Read the excerpt from Infinite Jest.

‘My application’s not bought,’ I am telling them, calling into the darkness of the red cave that opens out before closed eyes. ‘I am not just a boy who plays tennis. I have an intricate history. Experiences and feelings. I’m complex.

‘I read,’ I say. ‘I study and read. I bet I’ve read everything you’ve read. Don’t think I haven’t. I consume libraries. I wear out spines and ROM-drives. I do things like get in a taxi and say, “The library, and step on it.” My instincts concerning syntax and mechanics are better than your own, I can tell, with due respect.

What conclusion can readers draw about this character vs. society conflict?
a.The narrator is uncomfortable and defensive.
b.The narrator has destroyed school property.
c.The narrator earns good grades in school.
d.The narrator is being punished for his behavior.

The narrator seems, in deed, uncomfortable and defensive, but from this excerpt we also can infer that something has happened and that he is being punished for something he did. Nowhere in this extract says it was something he did at school, he doesn't say anything about where it happened or what. What we can be sure of is that he seems to have been punished for something and that he is trying to defend himself describing he is much more than what he did or what everyone can see of him in public. He is a complex human being and is far away from being a vandal.