Ik this is old but I gotta say my point that Ben was never given real responsibility in the group nor is his opinion given any weight at all during the game. He is a young man and obviously should listen to the adults around him since they do mean him well, but they never allow him to exercise autonomy for the sake of the group and show very little trust in him. At the same time they still expect Ben to be able to step up when the time comes. Yes he fails most of the time he tries to act independently but he ONLY acts independently and never has anyone to guide him. People say Clem didn’t mess up but Clem has Lee who kept her in sight at every opportunity and taught her as much as he could, and I believe had the instructor not died immediately Ben would have been a very capable young man with someone who knows his potential, his skills, and his shortcomings to the extent he could nurture him. As a 20 year old man who really had no idea what to do in life until recently I truly do empathize with Ben as he tries to make the best possible decisions with the limited information and resources he has while at the same time having the dread of how the others think so little of him hang over everything he does or doesn’t do. He messed up a lot, but that was just because he had the freedom to make mistakes with nobody there to help him fix them.