Though Adhiratha and his wife Radha brought him up as their own son, they had not hidden it from him that he was not born to them. He had heard how he had been found in a box with gold and the ear-rings and the armor of a Kshatriya because of which Adhiratha named him as Vasusena, which is a Kshatriya name. He was ever hopeful that being a Kshatriya by birth, his real parents would some day acknowledge him. The tag of being a Suta drove him away from many life opportunites. Being from low rank, he had no definite position in society. As a Suta, he was not allowed to train in weaponry. We are told, that, to be accepted as a pupil he had to go disguised as a Brahmin. When it was accidentally revealed that he was not a Brahmin, his teacher cursed him, saying that he would forget everything that he had learnt. Because of being a Suta, nobody offered him a princess in marriage, nor was he honored as a Kshatriya.
Though he dearly loved his foster- parents he was not prepared to spend his life among them as a Suta. Karna was somehow a noble person, a true friend, a man tied to his foster family by love and duty, an incorruptible vassal. For instance, when Krishna came to Karna to tempt him before the war by telling him that he was Kunti's eldest son and as such the eldest brother of the Pandavas, Krishna promised Karna all that Karna had ever desired in his life and more. By accepting Krishna's offer, he would have become at once a Kshatriya of the highest rank, and a king. But he directly rejected the idea and proved himself true to his friend and the people who were withstanding with him. .
Despite of being a character that seems perfect at one glance, Karve attended him in a different light. According to Iravati Karve, Karna is also not a flawless character which could be accepted as Aristotle's idea of Hamartia. Hamartia is the flaw in character which leads to the downfall of the protagonist in a tragedy.