My own take on Dylan - and I haven't given this more than about 30 seconds' thought - is that he found himself swept along in the same upheavals that blew through the 60s. But he never proclaimed himself to be the voice of his generation and all that crap - that was marketing and the news media doing their thing - and I think frankly he didn't get it at the time it was happening to him. He just wanted to write his songs and see where his life took him. I suspect it took some turns he didn't expect and didn't much like (who would?).
He was blessed with a great gift for words which he turned into songs and used them to make a living for himself and his family. I'm sure, like anyone would, he half-believed the press about himself, and at other times used it for his own purposes. He strikes me as bemused about all the fuss, can't quite figure why people make such claims for and about him, and wishes it would all go away. He either gets the crazy adulation or excoriating criticism when all he wants to do is go about his business. Tough to keep your balance, not to mention sense of humor, through all that.
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