Solitary Man

Jerry is now the laughing stock of the school, being physically abused and constantly on the butt-end of the jokes. Jerry seems to have a hold of what is being done by not allowing any of it to bother him. However, it is getting to him; he's starting to feel the mental anguish more then the physical. With this, Jerry begins to receive prank phone calls in the middle of the night that say nothing but a little chuckle. He is starting to feel the heat.

Jerry's 'Do I dare to disturb the universe poster' serves as an essential symbol in this novel. Once it was something to be admired, there in his locker. It reminded him of his quest - his mission to be an individual. Now, that poster is a mess - vandalized with ink smeared across it so that the words are hardly visible. He begins to question himself on the decisions he has made earlier when he was determined to "be different", by not selling the chocolates. Now, with all this abuse, Jerry starts to wonder if it is even worth the battle asking himself, "Do I dare disturb the universe?" and then quickly replies, "Yes I do, I do. I think." It is this point in the story that he is unsure of what position he wants to take, whether to give in to the abuse and get messed up, or be the "solitary man on the beach standing upright and alone and unafraid, poised at the moment of making himself heard and known in the world, the universe."(143)