I liked your explanation & agreed with you...as I felt the same way about the plot & ending. I just wanted to add one thing regarding the "Chosen One/ or Prophet".
Though Nora Stewart offered her daughter, Alexis, love.... Nora's love was given only to Alexis. Not to the other children. Since Alexis was Nora's daughter & Nora naturally felt an attachment towards her kid & though a bit fearful of Alexis....Nora had hoped her daughter had some semblence of memory of her Mom. As far as the other children, Nora was definently fearful of them & for this reason, didn't offer these children any love.
As to why Tom Russell was approached differently by the kids, this was pretty well explained & illustrated through various conversations....mostly by the piece of paper that had been torn out of the book/ written by the dead preacher:
Tom Russell, offered his love, patience & understanding, freely to all of the children, at the end.....because Tom had made peace w/ God, his brother, David & his wife, Jean & her brother, Sam, etc...basically his life in general.
The writers had touched upon Tom's past through various conversations - so you kinda get a gist of what Tom was like, as a person, 10 years earlier.
When Tom first runs into Jean's brother Sam (who was his best friend 10 years earlier), Sam scolds Tom, & describing Tom as an angry kid, who acted as if he had nothing to lose....when infact Tom was a newlywed who'd killed someone in a moment of rash anger.
So basically I took from this was that Tom (10 years earlier) was an angry & quick tempered person w/sin.... who'd learned from his mistakes.... that anger, hatred & killing were not the way.
The Tom that we see currently, is a peaceful, patient & more optimistic person. He's very interested in fixing the mistakes of his past & bidding his time reading books, instead of drinking in bars (which they touched upon, too, during a coversation he had). So I believe that he was picked by God, the children, or whomever was in control of the situation, because of the fact that this was a fractured man w/ severe fault & who'd learned the meaning of life, love, forgiveness, etc. He was definently the man for the job, so to speak!
The book that Tom's reading, The Grapes Of Wrath, storyline & main character named Tom Joad.....is very much in line with our Tom.
If you've never read, The Grapes of Wrath...it's storyline starts off:
"Released from an Oklahoma state prison after serving four years for a manslaughter conviction, Tom Joad makes his way back to his family’s farm in Oklahoma. During the Great Depression, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, and changes in financial and agricultural industries. Along with thousands of other "Okies", they sought jobs, land, dignity, and a future.
There is also a line in chapter 19, which I think describes the fear regarding the current situation w/our Tom. "How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can't scare him – for he has known a fear beyond every other.”
Basically Tom's lost his fear, since he'd now seen it all. The death of loved ones like his brother & nephew, being in jail, losing his wife & life due to his anger...and finally, taking a man's life. Tom has known fear beyond all others....so the children really failed to scare him, in the end ...
(though this is just part of Tom's bravery)
Also, regarding what the priest wrote (from his dream) on that piece of paper that Tom took & finally in the end, gave to Jean....as Tom read it, Tom finally understood what the dream on that paper, meant.....
The people in their town & all over the world had become prisoners of the plague. When their cities fell under control of these rabid children, it's questionable whether the adults were actually "free" before the plague even started. Their lives were strictly regimented by an unconscious enslavement to their habits.
Then, the adults had several laws implemented due to the plague, such as not procreating. Procreation was a crime that was punishable. Also all hope & responsibility fell upon the last children who'd survived the plague. This responsiblity was immense & a lot if not too much pressure for these last surviving kids. (I think this was hinted at, when we see Kip & Claire squatting in homes and getting arrested for this. They basically are doing nothing w/their lives - on purpose. What was the point in trying really? Their situation would be eventually hopeless)
And, it's questionable whether the adults were really alive, before the plague hit? It is only when they are being killed & terrorized by the children + separated from their friends, loved ones & families.....that they really realize how much they loved them & how much they'd lost. Before the plague, the adults simply took their loved ones for granted.
In short, our Tom has seen the worst in men & in himself. That's why I believe that he was ready in the end....as he had confronted his own fears with optimism & hope. In the end...Tom had confronted the children with the same optimism.
You see this more optimistic Tom emerge during the conversation with his brother David. David makes a comment about the book, asking Tom, "Thats about the depression, right?" Tom replies, "Well it's actually about Hope.....where his brother (who's sad & w/out hope) retorts,"Oh, I thought it was about the Depression".
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