Back in my review of Skyrim, I said that Death Stranding poses its protagonist as a "walking bomb", thus constituting a likely risk to others.
What I found relevant about that point recently, is the fact that he doesn't intimidate others because of an immediate harm he might cause --it's not as if he were poisonous or anything like that--. Folks keep their distance from him because of the accidents he could occasion.
And I thought: aren't we all literally like that? I mean, everytime we find ourselves liking something new, we risk losing other affinities, and as a result we do have the propensity to nullify relationships thereby, even if we don't want to.
And of course, every time Sam dies, a whole crater forms where he fell. When we change, that's basically what happens. But now we must remember: when a bond is broken, and the ground sinks, that's the moment when it is possible for us to go through the mountains.