Ron's Jealousy of Harry; Neuroses of Ron & Hermione (Long)

[linman6868 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 17011

Penny wrote:
> 
> Again, it's my opinion that this system of analysis is not 
necessarily
> *always* the best methodology to use in analyzing a work of 
literature.
> Hoping Ebony or someone more knowledgeable about literary theory 
will
> pipe up right about now.  It's been 13+ years since I studied 
English
> lit theory in college.  Perhaps I'm just rusty.  More on this ....

I just finished a rather grueling M.A. degree in English Lit and 
<laughs> I don't think any modern theory will add to this debate.  
Modern literary theory is very fragmented at the moment.  There are 
still "structuralist" constructors of diagrams and examiners of 
percentages of words, and there are still Derridian "authorial intent 
can never be discerned because meaning is always deferred" theorists, 
and there are always people who just do what we do: take a story we 
like and pull it to bits from every angle, and if we get any meaning 
out of it--well, getting there is half the fun.  Most theorists of 
whatever stripe are bound to agree.

At the risk of butting in, here's my two Knuts on the scene:

I don't think Hermione is being disingenuous.  Syncretic maybe.  I 
have lent out my GoF so I'm repeating the conversation from memory as 
best I can:

Harry:  "What do you mean, 'sort of'?"
"Oh Harry, don't you see?  He's jealous!"
"Jealous?  He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole 
school, does he?"
"Oh, but it's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is.  
I know it's not your fault," she said, seeing Harry open his mouth 
furiously, "you can't help it, but you know, Ron's got all those 
brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and 
you're really famous.  He's always shunted to one side whenever 
people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never says anything 
about it, but *I guess this was just one time too many*..."
"Great.  Really great.  Tell him from me I'd trade with him 
anytime...People gawking at my forehead wherever I go..."
"I'm not telling him anything.  Tell him yourself.  It's the only way 
to sort this out."  .... [emphasis mine]

As I see it, Hermione is going to great lengths to *defend* Ron in 
this passage, not undermine him or his friendship with Harry.  She's 
defending Ron because she knows Harry has a cause to be angry: i.e. 
Ron has just let down his friend-in-need by letting himself be 
overtaken by envy.  Hermione herself explains why, if we haven't seen 
any overt envy on Ron's part toward Harry, we can believe her when 
she says he's jealous.  This is just a rather large straw breaking 
the camel's back.  It's unfortunate that it happens at a time when 
Harry really needs Ron; but as Hermione concludes, the only way out 
of the misunderstanding is for Harry and Ron to talk to each other 
about it.  

You could argue, I suppose, that Hermione's being rather officious 
and insensitive to state such things to Harry so baldly without (I 
assume) Ron's knowledge or permission.  But given that Hermione loves 
both her friends, and given that it's her nature to tell it like it 
is, it isn't very surprising--and neither Ron nor Harry appear to get 
angry at *her* for her efforts to reconcile them.

I can imagine that in the conversations between Ron and Hermione 
which we don't hear, Hermione is pushing a defense of Harry while 
urging Ron to talk to Harry about the problem.  "The first task is no 
joke, Ron, don't you know people have *died* in this tournament?"

As for Hermione's neuroses or lack of them, I think GoF shows 
Hermione in the process of leaving behind her need of academic 
prestige: she meets Lucius Malfoy's eye knowing she's not just a 
Mudblood--and if she's not just a Mudblood, then she doesn't need to 
make up for it with stratospheric marks.  It leaves her to do what 
she's made to do--study for the joy of it and not for the driving 
fear of it.  At any rate, I am confident this will become more 
evident, and I've heard JKR say in interviews that as a recovering 
Hermione, she herself plans to give her character some fun and 
looseness.  Hermione's vicissitudes of drivenness and freedom seem 
pretty normal to me.

Lisa