Can "Others may have a point of view..." be understood in two ways?

Question

In a book, I found the following sentence:

Good fiction teaches us about ourselves and about our relationships with other people; it shows us too that others may have a point of view which is as valid as ours and should be respected.

I cannot be sure about the parallel structure made by "and" in the last part. I think there are two possible ways of understanding:

1) ... a point of view which [is as valid as ours] and [should be respected]

2) others [may have a point of view...] and [should be respected].

Are there any reasons to judge either of these is not acceptable? If there are, please let me know.

Answer 1

Yes, as written there is ambiguity. As the "point of view" is closer to "be respected" we might guess that this is the intended target. Or we might say that we tend to respect people rather than things so the "others" are the intended target. Or we might say that respecting a person and respecting their point of view are fairly similar in meaning and not care!