That Was Then, This Is Now

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1971

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-7

Chapters 8-11

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Chapters 8-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 8 Summary

Early the next morning, Bryon goes to work despite having a hangover. He makes a few mistakes but manages not to lose his job. Returning home, he finds Mark waiting for him, ready to check on M&M. On the way, they argue about Cathy and nearly get into a fight, but Mark apologizes.

Following Mark’s directions, Bryon drives to a rundown part of town with large houses. They stop at a house with a sign reading “Love” on the front porch. Mark leads Bryon inside, where a young woman on a couch who is high greets Mark as “Cat.” In an upstairs bedroom, they find a group of people sitting in a circle and discussing a book. One of them tells Mark that M&M, whom he refers to as “Baby Freak,” is not around. When Bryon reprimands them for letting M&M take drugs, a woman suggests that nobody in that house has to let anyone else do anything; instead, they are simply “free.” Bryon wonders what it means to be truly free.

On their way back home, Bryon is puzzled to hear Mark, who doesn’t smoke cannabis, come to the “hippies’” defense.

Bryon picks up Cathy after her work at the hospital, and the two go for a ride. Not wanting to upset her, he doesn’t mention what he learned about M&M. He feels increasingly serious about his relationship with Cathy but struggles to express himself. He asks her if she would wear a ring showing that she is his boyfriend, and she agrees to do so.

Bryon goes to Terry Jones’s house to pick up Mark, but no one is there. While he waits for Mark to show up, Angela’s brothers, Tim and Curly appear, accompanied by a few of their fellow gang members. Bryon says, truthfully, that he is sorry for what he did to Angela, but they beat him up anyway.

By the time Bryon regains consciousness, Mark is tending to his wounds. Seeing Bryon’s injuries, Terry offers to let him stay. Mark promises to get back at the Shepherds. After making everyone else leave the room, Bryon explains that he does not want Mark to get back at the Shepherds, since getting revenge only perpetuates the cycle of violence.

Chapter 9 Summary

In the hospital the next day, the same doctor who treated Mark treats Bryon for injuries to his face and ribs and offers judgmental comments on the frequency of their fighting. On the way home, Bryon tries to explain to Mark why he, like Mike, is not angry at the people who injured him. Mark begins to cry and explains his frustration at not being able to get back at the Shepherds, especially since he was the one who cut Angela’s hair, not Bryon.

Back at home, Bryon’s mother, who is now recovered, is upset to see his injuries. Mark calls Cathy, and she arrives by the time Bryon wakes up from a nap. As she cries, Bryon tells her that he loves her. To cheer her up, he promises to take her looking for M&M in a few days.

A couple of days later, Bryon visits Charlie’s grave, where he expresses his gratitude to Charlie for lending him his car and protecting him. Two days after that, he takes Cathy to the commune house that Mark showed him. Bryon asks a man on the porch about M&M, and the man refers him to a man named Red, adding that M&M has been “floating for a couple of days now” (137). Inside, the Red tells them that M&M took LSD and is on a “bad trip”; earlier that day, several people had to restrain him from jumping out a window.

They find M&M in an upstairs bedroom, looking thin and suspicious. M&M describes his hallucinations, including getting chewed on by large spiders. He also experiences synesthesia as he apparently hears certain colors. Bryon carries him out of the house, and they drive to the hospital, with M&M crying in fear along the way. Mr. Carlson meets them at the hospital and carries M&M inside.

Chapter 10 Summary

A while later, the doctor informs them that M&M will recover physically but may have lasting mental effects from the LSD. Mr. Carlson thanks Bryon for his help and asks him to take Cathy home. On the way, Bryon parks the car for a few minutes to comfort Cathy, who is convinced that M&M will never be the same; both cry.

Arriving home, Bryon finds that his mother is asleep; Mark is out. Looking for a cigarette, Bryon checks a hiding place under Mark’s mattress. When he finds a cylinder containing hundreds of pills, Bryon realizes that Mark has been making money by selling drugs. Thinking about the pain drugs caused the Carlson family, Bryon calls the police to report Mark.

Moments later, Mark arrives home. Seeing the container of drugs in Bryon’s hand, Mark assures him that he sells them but never takes them. Mark also explains that he never sold anything to M&M. As Mark talks, Bryon realizes that Mark has no concept of right and wrong. When Mark offers to stop selling drugs, Bryon explains that he already called the police. As the sirens approach, Mark begs Bryon to explain why he acted the way he did. Bryon doesn’t respond, not sure of the answer.

When the police arrive, they confiscate the drugs, question Bryon, and arrest Mark. As the police take Mark away, he calls out, “My God, Bryon, you’re not gonna let them take me to jail?” (149).

After Mark and the police leave, Bryon goes to the bathroom and vomits.

Chapter 11 Summary

The next morning, Bryon wonders why he acted as he did. His mother expresses her hope that the authorities will help Mark turn his life around, but Bryon doesn’t share her optimism. After going through the motions at work, Bryon returns home and smokes several cigarettes. When Cathy drops by, Bryon finds that he no longer loves her or cares as deeply about M&M. He even asks her, “Aren’t you glad he’s out of the way?” (152), referring to Mark. Hurt and confused, Cathy asks Bryon why he is being mean before leaving.

Bryon testifies at Mark’s legal hearing. Mark laughs when Bryon describes the two of them as being “like brothers.” Mark demonstrates a carefree attitude throughout and doesn’t try to charm his way to a lighter punishment. He is sentenced to five years in the reformatory and leaves the courtroom without looking at Bryon.

