That Was Then, This Is Now

by

S. E. Hinton

Charlie is the owner and bartender at Charlie’s Bar, a local establishment that Bryon and Mark frequent. Charlie allows them to sneak in despite being underage, though he refuses to serve them alcohol. Bryon and Mark like to hustle pool in the bar, ignoring Charlie’s warnings that they could get into real trouble by doing this. Charlie spurs Bryon’s maturity in several ways—for instance, when Bryon asks Charlie for a job, Charlie refuses, telling Bryon that he lies too much and that he needs to examine his attitude. However, Charlie does loan Bryon his car, prompting Bryon to gain a sense of responsibility in making sure that he returns the car in good shape. Then, when Bryon and Mark are caught hustling in the bar, two Texans hold them at gunpoint and threaten to beat them up. Charlie intervenes with his own gun but is killed in the crossfire. Bryon feels very guilty and recognizes the consequences of his actions on others, knowing that if he hadn’t been hustling (as Charlie warned him not to do), Charlie would still be alive. After Charlie’s death, Bryon finally heeds his advice: he gets a haircut, puts on clean clothes, and changes his attitude in order to get a job at a supermarket.

Charlie Quotes in That Was Then, This Is Now

The That Was Then, This Is Now quotes below are all either spoken by Charlie or refer to Charlie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Humility, Responsibility, and Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

“It’s just as well,” Charlie said. “You guys are going to get in real bad trouble one of these days. Some guy’s going to get hacked off when he finds out what you’re doin’, and you’re gonna get a pool stick rammed down your throats.”

“No we ain’t,” Mark said. “Give me a Coke, Charlie.”

Related Characters: Mark Jennings (speaker), Charlie (speaker), Bryon Douglas
Page Number: 10-11
Explanation and Analysis:

I had been friends with Mark long before he came to live with us. He had lived down the street and it seemed to me that we had always been together. We had never had a fight. We had never even had an argument. In looks, we were complete opposites: I’m a big guy, dark hair and eyes—the kind who looks like a Saint Bernard puppy, which I don’t mind as most chicks cannot resist a Saint Bernard puppy. Mark was small and compact, with strange golden eyes and hair to match and a grin like a friendly lion. He was much stronger than he looked—he could tie me in arm wrestling. He was my best friend and we were like brothers.

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Mark Jennings, Charlie
Related Symbols: The Lion
Page Number: 12-13
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

Mark didn’t understand and Cathy did. I started spending more and more time with Cathy. Since I had the car, we went for a lot of drives and got a lot of Cokes together. We were always talking to each other about the way we felt—I tried telling her how I felt about Charlie, about how shook the whole thing had me. […] I could talk to her about anything, talk to her better than I could anyone, even Mark.

After a few weeks we’d drive by the park and make out for a little while. It was different for me though, because I had quit thinking only about myself, quit pushing for all I could get.

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Mark Jennings, Charlie, Cathy Carlson
Related Symbols: Cars
Page Number: 87
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

Mom had to stay in bed for a month, so we were really getting hard up for money. I got to thinking about what Charlie had said when I asked him for a job. I decided I needed a haircut, clean clothes, and a really big change in attitude. I’ve told you that I don’t like authority. This gives people the impression that I’m a smart-aleck kid. I’ll admit I’m pretty mouthy. I got to thinking, Who’s going to hire a mouthy kid who acts like he already knows it all?

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Charlie, Bryon’s Mother
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

“Nothing bad happens to you when you’re a kid. Or haven’t you realized that?”

“Youth is free from worry,” I said sarcastically. “You’ve been listenin’ to too many adults.”

“I don’t worry. I’m never scared of nothing, and I never will be,” Mark said, “as long as I’m a kid.”

“You can get away with anything,” I said, because that phrase came through my head whenever I really thought about Mark.

“Yeah, I can.” He was quiet. “You used to be able to.”

I looked at him, and suddenly it was like seeing someone across a deep pit, someone you couldn’t ever reach.

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Mark Jennings (speaker), Charlie, M&M Carlson
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:

“You can’t walk through your whole life saying ‘If.’ You can’t keep trying to figure out why things happen, man. That’s what old people do. That’s when you can’t get away with things any more. You gotta just take things as they come, and quit trying to reason them out. Bryon, you never used to wonder about things. Man, I been gettin’ worried about you. You start wonderin’ why, and you get old. Lately, I felt like you were leavin’ me, man. You used to have all the answers.”

Related Characters: Mark Jennings (speaker), Bryon Douglas, Charlie
Page Number: 117
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“Cathy, I am really glad you are here,” I said. “I love you.”

“O.K.,” she sobbed. “O.K.” Then she reached over and held my hand. I took a quivering breath and looked at the ceiling. That hadn’t been so hard after all. If I could do that, maybe there were a few other things I could take care of.

