Bryon, Mark, and 1st person POV

[Keira]

You bring up a very good point, Liz. I hadn't really thought of it in the way that you had - that Bryon would've had to make that decision at that moment, otherwise it wouldn't be who he was. Whether or not that is unfortunate is up to personal interpretation.

I think, that as authors get more experienced and see the world through their characters' POV's, they start to understand more what completes a character. I can honestly say that I have a difficult time foreshadowing things that my characters do not see. I also have a hard time making their "imperfections" actual imperfections, and not some glorious trait, no matter how offensive it is. I have found, in the past, that I try to make even the most offensive characterists see fun, and not all that bad.

Though I felt distanced from Bryon, that doesn't mean I didn't find him to be a brilliant character, you know? He struggles with real situations, real emotions, and truly hard decisions. He's human. I can see how he made progress throughout the book - becoming more mature, more responsible, and trying to make something of himself. But that's not to say he didn't have his faults, as we clearly saw happen on multiple occassions (i.e. cutting off Angela's hair, getting into that scuffle at the dance, hustling at Charlie's, etc...). And Human is all he can really be.

[sharpshooter]

For anybody who missed it like I did the first few times I read the book , Mark is Tex's half-brother.

-puts two and two together- Wow, does that ever make sense. Tex 'saw himself' in Mark. And to think, I had read at some point that it was Mark and all... I'm such a big dummy. xD Thanks for posting that!

Hm... Y'know, I never liked Bryon, from the very beginning. Don't know why, maybe because I wanted to slap him the whole time, like he was doing everything so differently from what I would have done it was annoying? I always liked Mark, but it was more a 'I wish I could be like you' liking.
I don't know, I'm not a very bright person, I think too simply to understand certain things to be able to put them into words.

I think you all are right though, I did feel real detached from Bryon, like he was trying to get away from me, the reader, along with everyone else in his world. Hmh, something to ponder over...

[stereochick]

I remember reading TWT,TIN when I was 12/13 and sobbing at the ending. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so personally betrayed by a character doing something to another character as I did when Bryon betrayed Mark. Maybe not so much the fact that he called the cops but that he did it before even getting his facts straight. I remember actually physically throwing the book against my wall and then running to get it so I could finish it.

The thing about S.E. Hinton books that I’ve noticed in every single one (and maybe this is me) is that by the ending, the character reads very detached from what’s going on around him. He breaks up with his girlfriend, he notices stuff without reacting to it and generally, nothing seems to mater too much. It honestly could be me (it’s usually once I’ve cried that this occurs so it could be that I’ve become numb myself).

Bryon struck me as sort of insensitive but loyal. By the end of the book he had become sensitive but he severed ties with people he claimed to care about to get that way.

It certainly doesn’t help his case that he didn’t like Ponyboy for no other reason than because his ex girlfriend thought he was cute.

[missmouse]

stereochick said:

I remember actually physically throwing the book against my wall and then running to get it so I could finish it.

Heh, I remember throwing it against the wall, going and getting it, finished reading it, then threw it against the wall again and left it there.


I never liked Bryon, not only does his name really suck, but I always thought he was a bit of a self centered, insensitive prat.