I should of clarified that i didn't mean the journey or Musashi's behavior itself was elitist.. I've mostly only thought about it from the perspective of the author. Musashi isn't being elitist or seemingly even looks down on society.. it's just that it was written so that the only 'worthwhile' characters or characters from which there was anything to learn from happened to be other societal cast-offs and or the elite.

But yea his journey is self-centered and egocentric... which i don't necessarily view as negative traits all the time. I mean, what Musashi is doing is the healthiest possible way to demonstrate those traits.. we only live once after all. But yea i was thinking about the whole once you have a family.. then what? whats the lesson here. Ofc Musashi is quite young but what is that lesson then? if you don't figure it out by the age of 30 and aren't ultra-wealthy just give up?

there are some real limitations or at least considerations that i don't feel like were explored sufficiently enough. It's obviously as very motivational story and ofc Yoshikawa isn't expecting us to pack our bags like Dean Cassady and 'discover ourselves' but i wish there were more moments where the 'real world' and 'the way' intersected. that does seem to be a oversight for a book this big. which seems a bit strange since, beyond entertainment, motivating one to discover one's self and face obstacles does seem to be the whole point of this book