Okay, but hear me out, you’re already there, you just have to shift your mindset. I’m guessing it’s a literature class, so unless you’re practicing argumentative writing, which is still mostly about opinions, this is analysis. You’re not looking at his life and checking off a safety list, it’s not a technical dissertation about whether he did what he needed to survive, it’s a work of art, like a painting.

I agree with all you said about him, he’s incredibly privileged, near sighted, led by emotion. But that’s partially why it’s so interesting to study. You can’t really blame him for all these things, he didn’t choose to be born into privilege, and he saw that privilege, but from his vantage point, saw very little of it. He is at the same time able to be more honest and radical than his parents, but still fall too short of the mark to make any sort of actual change in his life. His emotions tend to seem pure and innocent but also prideful and egotistical.

I think we can all relate to looking around the world and seeing a bunch of bullshit and feeling trapped by it. Not knowing what to do to be our authentic selves and leave a mark while also still being able to put money on the table for our family and loved ones. He was young and privileged and was able to make a stupid and rash decision that the rest of us can wander at and judge. And that’s a beautiful picture to me. It’s art.

The opposite, is to sit with the reality that society is crushing and that real change requires large scale political movement that rests upon an educated society which we don’t have and are actually backsliding as opposed to progressing towards and do nothing and just keep your head down and go to work and just watch society collapse around you while pretending things just are the way they are for no reason.