The Dad wasn't that bad
I've seen quite a bit of discussion on this board and in other places and most people seem to think the Dad is basically evil.
Which I found quite surprising really. I've noticed in real life that in most divorces fathers are often disliked by children, so maybe people are just carrying over their own feelings?
I think some of the qualities of the Dad appear a bit obnoxious but when you think about it they aren't so bad. So he's arrogant, elitist and very cheap.
But he's a well respected writer and professor of literature. His life is discussing and creating art. He is clearly quite a bit of a jerk about it, but that is his passion and his life. If he were a famous athlete and he called none athletic people lazy or amateurs I don't think most people would call him arrogant. Yet calling uncultured people philistines makes him evil? And a lot of his criticisms are either pretty much general consensus. Sure he is a bit rude but he's not that bad.
When he accepts money from the girlfriend and is accused of doing joint custody to save money that seems cheap but it is also made pretty clear that he is struggling with money. No one even seems to care that the mother gets the really nice house and the father has to start out all over again.
It's clear that he is being a jerk when he tells his sons about the mother cheating. And there's no real excuse because it is very petty. But he clearly had a liberal relationship with his son and his son asked. On top of that he had no one to talk to and it had been eating him up for four years. He hadn't gone out and cheated and he didn't have another person like his wife did. And even though the mother brought around the guys she was *beep* to meet the kids, the Dad is still the jerk.
Then I guess one other big point is that he wasn't around so much when the boys were young. But a lot of fathers do this and it's not because they are jerks. Men just often can't connect with children until they get a bit older.