As Jerry begins to feel like he is a part of this group, he is also recognizing that the things the Vigils do can be destructive as well. We see this when his best friend and teammate, Goober, has not been able to handle the result of his assignment he was given; where he loosened all the screws in the desks of one teacher and that teacher ended up having to leave his job due to a nervous breakdown. And the author, Robert Cormier, has made the contrast between Jerry and Goober clear, where Goober isolates himself from everyone (even Jerry), he quit the football team, and he doesn't run anymore. That whole incident is interesting because it could foreshadow how Jerry may end up if he continues on the path that he is on.
Jerry believes that this is a once and a lifetime chance to fit into a part of something. However, in order to do so, he must defy the moral laws of the school to fit into such a group. Therefore, does one sometimes non-conform to something to conform to something else?
Conformity is such a universal theme, and there's so much to say about it. You, however, pointed out one of the more interesting things about it: do people actually conform when they say they're non-conforming?
ReplyDeleteThere are certain things that people get confused when discussing conformity. For example, if there are a group of people who are all doing the same thing--but it's something they truly believe in--then it's NOT conformity. If the whole wide world chose to act in a certain way because everyone wanted to act this way, then it wouldn't be conformity. As long as you go about something for your own reason and belief, and not because everyone else is doing it, then it's ok.
Another thing people get confused is the whole idea of "non-conforming". There are plenty of people who non-conform for the sake of being a non-conformist, and not so much because they believe in something different than others. Doing this, of course, is just another way of conforming, so I completely agree with you on that one.