Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in That Was Then, This Is Now, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Humility, Responsibility, and Coming of Age
Brotherhood, Loyalty, and Betrayal
Rules and Consequences
Violence and Revenge
Love and Selflessness
Summary
Analysis
Once the Texans have been caught, Mark and Bryon testify in the trial—The Texans are sentenced to life in prison. Bryon thinks that he doesn’t really care what happens to them, because Charlie is dead and nothing can change that. At school, Mark and Bryon are treated like celebrities because of their involvement in the trial, but they don’t really talk about what happened.
The fact that Bryon doesn’t care about getting revenge—or even justice—for Charlie’s death illustrates how much responsibility and guilt he feels over what happened. He knows that additional violence won’t bring Charlie back, and rather than blaming the Texans for what happened, he takes the blame for not heeding Charlie’s warnings.
Themes
Bryon’s mother has to stay in bed for a month, and so Bryon decides to look for a job more earnestly. He remembers that Charlie told him to consider why he might not be able to get a job. He decides to get a haircut, put on clean clothes, and change his attitude, because he thinks that no one would want to hire an arrogant kid. Bryon and Mark start getting along slightly better because Mark gives up on trying to keep things the way they used to be. Bryon doesn’t know what Mark does with his time when Bryon is hanging out with Cathy; he doesn’t ask.
In looking for a job, Bryon is not only trying to provide for his mother but to act in a way that would make Charlie proud. Charlie’s death seems to have brought about a shift in Bryon: he’s now determined to take on even more responsibility as he matures. He heeds Charlie’s advice and looks at how he might need to change in order to get a job, and then he makes an earnest effort to clean himself up. Mark, on the other hand, makes no such effort and continues to resist any change, pulling away from Bryon rather than maturing alongside him.
Themes
One day, Mark comments on how seriously Bryon is taking his job search because of his haircut and ironed shirt. Mark says that he’ll start bringing in some money, too, because he doesn’t want to “sponge forever.” Bryon wants to express that Mark is like a brother and has a right to whatever Bryon has, but he can’t bring himself to say so. He realizes that he’s never been able to sincerely express his feelings about another person.
Mark’s worry that he is too dependent on Bryon and his mother indicates that he no longer feels like Bryon’s brother. If Mark felt like a true member of the family at this point, he wouldn’t have this guilt that he is “sponging” off of Bryon or his mother. The fact that Bryon isn’t able to assuage Mark’s guilt and reassure him of their bond only undermines the relationship further.
Themes
That night, Cathy tells Bryon that she’s worried M&M is smoking marijuana. She’s concerned that he’s too trusting, and that if he’s running around with people who do drugs, he could get involved with something worse—like LSD. She says that Mr. Carlson has been giving M&M a lot of grief, and so M&M doesn’t spend time at home anymore. Bryon realizes how much Cathy loves M&M and feels a bit jealous.
Like Bryon, Cathy acts selflessly for those she loves. She sees things from M&M’s perspective and cares about him, putting her concern for him above all else. Cathy’s concern for M&M also illustrates that she and her brother share a bond of trust and loyalty, just as Mark and Bryon do.
Themes
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Bryon thinks that he loves anything Cathy loves, because he really loves Cathy. But he worries that she’ll be able to tell that he loves her, and he worries about looking stupid. Cathy suggests that they pick up Mark and M&M and get a Coke together. Bryon agrees, and they go and find Mark and M&M.
Bryon’s love has brought about even more selflessness and empathy with regards to Cathy. Not only has he shifted his view to include her perspective, but he is actively taking on her perspective as his own—loving anything that she loves.
Themes
Bryon and Cathy have pick up Mark and M&M, and they all sit together in the front seat and drive down the Ribbon—a stretch of road with hot dog and hamburger stands, drive-ins, and supermarkets. At night, the parking lots along the Ribbon are filled with kids sitting on their cars and waving at each other. At a stoplight, a few guys pull up in a green Corvette next to their car and make an obscene remark. Mark gets out of the car and punches one of the guys in the nose, then returns to the car while Bryon speeds away.
Mark’s immediate impulse to punch the guy in the next car over an obscene remark demonstrates how Mark treats violence very casually. It’s dangerous to walk out into traffic like he did, and punching the guy doesn’t solve the problem of the rude comment—it’s just senseless violence.
Themes
Cathy is annoyed that Mark punched the guy, and Mark quickly becomes aggravated with Cathy when she criticizes him. Bryon observes that Mark can suddenly turn on people, “like a teased lion who’s had enough.” They decide to pull into a drive-in called Jay’s and order hamburgers. There are kids all over the parking area, as well as a cop. Bryon tells Cathy about the time the cops beat him up when he was 13, and she replies that Bryon shouldn’t have been running around drunk in the middle of the night. This aggravates Mark; Bryon realizes then that Mark and Cathy will never be friends.
Cathy again represents a more mature voice than Mark. Her perspective causes Bryon to examine his own behavior in the story with the cops, as she points out that he was breaking the rules. Bryon’s actions obviously had bad consequences for himself, but he could have also hurt other people while staggering drunkenly around the street. Additionally, the extended metaphor of the lion illustrates how because Bryon is relating more to Cathy and pulling away from Mark, he can see the meaner and more dangerous side of Mark’s personality.
Themes
Mark then spots Terry Jones and goes over to say hi. Cathy remarks that Mark doesn’t like her. Bryon says that she doesn’t like Mark much either. She agrees, explaining that they’re probably fighting over Bryon. Bryon then looks across the street at 12- and 13-year-olds trying to look and act cool. Thinking how stupid they look, he suddenly feels very old. Bryon wonders if at 20, he’ll look back and think about how stupid he was at 16. He thinks that he was so sure of himself at 12, but now he isn’t as sure.
Bryon’s thoughts about the 12- and 13-year-olds reflect his growing maturity. With this line of thinking, Bryon exhibits an understanding of his own ignorance at that young age, and he also appreciates that he still has a lot of learning and growing to do. He has lost some of the cockiness and self-assurance of that age, but he has also gained a greater wisdom.
Themes
Bryon, Cathy, and M&M continue to drive up and down the Ribbon for fun. M&M asks Bryon to stop at a hot dog stand, and when Bryon does, M&M gets out of the car, saying he has friends there. Cathy asks when they can pick him up, but M&M replies that he’s never coming home and walks off. Cars start honking behind Bryon, and so he has to move on. When they drive back through to try and find M&M again, they can’t figure out where he went. Cathy starts to cry, and Bryon thinks it is the first time he hasn’t been annoyed with a girl for crying and the first time he ever felt bad for anyone except Mark.
Hinton reinforces Bryon’s growing selflessness in his reaction to Cathy. Previously, Bryon relayed that crying girls bore him, but here he has real empathy for Cathy. Equating her with Mark demonstrates how much he truly loves her, and it is because of that genuine love that he is able to feel bad for her rather than simply dismissing her reaction.
Themes
