The Appeal of Barry Allen

When I read Flash stories, I get a subtle urge to move faster in life, to accomplish more, to pursue my interests urgently -- not in a "rushing" way, but in a passionate way. Flash impresses upon me this feeling of enthusiasm for life, and I believe this is a result of a few subtle factors in Barry Allen's life and characterization, which turn Barry into a symbol for having zeal for life:

1. Barry only receives his powers because he was staying late at work. The key thing to note is why he was staying late at work. Would you call him a workaholic? No. Would you say he's obsessed with solving crime? No. He stayed late at the lab because he loves chemistry. He wanted to do an experiment. Therefore, Barry only gained the power to become The Flash because of passion, which happened to be towards science. You could take Barry's super-speed as a symbolic representation of his zeal.

2. Barry always being late despite having speed powers. This was always intended to be a funny gag rather than anything symbolic or dramatic, but I think it has the side effect of reinforcing the zeal that Barry Allen displays. He's not late because he's inconsiderate or lazy. He's late because he's doing too many other things. If someone has super-speed, which allows them to accomplish more in a day than anyone else on Earth, and they still don't have enough time to do everything they want to do, that implies that there is simply too much to do in the world. The Flash having a tardiness problem gives me the impression that the world is too rich for even someone with super-speed to fully enjoy in one lifetime.

These elements rest on top of the simple fact that Barry's personality tends to be quite passionate towards life in general, in a dorky way. He enjoys science, he enjoys being a superhero, and he is very loving towards Iris West. I'd also note that the reason why Barry's sacrifice in Crisis on Infinite Earths is so emotional, in my opinion, may be due to his incredible passion for life -- it's powerful to see someone give up the thing they love most, and for Barry, I believe that was life itself.

All these factors combine to form the lesson of The Flash: get moving, because the world is too wonderful to be slow.