Mild spoilers
A surface level reading had me believe this to be a pessimistic statement about the lack of substance in the answers various social institutions provide to an individual’s place in society. Mulling over it for a while, however, I find that it’s quite the opposite. Charles turns from student activism to religion to medicine, searching for explanations for his sadness; some purpose and meaning to his life. This search is all too familiar (to different degrees) for young…