Monty J’s comment > Likes and Comments
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No father is perfect. Nor is any mother. To show perfection would be counter-realistic. This isn't an allegory. It's realistic fiction based on true experience. Some would regard it as a roman-a-clef.
And the stance that it shows a lack of respect is merely an opinion. I know good households where children referred to their parents by their first names. Some people find the term "father" respectful, others may find it demeaning. The problem isn't the word itself. It's only disrespectful if the father is disrespected. I don't think Atticus was. If he didn't want to be called Father, there's no reason he should be.
Yes, I have grown up in a split family, and with single parents on both sides, I definitely feel that I did have to grow up a bit quicker than most kids. I do not call either parent by their first names, but I definitely have a more matured and personal relationship with them than most teens would.
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No father is perfect. Nor is any mother. To show perfection would be counter-realistic. This isn't an allegory. It's realistic fiction based on true experience. Some would regard it as a roman-a-clef.
And the stance that it shows a lack of respect is merely an opinion. I know good households where children referred to their parents by their first names. Some people find the term "father" respectful, others may find it demeaning. The problem isn't the word itself. It's only disrespectful if the father is disrespected. I don't think Atticus was. If he didn't want to be called Father, there's no reason he should be.
Yes, I have grown up in a split family, and with single parents on both sides, I definitely feel that I did have to grow up a bit quicker than most kids. I do not call either parent by their first names, but I definitely have a more matured and personal relationship with them than most teens would.
Thanks for the info on Harper Lee's background, since it confirms my conclusion that referring to the father by name was actually something that Lee used to do herself as a child. Because it was natural for her, she did not feel she had to explain this in the book.
I also have met children and adolescents who referred to their parents by first name, and many were indeed single parent households. But contrary to your experiences, all of these cases involved dysfunctional family situations, and my impression was that this form of address showed lack of respect.