That Was Then This Is Now Essay

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 into the police for selling drugs. Bryon did the right thing. Bryon was right got turning Mark in because Mark’s actions were not only illegal but could cause danger to everyone in the house. Mark had been doing illegal things since he was little; he didn’t see anything wrong with it. Mark was going to get caught, eventually due to the fact that selling drugs is highly illegal. Bryon found the drugs in a long cylindrical container under Mark’s bed (Hinton 145). If the wrong people begin to find out Mark is a drug dealer, they may follow him back to where he lives. If they break in to get a fix for themselves while Mark is gone and Bryon or his mother is home, one of them could get hurt or even get killed. Bryon had made the right decision to turn Mark in before something terrible could happen. Mark probably didn’t think about the

Bryon could also have been wrong for turning Mark in. Mark and Bryon were like brothers. Mark would do anything for Bryon if he asked. Bryon should have thought it out before automatically turning Mark. Bryon was unstable emotionally at the time he found the drugs. Drugs had hurt M&M so Bryon couldn’t see the good motives Mark had. Mark was trying to make money because nobody would hire him. Selling drugs was the next best thing. He believed he was a good drug dealer because he didn’t take them. He told Bryon “They’re going to get it from somebody if they wanted it, so why can’t I make some money? I never forced it on anybody. I never tried to talk somebody into using drugs so I could make a buck.” (Hinton 147). Mark had very good motives for selling the drugs. He just wanted to get money for him and Mark. Mark would’ve stopped selling if Bryon would’ve told him