Though the protagonist is imperfect and he is shown to be hypocritical sometimes, he is admirable in his own way. I think many of us could also relate to having bad experiences with other people when it comes to bureaucracy and power. I personally relate to the struggle of being ineloquent when speaking to others; there is this gulf between what you want to express versus what you do, subsequently how people perceive you versus how you think you should be perceived.
With that I stood up and declared, ‘It is indeed true that I went to the hot spring while on night duty. This was completely wrong. I apologize,’ and sat back down, whereupon everbody burst out laughing again. It seemed they were going to laugh every time I opened my mouth. What a worthless bunch! I’d like to see them stand up and openly admit that they had done something wrong - of course they couldn’t, which is probably why they were laughing.
The ending felt sudden; meeting Kiyo finally, happened before our eyes so quickly it left something to be desired, especially because of how much Botchan comes to see Kiyo differently while they are apart.
Overall, Botchan was enjoyable, fun, and intriguing. I look forward to reading more from Sōseki.