Over the next few months, Bryon works and studies. One day, he runs into M&M in the drugstore. M&M expresses his fear of a flashback to his hallucinations and admits that his memory isn’t as strong as before he took LSD. He adds that the possibility of chromosome damage may deter him from ever starting a family, which was once a dream of his. M&M also informs Bryon that Cathy is now dating Curtis; Bryon, who is largely numb to emotion, receives the news apathetically.

Over the summer, Bryon works full time and attempts to visit Mark, but Mark is not allowed any visitors due to his unruly behavior. One day, when Angela passes through Bryon’s lane at the grocery store, she shares her disapproval of the way Bryon treated Mark. Bryon, who feels sorry for her, only compliments her in return.

On another occasion, Bryon’s mother points out to him that he punished Cathy and Mark for the other’s influence and asks when he is going to “stop getting even with yourself?” (156). Stung, Bryon goes for a ride.

In August, Bryon is finally allowed to visit Mark, whose behavior has been so unmanageable that the authorities hope a visit from Bryon could help. If not, he will be sent to the state prison. Mark, who looks leaner and tougher than before, greets Bryon casually. As Bryon struggles to decide what to say, Mark explains that he agreed to meet with Bryon only to confirm that he hates Bryon. Bryon pleads with him to improve his behavior so that he can get parole, reminding him of their former friendship, but Mark quotes Bryon’s earlier statement, “That was then, and this is now” (158). Bryon suddenly feels that, given the chance, Mark would kill him. He continues to ponder the events of the past but only feels increasingly confused as a result.

Chapters 8-11 Analysis

In these chapters, a series of climactic events forces Bryon to finally choose to align himself with either Mark or Cathy’s influence. Notably, Bryon visits the commune house twice, once with Mark and once with Cathy. On the first occasion, he reveals himself as an outsider when he scolds those present for allowing M&M to take drugs. Their indignant response inspires Bryon to a moment of reflection on the true nature of freedom, ultimately leading him to conclude that neither he nor the “hippies” are truly free. They are, in Bryon’s view, dependent on their substances and constricted by their own communal norms. This reflection on free will deepens as he feels forced into the difficult position of choosing between the freedom afforded by adhering to society’s laws and expectations, as Cathy does, and the freedom of acting independently of those laws, as Mark does. Though Bryon eventually sides with Cathy, he finds that doing so comes at a heavy cost.

After formalizing his relationship with Cathy, Bryon increasingly follows her preferred path of non-violence, even making Mark promise not to seek retribution against the Shepherds in the hopes of breaking the cycle of revenge. Bryon’s visit to the hospital, this time for his own treatment, extends Hinton’s discussion of the endless cycle of violence, with the doctor asking, “Don’t you punks ever do anything besides fight?” after recognizing Mark and Bryon from before (130). The doctor’s dismissive tone suggests disdain for the apparently petty infighting of poor people from high-crime neighborhoods. Meanwhile, Bryon’s growing pacifism only frustrates Mark, forcing him to choose between his respect for Bryon and his deeply vindictive nature.

Further evidence of Bryon’s character arc toward non-violence comes in his verbal confession of love to Cathy, which somehow enables him to make peace with Charlie as well. By the time he and Cathy go on a mission to rescue M&M, Bryon fully identifies with her outlook and even cries with her after seeing M&M’s state.

To this point, the changes in Bryon brought mostly positive, if painful, developments. That changes when Bryon returns home, still reeling from the day’s events, to discover Mark’s stash of pills that he has been selling. Still immersed in Cathy’s influence, Bryon calmly and deliberately phones the police to report Bryon, showing in the climactic moments of the story that his transformation is complete. Whereas Mark apparently has little or no sense of right and wrong, Bryon now displays a rigid and unyielding sense of justice.

Within moments of calling the police, however, Bryon finds his certainty wavering. Haunted by the consequences of his actions, Bryon vomits, demonstrating the severity of his discomfort. The next morning, Bryon repeatedly thinks to himself that time in prison “would kill [Mark]” (150), showing that he considers his actions to be tantamount to murder. Like Mike and Charlie before him, Bryon learns that acting morally can lead to tragedy. Though Bryon can no longer change the outcome of his actions, he continues to dwell on them, as his narration throughout the novel indicates. Lost in the past, in a sea of impossible-to-answer “what if” questions, Bryon becomes increasingly pessimistic and confused.

Bryon’s newfound cynicism poisons everything he does, spoiling his relationship with Cathy and sapping his enjoyment of life. Bryon’s mother astutely observes that, in a way, having punished both Mark and Cathy for their supposed misdeeds, Bryon is now punishing himself. Though Bryon claims to disavow physical violence, he remains locked in a no-less-damaging social struggle, leaving broken relationships in his wake and taking out his anger on all responsible parties, including himself. Though Bryon does manage to overcome his resentment of Angela, in an ironic turn of events, she now resents Bryon for his treatment of Mark, even though Mark was the one who cut her hair. Thus, the cycle of blame and opposition continues.

Bryon’s final confrontation with Mark finally shows readers Bryon’s present situation, the “This Is Now” of the title: Mark hates Bryon, and Bryon feels a mixture of hatred, pity, and guilt about Mark. Unable to resolve those feelings, he delves into the past, writing the words that become the novel, but the process apparently sheds no new light on the situation, suggesting that Bryon’s cycle of hurt and regret has no end in sight.