S. E. Hinton's 'That Was Then, This Is Now'

That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton tells the story of two friends, Bryon and Mark, who are so close they are like brothers. As the book progresses, Bryon and Mark start to grow apart. Eventually, Bryon turns Mark in for selling drugs. Bryon did the right thing. Bryon was right for turning Mark in because what Mark was doing was illegal and hurt people. He was selling pills to people for money to help Bryon. Although his motives were in the right place, he was approaching them in the wrong way. He wasn’t forcing anyone to buy the drugs, and he didn’t sell to children like M&M. The fact that he had to hide that he was selling drugs from Bryon didn’t help the matter. Bryon was extremely upset when he found out, and he called the

Mark didn’t want to understand the concept of right or wrong. He just did what he wanted, and he paid the consequences later. He was a trustworthy guy, and he was able to smooth talk his way out of trouble. He was good at stealing, but he didn’t feel any guilt for it (Hinton 25). Mark stole the principal’s car to go see his parole officer about stealing cars, proving that he doesn’t care about the concept of wrong and right because he kept doing the same thing over and over (Hinton 73). Finally, Bryon was right for turning Mark in because Mark was putting the whole household at risk. Mark had his drugs under his mattress in Bryon and his house (Hinton 145). This put everyone in the house at risk because someone could break in to get Mark’s drugs or money as people start to recognize what kind of business he is doing. Some people may argue that Bryon’s decision was wrong because he and Mark were best friends. However, is it right for people to turn a blind eye to the illegal activities for the people that they love? No, it isn’t. Mark could’ve gotten everyone in his house killed or hurt. He could’ve gotten hurt, too. He was breaking the law, and he didn’t