So is his name really 'Mr Will'? Or the word Mr being used a convention in that community -because he is the eldest son or something?- or is his given name really "Mister Will". (Either hyphenated or first name Mister, second name Will).
-It's hard to imagine a toddler named 'Mr Will', but many things about their lifestyle are hard to imagine.
I prefer Imaginality to reality.
I thought he was a boy they took in and therefore called him Mr Will because he was of a certain age. It's common in the South for adults to be called Mr or Ms "First Name" by children they know well. It's less formal than using the last name, but still differentiates in rank, so to speak. Mr Will was probably old enough no longer to be considered a peer of the children and therefore given the title. I don't know if any branches of fundamentalist Mormans actually do that.
The perfect human being is uninteresting. -Joseph Campbell
{Ignore phone posting errors.}
Mr Will is an apprentice. In Colonial America, as well as many other places, and a tradition continued in many fundamentalist cults, a young man would become an apprentice to a man who would teach his craft. Mr Will would be an apprentice to Paul, and therefore studying to be a minister (also part of why Mr Will took over Paul's seat in the end). In these apprenticeships, the young man would effectively leave his family and join his master's family. His master would be considered his father, his masters children his siblings, etc. However, it wasn't the same as being a stepson, it was a more formal position, hence the Mister.
TL;DR his name is Will. He is called Mr Will because it's his title as an apprentice to Paul.
^
Very good response!
The reason they call him Mr. Will is because this film values quirk over realism.
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