The translation is awful, and I've always wanted to go back and clean it up, but I actually like the story. It's been a while, so maybe I need to re-read it, but I actually like the darkness of the ending. I think some of the explanation was lost in the translation, but I don't think it was as black and white as people are making it. Ultimately, the boy just wanted to be free, to be his own person, rather than someone kept by one man or another. The obsession of another crushes out his light, until both the boy and his captor are trapped.
Kago No Tori