Curt Henderson:
Curt is afraid to leave the security of the womb-like atmosphere that high school has provided, but he can't go back. When he visits the freshman dance he discovers that the school has changed the locker combinations. He doesn't belong there any more. Contrast Curt to the high school teacher at the dance who tells Curt to break away and go to college, yet the teacher is trapped in his own past reaping the rewards he finds with his popularity amongst the high school students and especially the adulation of the high school girls.
One scene which illustrates Curt's desire to remain in his comfortable rut has Curt saying to his old girl friend, "Where're you going?" Response: "No where."
Curt: "Mind if I come along?"
Another important scene for Curt is when he is in the back seat with his old girlfriend. She tells him she is glad that he is staying. This makes him blanche. He does not want to go back to when they were going out. He knows it would be a step backwards.
Curt is also given glimpses of his future if he stays in town. People who stay i town join the town organizations. Curt is given two choices on this night. He could become a Pharaoh or he could become a Moose. Neither of these prospects is particularly appealing to him.
The youthful and innocent Curt lives in a world of symbol and illusion. When he cannot see behind the illusions, he feels inadequate to challenge them. But through the evening he gets glimpses of the realities behind the appearances. He expects the teacher at the dance to have the answers he is looking for but he sees a disappointing reality of a flawed human being who can't make the same giant step that he wants Curt to make. The teacher tells Curt to get out and see the world, but he only stayed away for a semester and then came back. The teacher who could never make it outside of town and away from high school has chosen a job that makes him live a life in perpetual high school complete with big man on campus status with the girls.
Wolfman Jack, a real life famous Los Angeles radio DJ, is a mythic, larger than life character who Curt believes will have the answers to his problems, ala the Wizard of Oz. His meeting with the Wolfman helps him to see the reality behind the illusion. The mysterious and enigmatic Wolfman is a nice, pleasant fellow who is willing to give a kid a helping hand. This reality is something that Curt can handle. In the end Curt is left with the lone mystery of the girl in the Thunderbird symbolizing that he will never attain all of the answers to the mysteries of his life.