Foolish Things (was re: Ron in Shining Armor/Pettigrew parallels)

[Brandgwen G.]

No: HPFGUIDX 5502

When that I was and a little tiny boy,
   With hey-ho, the wind and the rain;
A foolish thing was but a toy,
   For the rain in raineth every day.

But when I came to man's estate,
   With hey-ho, the wind and the rain;
'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,
   For the rain in raineth every day.

     Twelfth Night (act V, scene 1)

Zsenya wrote:
> The only time [Ron] wavers is in GoF and that is just a childish 
spat.

In GoF, generally, there is a lot of petty stuff going on.  Ron and 
Hermione are both courting the Green Eyed Monster, Fred and George
are trying the blackmail a public official, Harry is leaving the
trial clues to the last minute.  Then there's the ball fiasco. I
think this is JKR's way of saying "these are kids".  14 year olds do 
this stuff.

The greatest example of this is Harry's attitude to Cedric.  Harry 
begins to hate Cedric over a girl and a sport and, at the time, it 
doesn't seem so ridiculous.  Then, Cedric dies and things are put
into perspective.  With the rise of Voldemort, there is not longer 
room for 14 year old concerns.  Our heroes must grow up.

In another strand (the Star Wars strand), you have been talking about 
Harry as the Classical Hero.  A major aspect of the Classical Hero 
archetype is that he is born to do something great, but first must go 
on a journey and pass a number of tests, readying him for the final 
battle.  In the GoF, Harry learns to look beyond his teenage self and 
see the bigger picture.  He learns to accept help, in spite of his 
pride, he learns that people are not always what they seem, and he 
learns to cry.  He is a far bigger person at the end of GoF than he 
was at the beginning.

Ron, on the other hand, is the Folk Hero.  He is born an ordinary 
person, but must grow beyond his commonplace origins to become a
hero.  Ron and Harry have an argument because Harry is special and
Ron isn't.  At the time, they are facing no danger, so they can 
indulge their childishness.  However, the moment Ron realises that 
Harry is in real danger, he is at his side, doing his best to make 
things up.  It's all just part of the journey.

Gen wrote:
> However, I've mentioned somewhere before that I think he might very 
well end up as the "weak link"... firstly, Ron is extremely sensitive 
about his poverty...  Secondly, he does enjoy being in the limelight 
as he is constantly overshadowed by his brothers and Harry. It is his 
deepest desire to be Head Boy and Captain of Quidditch and he 
thoroughly enjoyed embellishing his underwater escapade in GoF to 
anyone who was interested.

Absolutely, but these are the concerns of a teenage boy in peacetime. 
 He has never needed more.  When Harry first looks into the mirror,
he sees his family.  Later, when he's with Quirrell, looking for the 
Stone, he sees himself with the Stone.  This shows how quickly our 
desires can change, if we challenge them.  If Ron had been the one 
facing Voldemort, knowing the fate of the Wizarding world lay in his 
finding the stone, do you really think Quidditch would have been 
foremost in his heart?

You'll also notice, Ron didn't become obsessed with the mirror, like 
Harry did.  He liked what he saw, but was able to move beyond it.

> I find that [Voldemort] would be entirely capable of working his
way through people's weaknesses.

Sure, but only if he is allowed.  That seems to be a big theme from 
GoF - the choice between what is right and what is easy.  The Death 
Eaters generally know the difference between right and wrong. 
They're not brainwashed; they've made a choice. Ron might be very 
ambitious and somewhat selfish at times, but he both values and 
possesses courage.  He wants things, but not at any price.

> Perhaps another scenario could be that Ron could be lured somewhere 
with a seemingly innocuous promise of fortune (but with absolutely no 
intention of betraying his friends)and then find himself under the 
Imperious Curse and then betray his friends.

I'd like to see how Ron handles such a situation - we already know, 
from the DODA class with Moody/Crouch that he is susceptible to the 
Imperious Curse.  However, we also know how to break it - you have to 
listen to and trust that little voice in your head that says "don't
do it!".  I have a lot of faith in Ron's little voice... I'm just not 
sure Ron does.

> ... welcome to the Club!

Thanks!
Gwen.