Feature & Follow (#101) – Best Father Figures

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Welcome to the Feature & Follow Hop, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read! Let’s all discover some new blogs and gain some new followers, shall we?

If you’re new to my blog, I’d love it if you could follow via one of my options in the sidebar (Linky, Networked Blogs, email or RSS). You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook as a bonus, but as part of the hop, following the blog itself would be great! I’ve also got a snazzy button. Feel free to grab it.

As always, if you are following, please let me know your follow method in the comments and I will follow you back!

First things first: As most of you are probably well aware, last week was the 100th week of the Feature & Follow, and to celebrate, many of us participants hosted giveaways. My giveaway was for two bookmarks signed by Amy Plum, author of Die for Me and Until I Die. My feature was Sarah from Breaking the Binding, and she and I both thank you for entering!

Without any further ado, the winner IS:

Jennifer M. from Some Like it Paranormal!

Congratulations Jennifer! Jennifer has been contacted by email, and I’ll be shipping out her bookmarks ASAP.

Now, moving on! The topic for this week is Best Father Figures in Books, in honor of Father’s Day on Sunday.

(P.S. Happy almost-Father’s Day to all the dads out there, especially my husband and my dad! *waves*)

This topic is great, but challenging. Why? Because for some reason, the dad is always dead. Seriously. Okay, maybe not dead, but the dad is always dead or absent or detached, and that isn’t great. But I did come up with a few examples of great father figures (not necessarily fathers, because, as I said, the dad is always dead) in the world of books!

Every Adult Male Character in Harry Potter Who is Not a Death Eater

Honestly, Harry Potter is chock full of awesome dads and father figures. From the actual dads of Arthur Weasley, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and yes, even Harry himself (we’ll overlook the fact that he stuck his kid with the unfortunate name “Albus Severus”); to the symbolic father figures in Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin again, and even Hagrid to an extent, the Potterverse is a celebration of strong parental figures. Heck, even Malfoy has his moments.

Hans Hubermann in The Book Thief

Raise your hand if Hans Hubermann was your favorite character in The Book Thief.
[Looks around]
[Sees everyone’s hand raised]
I thought so.

Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird

Atticus has his work cut out for him. He has to teach his daughter Scout about honesty, racism, integrity, and standing up for what is right in the face of adversity, while at the same time working to keep her safe. Raising a strong-willed little girl is hard enough without having to battle lynch mobs and rampant prejudice.

Henri in I am Number Four

Henri may only have been John’s Cêpan and not his father, but he raised John like a son, taught him the best he could, and fought with all his might to protect him. Sounds pretty father-ish to me.

 

Charlie Swan in Twilight

Hey look! It’s the only decent role model in Twilight! He may be a bit awkward, but he tries so hard to do right by his infuriating daughter. He does his best to protect her, build up her sense of self-worth, encourage her to find friends, and persuade her to not plot the course of her whole life around some guy she just met.

Yeah, Bella throws all his fatherly wisdom out the window and does what she wants anyway, but dangit, at least he tried.

 

31 thoughts on “Feature & Follow (#101) – Best Father Figures”

    • He was a bit of a pushover, but I think a lot of it was just he had no idea what to do with Bella. She was so bullheaded and stupid about so many things; I imagine Charlie spent a lot of time being baffled. But I just had to give him some points for effort. Not a lot of success, but at least he tried 🙂

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  5. So many picks! I agree with you about everyone in Harry Potter that’s a father and isn’t a death-eater is awesome at being a father. Even if some of them technically don’t have children. That series is filled with great role-models!

    I put Atticus Finch as my favorite, so of course I agree there. I must also add that I never would have thought of Henri. He’s another good choice.

    I am a new follower via Linky, and I must say, your blog title rocks!
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  6. Great choices! I had such a hard time with this one! I’ve never realized just how common it is for the dad to be absent in books until today.

    New Linky follower. And I also followed you on twitter and facebook through the Social Hop. 🙂
    Gin Bryant recently posted..Feature & Follow (#5)My Profile

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  8. YES, YES, YES. Gosh, you nailed this one! The relationships, especially of the fatherly sort, is the whole reason why I want to continue reading HP. They make my heart melt and I get all fuzzy inside when i think about all of them.

    Since I’ve only read Twilight out of these I do have to give you props for choosing Charlie. He’s so damn funny and laidback and down-to-earth, I adored him.
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    • Thanks so much! So have you not finished the HP books? (Sorry for the minor spoilers up there if you haven’t). They’re amazing, if you haven’t!

      I always feel like Charlie gets lost in a sea of terrible role models in Twilight. Even her mom is a total flake. But Charlie actually tries to be a good father to Bella. I think he deserves some credit 🙂

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  10. Ah yes, the absent fathers. It’s an age old literary tool. It’s used so often because the roots of the feelings are so universal. One of the archetypes used in almost every hero’s journey story.
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  13. I love all your picks! I absolutely agree with pretty much every male character ever in the Harry Potter series. That series is so rooted in family and it’s good to see so many different representations of it.

    And I am right there with you in regards to Hans being the best character in The Book Thief. Just, man. Love him so much.
    Sarah @ Breaking the BInding recently posted..TGIF! Most Valuable Book!My Profile

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  15. I agree with your HP choices. Pretty much every man in the series was honorable, trustworthy, and most definitely fatherly to Harry.

    Here’s my FF if you’d like to check it out. 🙂

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