Previous
Curly Shepard
Mike is a young man who’s staying in a hospital room across the hall from Bryon’s mother at the beginning of the novel. Bryon’s mother points out that Mike never gets visitors, so Bryon and Mark visit him at her request. Mike is severely injured: his arms are in slings, his head is bandaged, and he has stitches in his lip. He explains to Bryon and Mark that he prevented his friends from harassing a black girl named Connie. When he drove Connie home, however, she told a group of black men waiting outside the car to kill Mike. Still, he affirms that he doesn’t hate Connie or the men because he knows they were likely getting revenge for previous injustices that Connie experienced. Mike’s story thus illustrates the destructive cycle of revenge, as it can harm even those who advocate nonviolence.
Mike Chambers Quotes in That Was Then, This Is Now
The That Was Then, This Is Now quotes below are all either spoken by Mike Chambers or refer to Mike Chambers. 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:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Mark suddenly poked me. “You still in the mood for a little action?”
“Sure,” I said. Mark motioned toward the next intersection. There was a black guy standing there, waiting for the light to change. “We could jump him,” Mark said, but suddenly M&M spoke up.
“You make me sick! You just rescued me from some guys who were going to beat me up because I’m different from them, and now you’re going to beat up someone because he’s different from you. You think I’m weird—well, you’re the weird ones.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2
Quotes
As we got into the elevator Mark said, “I’m inclined to agree with his old man. That is one stupid guy.”
“You mean it?” I said. I had been thinking about Mike’s story, and I could see his point about not hating the people who beat him up.
“Yeah, I mean it. Man, if anybody ever hurt me like that I’d hate them for the rest of my life.”
I didn’t think much about that statement then. But later I would—I still do. I think about it and think about it until I think I’m going crazy.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8
Quotes
“I don’t want anybody to fight the Shepards.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to keep this up, this getting-even jazz. It’s stupid and I’m sick of it and it keeps going in circles. I have had it—so if you’re planning any get-even mugging, forget it.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire That Was Then, This Is Now LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mike Chambers Quotes in That Was Then, This Is Now
The That Was Then, This Is Now quotes below are all either spoken by Mike Chambers or refer to Mike Chambers. 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:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
Mark suddenly poked me. “You still in the mood for a little action?”
“Sure,” I said. Mark motioned toward the next intersection. There was a black guy standing there, waiting for the light to change. “We could jump him,” Mark said, but suddenly M&M spoke up.
“You make me sick! You just rescued me from some guys who were going to beat me up because I’m different from them, and now you’re going to beat up someone because he’s different from you. You think I’m weird—well, you’re the weird ones.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2
Quotes
As we got into the elevator Mark said, “I’m inclined to agree with his old man. That is one stupid guy.”
“You mean it?” I said. I had been thinking about Mike’s story, and I could see his point about not hating the people who beat him up.
“Yeah, I mean it. Man, if anybody ever hurt me like that I’d hate them for the rest of my life.”
I didn’t think much about that statement then. But later I would—I still do. I think about it and think about it until I think I’m going crazy.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8
Quotes
“I don’t want anybody to fight the Shepards.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to keep this up, this getting-even jazz. It’s stupid and I’m sick of it and it keeps going in circles. I have had it—so if you’re planning any get-even mugging, forget it.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
