Alpha Male
Spare me your daps
You're looking for definitive answers when the film clearly shows this is something pa kent is wrestling with himself. He doesn't HAVE the answers. All he knows is he loves his son and wants to protect him. He sacrificed his life to delay Clarks choice for when he's mature enough for it.
sounds to me like this 'emotional teenager' could have used some fatherly guidance instead of being ridden with a chronic guilt complex and the pain of knowing he could have saved his father's life.
the kents knew what they signed up for when they took that baby from it's alien spacecraft. it was inevitable that one day they would all have to stop the charade and let clark naturally assume his god given role whatever the consequences may be. so for jonathan kent to give up his life just so they can keep up the act for another few years is mind-numbingly stupid. why take on the extraordinary burden of raising this child if you're not prepared to see that journey to it's end?