rsw's interp. is convincing and it is possible that Mike Patton does like to read the odd book (after all, Digging the Grave seems to be about profit and exploitation from a Marxist perspective), but if you wanted to keep it simple you could just say that it's about someone who is afraid to aspire to his greatest potential, whatever the context, because as he aims high the stakes and the risks also escalate. So it would be easier if the sky was cloudier and he had an excuse not to try.
rsw's interp. is convincing and it is possible that Mike Patton does like to read the odd book (after all, Digging the Grave seems to be about profit and exploitation from a Marxist perspective), but if you wanted to keep it simple you could just say that it's about someone who is afraid to aspire to his greatest potential, whatever the context, because as he aims high the stakes and the risks also escalate. So it would be easier if the sky was cloudier and he had an excuse not to try.