Are you serious? He’s not a dislikable character. I think you missed all of the values in the books.

Likewise, the historical context. One of the interesting (and refreshing) things about these books is that they present the values of the times authentically instead of through the lens of modern views on education. The Fitzgeralds may have valued education more than other families in Adenville and spent money accordingly but it didn’t automatically confer status in the same way it would today. Other families are well off. Also, the fact that a family could be supported on one income in this time and place is not exactly something we have to roll our eyes at the fictitious conventions of.