America's central conflict within himself is if he was born as a bad person, destined to be bad for the rest of his life, or if he chose to be bad and therefore cannot change who he is now, or if he is able to make the important changes necessary to be a good person in society. He doesn't know whether to let his circumstances reflect on who he is, or if he has the strength to be his own better version of self.
This is often a current theme within Young Adult novels -- Identity and what defines it. However I see this present within the text through America's reflections of "being bad" - he often attempts to justify why he acts bad or if he is bad at all. When looking back on his childhood, he clearly pinpoints when he was told to act in this way, and then reflects on what it meant to go through his experiences (in special ed, etc) and if that meant he was already bad or just troubled.
This is an idea we all entertain at some point - what defines us and our actions and if that makes us morally sound people or not. Surely everyone has made foolish decisions to some degree, but what is important is what we learn from them and what we take away from the experience.
I thought it was very interesting how he could not separate being a "bad" person from committing one "bad" action. I suppose that's part of going through so much before being able to even form any sense of identity for yourself.
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