Given his history, I guarantee this was unchecked nuerodivergence, trauma, and multiple disorders that developed from that. The guy was walking around in a kind of a trance. If he would have lived longer, I guarantee he would have come out of it. Not understanding the psychology he would make a rationalization for what has happened to him. Probably some type of conversion or something. You have to remember, while PC knife twisters constantly remind you how it was racist "even for his time" he was also specifically unusual in all his mannerisms for his time and his friends, who were pretty much the oppo of him in everyday, all noticed this strongly. The guy couldn't "get real with you" for one second. That's trauma behavior. It's like being in a fugue state for decades. You wouldn't even know if this was happening to you right now unless your behavior was noticably erratic.
The final book was wonderful like that ending just says 1 thing and 1 thing only that they were told to love this guy and vice versa in the end they chose who they wanted that wasn't the person they were chosen for or told to be together so then they can figure out their own destinies with the person they chose
'making it up as i go along' sUUURE rick yep, not because theyre really happening ! nope, ur just making it up :,) okay sure we'll act like we all believe that-
