised.

Quote #5

TONY: I ain't playing anymore, can't any of you get that?

Tony's being pulled apart, and just like his friends don't understand why he won't help them, he can't understand why they don't want him to just be happy with his girl.

Quote #6

ANITA: A boy like that, --
Who'd kill your brother,
Forget that boy and find another!

This is perhaps the biggest test of Maria's love for Tony. Not only did he kill her brother (accidentally, yes, but still), but Anita's pretty much saying "dump him or we're through." Maria's losing the loyalty of everyone around her, and yet she still stands by her man.