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Cathy Carlson (speaker), Charlie
Page Number: 133
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

I wondered tiredly why I had never seen it before: Mark had absolutely no concept of what was right and what was wrong; he didn’t obey any laws, because he couldn’t see that there were any. Laws, right and wrong, they didn’t matter to Mark, because they were just words.

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Mark Jennings, Charlie, M&M Carlson
Page Number: 147
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire That Was Then, This Is Now LitChart as a printable PDF.
That Was Then, This Is Now PDF

Charlie Quotes in That Was Then, This Is Now

The That Was Then, This Is Now quotes below are all either spoken by Charlie or refer to Charlie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Humility, Responsibility, and Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

“It’s just as well,” Charlie said. “You guys are going to get in real bad trouble one of these days. Some guy’s going to get hacked off when he finds out what you’re doin’, and you’re gonna get a pool stick rammed down your throats.”

“No we ain’t,” Mark said. “Give me a Coke, Charlie.”

Related Characters: Mark Jennings (speaker), Charlie (speaker), Bryon Douglas
Page Number: 10-11
Explanation and Analysis:

I had been friends with Mark long before he came to live with us. He had lived down the street and it seemed to me that we had always been together. We had never had a fight. We had never even had an argument. In looks, we were complete opposites: I’m a big guy, dark hair and eyes—the kind who looks like a Saint Bernard puppy, which I don’t mind as most chicks cannot resist a Saint Bernard puppy. Mark was small and compact, with strange golden eyes and hair to match and a grin like a friendly lion. He was much stronger than he looked—he could tie me in arm wrestling. He was my best friend and we were like brothers.

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Mark Jennings, Charlie
Related Symbols: The Lion
Page Number: 12-13
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

Mark didn’t understand and Cathy did. I started spending more and more time with Cathy. Since I had the car, we went for a lot of drives and got a lot of Cokes together. We were always talking to each other about the way we felt—I tried telling her how I felt about Charlie, about how shook the whole thing had me. […] I could talk to her about anything, talk to her better than I could anyone, even Mark.

After a few weeks we’d drive by the park and make out for a little while. It was different for me though, because I had quit thinking only about myself, quit pushing for all I could get.

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Mark Jennings, Charlie, Cathy Carlson
Related Symbols: Cars
Page Number: 87
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

Mom had to stay in bed for a month, so we were really getting hard up for money. I got to thinking about what Charlie had said when I asked him for a job. I decided I needed a haircut, clean clothes, and a really big change in attitude. I’ve told you that I don’t like authority. This gives people the impression that I’m a smart-aleck kid. I’ll admit I’m pretty mouthy. I got to thinking, Who’s going to hire a mouthy kid who acts like he already knows it all?

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Charlie, Bryon’s Mother
Page Number: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

“Nothing bad happens to you when you’re a kid. Or haven’t you realized that?”

“Youth is free from worry,” I said sarcastically. “You’ve been listenin’ to too many adults.”

“I don’t worry. I’m never scared of nothing, and I never will be,” Mark said, “as long as I’m a kid.”

“You can get away with anything,” I said, because that phrase came through my head whenever I really thought about Mark.

“Yeah, I can.” He was quiet. “You used to be able to.”

I looked at him, and suddenly it was like seeing someone across a deep pit, someone you couldn’t ever reach.

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Mark Jennings (speaker), Charlie, M&M Carlson
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:

“You can’t walk through your whole life saying ‘If.’ You can’t keep trying to figure out why things happen, man. That’s what old people do. That’s when you can’t get away with things any more. You gotta just take things as they come, and quit trying to reason them out. Bryon, you never used to wonder about things. Man, I been gettin’ worried about you. You start wonderin’ why, and you get old. Lately, I felt like you were leavin’ me, man. You used to have all the answers.”

Related Characters: Mark Jennings (speaker), Bryon Douglas, Charlie
Page Number: 117
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“Cathy, I am really glad you are here,” I said. “I love you.”

“O.K.,” she sobbed. “O.K.” Then she reached over and held my hand. I took a quivering breath and looked at the ceiling. That hadn’t been so hard after all. If I could do that, maybe there were a few other things I could take care of.

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Cathy Carlson (speaker), Charlie
Page Number: 133
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

I wondered tiredly why I had never seen it before: Mark had absolutely no concept of what was right and what was wrong; he didn’t obey any laws, because he couldn’t see that there were any. Laws, right and wrong, they didn’t matter to Mark, because they were just words.

Related Characters: Bryon Douglas (speaker), Mark Jennings, Charlie, M&M Carlson
Page Number: 147
Explanation and Analysis: