In the book Bridge to Teribethia I learned that Jess's father does not approve of his dream to become an artist. When Jess's father said - " all those old teachers turning my son into a-" he does not finish his sentence but I think I know what he was going yo say.
     That small line got me wondering does Jess's father cuss in front of Jess, does he verbally abuse his son. The last thing was a stretch, but it is a possibility. It made me wonder if that is the reason that Jess was so eager to go to his imaginary world to escape a father who is never there, and over towering responsibility laid down by his mother, or was it just pure curiosity. But to me it seems to me that he was trying to get away from something. I think that is why Jess was so hesitant to join Leslie in their pretend journeys. I believe Jess thought 'will my father accept this'. If his father thought badly of Jess wanting to be an artist imagine what he will think of Jess when he finds out his son is playing with imaginary fairies.
      Will his father ever accept his son for who he is and not who he wants his son to be. Being the only son has taken his toll on Jess because he is expected to be the farmer the one who does the work around the house.  And when you come from a small town wanting to be have a career that does not get you good money is almost unheard of. So it brings us to the question does Jess's father believe that his son is a (the word he did not say) for believing in his dream to be an artist.