abstract profiles of main characters Byron and Mark

That Was Then, This Is Now

by S. E. Hinton

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Student Question

What new problems does Charlie face in Chapter 4 of That Was Then, This Is Now?

Quick answer:

In Chapter 4, Charlie faces new problems as he receives a draft notice, indicating he might be called to military service. However, Charlie later reveals that he is rejected from the service due to his police record, which includes a violent incident from his youth. This revelation highlights Charlie's troubled past and the challenges he faces despite his success as a bar owner.

Expert Answers

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In the novel That Was Then, This Is Now, Charlie is a tough, local kid who owns his own bar where Bryon and Mark hang out and hustle people at billiards. Bryon respects Charlie because he is a smart individual who owns a successful business and seems to have a lot going for him. In Chapter 3, Bryon asks Charlie if he can borrow his car to take Cathy to a school dance. Charlie tells Bryon that he can borrow his car as long as he brings it back with enough gas in it. Bryon is shocked that Charlie allowed him to borrow his car, and Byron picks Cathy up at her home later that night. While Bryon is at the school dance, Mark gets into a fight in the parking lot and is severely injured after one of Angela Shepard's friends hits him in the head with a bottle. At the beginning of Chapter 4, Bryon returns Charlie's car and explains to him what happened. Bryon mentions that Charlie didn't seem to interested because he was having his own troubles. Bryon says, "He’d got his draft notice" (Hinton 31). Later on in the novel, Charlie tells Bryon that he was rejected from entering the service because of his police record. When Bryon asks Charlie what he did, Charlie tells him that he cut a guy's throat when he was twelve years old. 

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