"Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?"
When Vice Principal Richard Vernon assembles the students for detention, he attempts to intimidate them with strict rules and his no-nonsense manner of speaking. When he asks if they have any questions—said in a way that does not invite actual queries—Bender replies with this insult. Comparing Vernon to Barry Manilow, a pop singer who rose to fame in the 1970s, Bender takes a shot at Vernon's outdated suit. With this line, Hughes establishes Bender's sarcastic, rebellious nature and his combative relationship with Vernon.
“Alright girls, that’s thirty minutes for lunch.”
Early in the film, the students kill time in detention rather than work on the essay Vernon assigned. They are whistling a song together when Vernon steps in and delivers this line to announce a lunch break. Although only two of the five students are female, Vernon addresses the entire group as "girls." In doing so, he attempts to emasculate the male students and emphasize his authority. However, the need to reiterate his authority reveals Vernon's insecurity around a student like Bender, who sees through his gruff exterior and perceives the man's true weakness.
“This is what you get in my house when you spill paint in the garage.”
During the lunch break, Bender is the only student whose parents haven't packed him any food. Bender pulls items from Brian's brown bag, taunting him for having a balanced meal provided by supportive parents. When Bender speaks of his own abusive father, Andrew accuses him of lying. To prove that he lives in a violent household, Bender shows Andrew the cigar burn on his forearm and delivers this line, implying that all it took was spilling paint in the garage to provoke his father's sadistic rage. The line is significant because it shows how Bender's provocative, rebellious behavior is a consequence of having been raised in a dysfunctional home.
“I will not be made a fool of!”
When Bender falls through the ceiling, Vernon angrily questions the group about the noise. The students feign ignorance, but Vernon senses they are lying to him. As he leaves the room, Vernon delivers this line before turning around to reveal that a toilet-seat protector is hanging out of the back of his pants. The line stands out for its ironic humor, as Vernon immediately contradicts himself, unwittingly making an even-greater fool of himself.
“You know what I got for Christmas this year? It was a banner fucking year at the ol’ Bender family. I got a carton of cigarettes. The old man grabbed me and said, ‘Eh, smoke up Johnny!’ So go home and cry to your daddy, don’t cry here.”
When Claire talks about the pain she feels as a child caught in the middle of an acrimonious divorce, Bender is unsympathetic. Seeing Claire as infinitely more privileged than him, Bender draws attention to Claire's diamond stud earrings before saying that his parents gave him a carton of cigarettes for Christmas. In this line, Bender reminds the group that he comes from a more dysfunctional home than the other students.
“My god, are we gonna be like our parents?”
...
“It’s unavoidable. It just happens. When you grow up, your heart dies.”
During the most confessional and contemplative scene in the film, the students sit in a circle to talk. After witnessing Bender and Claire argue like an unhappy couple, Andrew has a revelation: they are going to become like their parents. Allison is resigned to this fate, opining that it is inevitable to become like one's parents because all adults learn to cut off their emotions. This dialogue exchange is significant because it speaks to the students' sensitivity and fear. Although they are pessimistic about the future, their ability to discuss the topic openly suggests they may be able to avoid their parents' fate by remaining in touch with their feelings.
"Then I assume Allison and I are better people than you, huh? Us weirdos."
Despite belonging to different social groups within their high school, the Breakfast Club kids bond over the course of their eight-hour detention. When Brian asks whether they will maintain this newfound intimacy at school on Monday, Claire is honest with him, saying she doesn't think they will still be friends. Brian confirms that he and Allison would pretend not to know her before delivering this line about social outcasts being better people than popular kids. With this line, Brian highlights the irony of the most-admired students being the least moral people at their school. Because they are shunned as "weirdos," people like Brian and Allison are more open to accepting difference and seeing beyond superficial categories.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Because you’re letting me.”
During the film's denouement, Claire takes Allison aside to redo her makeup and give her a makeover. Claire removes the heavy black eye makeup Allison wears and pushes her bangs off her forehead, revealing her beautiful face. Confused by Claire's attention, Allison blurts out the line, "Why are you being so nice to me?" Claire's reply suggests she is not by nature cold to outcasts like Allison, but is happy to be kind if given the chance. When both girls let down their guards, they can see past the social divisions of high school and forge a genuine bond.
"You see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms with the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours,
The Breakfast Club"
At the end of the film, Vernon stands in the library detention room reading a sheet of paper while Brian's voice plays over the visuals. Rather than provide a thousand-word essay on "who you think you are," Brian defies Vernon's authority by delivering this curt refutation of the essay's premise. While the students have spent the day learning a lot about themselves and each other, they have so little respect for Vernon and his authoritarian attitude that they don't share their findings. Instead, the students ironically identify themselves using simplistic labels. In doing so, the students refute the stereotypes that unsympathetic people like Vernon reduce them to.
"You want to know what I did to get in here? Nothing. I had nothing better to do."
In the film's climactic scene, the students sit on the floor in a circle. Brian and Andrew take turns revealing what brought them to be in detention, their confessions laden with remorse, humility, and grief. In a moment of comic relief, Allison confesses that she didn't do anything to wind up in detention: she chose to spend her Saturday at school. With this ironic revelation, Allison further establishes her outsider status, admitting to the others that what is a punishment for them is a way to kill time for her.
