I think I identified with the father’s rage. I’ve
got a kid “out there” and find myself on pins and needles, wondering if she’ll be all right.
I get a little hot under the collar when people immediately jump the parents when a kid goes wrong. This world is nothing like the one I grew up in—far more perverse, licentious and it was hard even then.
You’re right to ask where the dividing line is,say, between shooting a car dealer who sold his son the Yugo he died in, and some guy who sold him the poison that derailed his son’s life. I think it’s partly a matter of proportion.
All things considered, I think the father did well:
1. He didn’t harm the people, just the merchandise
2. He exposed the nature of the man’s business resulting in its closure.
3. He did not flee, but as I recall, summoned the police himself.
4. He exposed his own shame and yielded to his punishment, perhaps in tacit recognition of his own part.