The main reason readers tend to associate themselves with the protagonist is the universality of the situations in which the protagonist finds himself throughout the story. Every person sooner or later has to go through the stage of separation and face the accompanying complexities described in detail by the author. Determining the need to take responsibility for one’s own feelings to be open with those closest to one is a difficult task, even for adults. For the young man, the situation is aggravated by the contradiction with religious ideas, which do not correspond to many real phenomena in life. The character is faced with the dilemma of what should be decisive in life, how to find a reference point and a measure of the correctness of the actions performed.
The defining characteristic of the young man is his desire for sincerity and honesty toward himself and others. He is not afraid to admit mistakes and is ready to get rid of illusions. The central external conflict presented in the story is the conflict between the religious and secular views of life. The internal conflict developed by the author is connected to the childlike nature of the hero and the need to grow up and adapt to the realities of life. The most obvious solution to the contradictions in the work is for the young man to take full responsibility for his life, no matter how difficult it may be. The man needs to realize his values and goals in life without looking back at others’ opinions and to develop a plan on how to achieve what he wants, start executing it, and be consistent and sustainable.
The process of separation is closely connected to the philosophical sphere of knowledge. The fundamental inalienability of the character from his existence and, at the same time, the experience and awareness of his particularity and separateness create a deep and abiding sense of belonging to the world. There is a need to constantly prove the relevance of one’s role in the general process of life. On the psychological level, this fundamental basis of human existence manifests itself in the form of the not-always-harmonious and often contradictory process of socialization of a personality, in the course of which one of two tendencies can dominate – the tendency to identify with social roles and tendency to misidentify with them. This is the nature of the inner controversy in the protagonist.
Through the story and the experience of the protagonist, it becomes clear that separation allows a person to become the master of his life, to dispose of it freely and to derive satisfaction from it. Everyone becomes independent and self-reliant. People are finally able to channel their energy into achieving their true goals rather than trying to conform to someone else’s expectations. In the process of separation, one learns to build personal boundaries. This skill is essential for the autonomous individual; it enables one to build healthy relationships in the family, with friends, and with colleagues at work. In the future, the person will be able to respect the personal boundaries of his own children and support them during the process of growing up and separating. The hero’s drama, contradictions, and doubts are worth successfully overcoming, for they offer prospects for a truly free life.