Mark And Bryon In That Was Then, This Is Now

Whether you agree with Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, or Erik Erickson, theoretical approaches to human nature all agree that early childhood years play a major part of our conscious and unconscious decisions we make. For instance, even though both Wes Moore’s were brought up without a father in their home, the reality is that these absences meant something different to each of them. For Wes 1 his father died an unnecessary death due to lack of training of emergency personnel. He remembered his dad as being compassionate, loving, and kind. Wes 1 always knew that if given the choice, his father would have stood by him throughout his life. Wes 2, however, is left with negative fatherly feelings. In the three times they were together, his own father acted as though he didn’t recognize him. What’s worse is that Wes 2 knew that his dad didn’t want to know him, he chose to leave. That left not only a hole where there should have been a very important role model, it left rejection in its place. When Wes 1 was visiting Wes 2 in the jail and asked about the impact his father had on his life, the second Wes said, “Your father wasn’t there because he couldn’t be, my father wasn’t there because he chose not to be. We’re going to mourn their absence in different ways” (Moore page 3). Later in the chapter Wes 1 gets emotional thinking about how he misses his father. He was left,

Each day of our lives, we are faced with decisions that have the ability to impact us greatly. Many of us choose the right paths leading ourselves to become something better while others make enough poor choices to leave them with a negative impact on others and themselves. In the introduction to his memoir, Wes Moore reflects, “the chilling truth is that [Wes’s] story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his” (xi). Throughout the novel, Wes tells his story and the other Wes Moore’s; comparing the factors that led them to living completely different lifestyles. Apart from the few similarities in which both young boys shared, there were numerous differences as well. These differences in behavior, choices, and

Children need love and care from their parents and they repeat what the parents do. Because parents play a huge a role, in shaping a child's mind, they could make their children a normal person just like a kind neighbor who lives around them, or a murder who kills an entire family in the future. For instance, Perry Smith, from In Cold Blood, involved in the Clutter murder case. During his childhood, he had few traumatic events like his father beats him, or meeting abusive people at a children's shelter. As a consequence, his incompletely formatted ego led him to this murder case.

Ever since Wes was a little boy his mother taught him right from wrong. When Wes was three years old he hit his sister which sparked something in his mother. Suffering from abuse by her former husband, she did not want Wes to follow in his footsteps. He was told to go to his room while his parents talked about what should be done. Finally, he heard his father’s steps coming up the stairs. His father, Westley, comforted him telling him, “‘...she just wants you to do the right thing’” (10-11). This

So, naturally, she fell in love with him. Perhaps the one quality that unites everyone is that they all have trouble with their parents. Claire’s problem is that she is used as a weapon to the other “spouse” of her parents and the only way she can escape that destiny is to be with friends as much as possible, liking going to the mall and doing other stuff that she has built up in her mind of being cool. Bender was hated by his parents and probably was an “accident.” The way his parents treated him built up this image of himself in his mind that was negative; and therefore, made him negative. Brian was pushed to over achieve by his parents and so when he finally got an “F” he thought that it was the end of the world, when in fact he most likely doesn’t care. He does not think for himself, he thinks, “What are my parents going to think?” Andrew thinks the same way. He stated openly that he does not care if he wins or loses, and that he sometimes wishes that his leg would give so that he would not have to wrestle anymore. Last, Alison was ignored by her parents; forcing her to think that everyone must ignore her.

We are all influenced by people around us. Some good. Some bad. When you look at someone you just meet you may wonder what their personal background may be or what their relationship is with their family. Well in the book Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt most people think Doug is a bad kid all because of his father. His father has done a few things in Marysville to make people think Doug comes from a really bad family. The mistakes Doug’s father makes though hard, shapes Doug to be brave, expressive, and caring which allow him to survive and thrive.

Friendships can be complicated or simple. Either way, people involved in these types of relationships should take time to appreciate deeds others have done for them. Gene Forrester and Phineas - often referred to as Finny - were superlative friends. During their friendship, one event greatly affected Gene’s maturation. Gene Forrester, a character from the Bildungsroman novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, experiences a period of rapid maturity when he is saved by his friend, Finny, from falling out of a tree and learns that valuable friends should appreciate each other.

“This book is a four to five month snap shot of life in 1960, it is from the perspective of a nine year old boy so it has that innocent approach. This is story of two families one white and one black, who live half a mile apart going through the same stuff in 1960” said author Gary Brice.

In the aftermath of his accident, Mark is left to sort through reality versus what he believes to be the truth. In his eyes, parts of his world had been changed for good, replaced by something or someone foreign. This reversal of trust in his own mind or in his own world, causes him to often lash out in anger at Karin and others closest to him. “Some days his rage was so bad that even lying still infuriated him. Then the therapists asked her to leave.

The book I am reading is That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton. This book is in the first person point of view. In the beginning of the book it starts off by telling you about the two main characters of the story which are Mark and Bryon. The story is told by Bryon. Bryon and Mark consider each other to be brothers because Mark doesn’t really have a family. They live at home with Bryon’s mom. The two boys go to their friend Charlie’s bar all the time and the book introduces Charlie. Mark and Bryon are both under age and they are not supposed to be in the bar but Charlie lets them come in and buy some cokes. They owe Charlie money so they went to M&M. M&M is a friend of theirs.

In order to understand the many influences that have shaped Mark Harbin’s life, it is beneficial to first learn about his family background. Furthermore, it is evident that before Mark was born various chaotic elements have been a pestilence present for several generations in his family. His father Mark Harbin Sr. was born in 1967 and starting from early on in his life, he was corrupted by his environment. He was born into the projects with only his mother as a caregiver because his father was out of the picture. Moreover, he started stealing at the age of seven and he admitted that when he was young he broke into a bowling alley and ransacked a safe that was there. Stealing would be a chronic occurrence that would follow him for the rest of

Mark (15) was referred by his step-mother who was worried about some of Mark’s relationship struggles and felt that he may have a potential ‘attachment disorder’ as a result of his mother taking her own life when he was six. Mark had been in a fight at school but told everyone that it was really no big deal and that the other kids just picked on him so much he had nothing left to do. Mark mentioned that his father and stepmother don’t notice when he tries and thinks that it doesn’t matter to try if no one notices. Mark said he likes things that make sense and does not like to overcomplicate things.

Not having a relationship with his father, and his mother and his sister passing away. Has made Mark Everett feeling disconnected, emotionally numb, and feeling alone towards his family.

Mark Harbin Sr. would show behavior in his youth that was so horrendous that people told him that he wouldn’t make it to the age of fifteen. Mark Harbin Sr. recalls his mother saying that the only safe place for him to be was Juvenile Hall, which is where he ended up going to as a teen. As he got older he continued to get involved with crime and has been to jail several times throughout his and Mark's life. It was also revealed that he has never really had a real job because of the various crime in his life.

The author uses dialogue and events to reveal characterization and theme in the story. Twenty years ago, two friends were exactly the same type of people. Now they are nothing alike. They meet up together and discovers their differences.