The Romance (was HBP: the Good, the Not So Good, and the Ridiculous (Spoile

[Richard Shepard]

> > Carol wrote:
> >
> > Ron still needs to be a bit unsure of himself. Yes, he'll hug Hermione to comfort her now (DD's funeral in the HBP book) instead of pulling away in terror, and he holds her hand when they're at 12 GP in DH, but he's still afraid to kiss her, mostly because he's still insecure and still envious of Harry. 
> 
> <snipped book summary?
> 
> va32h:
> 
> Seriously, there's no need to summarize the entire book, Carol. We are all here because we are fans, we know what happened in the book. 
> 
> My point was that I thought what JKR did in the book was wrong.  Ron had ALREADY moved past all these insecurities and that I thought JK Rowling made a lousy and lazy choice in regressing Ron's character. He ALREADY worked out all his insecurities both about Harry (during the TriWizard Tournament in GoF) and about himself (during the endless Quidditch saga of OoTP).
> 
> To go back to that well in HBP, resolve it, and then go back AGAIN, is absolute character assasination on JKR's part.  
> 


Richard: 

Hmmmm, I hear you but I do not completely agree.  I, like everyone else, was frustrated with the continued lack of a Ron/Hermione relationship through DH, but I do not see it as lazy regressive writing.  

Goblet of Fire is where Ron finally deals with Harry's fame, and realizes that no only does Harry really not like it but it actually kind of sucks.  But this has to do with how close the two boys are as friends.  It does not have anything to do with Hermione.  

Ron gains a lot more confidence in himself in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince through Quidditch and his "physical" romance with Lavender.  But again this is about his confidence in himself, and is not necessarily about Hermione.  

I think that Ron considers Hermione too good for him and has always expected Hermione and Harry to end up together because they are both so awesome.  He is just the average bloke that is lucky enough to be their friend and gets to help them out in whatever small ways he can while they save the world.  
And I think this is why it always had to ber Hermione that kissed Ron first.  

So yes, it frustrated me in every book and every movie that Ron is so clueless and does not see the "obvious" signs that Hermione adores him... but I do not think that continued strain in DH was so bad.


va32h:
>
> I hate pretty much every single word in Deathly Hallows but I particularly hate the way JKR destroyed Ron. She took too many cues from the screenwriters, I think.  Book Ron - the Ron we knew for 5 1/2 books at least, would NEVER have left Harry in the forest. 
> 
> That was such a stupid, lazy, choice of Rowling's --- I nearly flung my book across the room in disgust when I read it. 
>


Richard:

Hmmm, I agree that it scuffs up Ron's character that he deserted them like that.  First, I think the fact that Ron storms off like that is suppose to reinforce just how strong his feelings about Hermione are.  Second, he probably was just going to go cool down and come back pretty quick except he was "detained".  

And we can never lose sight that we are talking about seventeen year olds.  And Ron is the most emotionally immature of the lot, being the youngest boy in a big family.  Even if Ginny is younger than him, I would call Ron the baby of the family.

Thanks,
Richard