Fred and George: The Bullies You Do Know

abigailnus abigailnus at yahoo.com
Mon Aug 26 08:58:41 UTC 2002


No: HPFGUIDX 43164

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ssk7882" <skelkins at a...> wrote:
> I pointed out that while the Twins are indeed helpful to Harry, we 
> have yet to see them be in the least bit pleasant to any student 
> outside of House Gryffindor.  Indeed, every single one of their 
> interactions with an "out-group" student that we have yet seen in 
> canon has been disdainful, mocking, unfriendly, or in some other way 
> aggressive.  This holds true not only for their interactions with the 
> members of House Slytherin, but also for their interaction with 
> Cedric Diggory, of House Hufflepuff.  This is behavior characteristic 
> of bullies, who tend (according to Eron and Enkind) to think in terms 
> of "us vs. them," and to deny outsiders the same considerations
> that they afford to those within their own circle.

Actually, we have seen one very important instance of the twins being 
kind to a younger, weaker student with no family and friends for no 
reason other than to be kind to him - Harry himself.  As Catherine pointed 
out in message #43105 (and good for her too, as I don't think anyone 
else caught this) when the twins first meet Harry at King's Cross he is just 
this small kid with a trunk that he can't carry.  He's not a Gryffindor.  He's 
not their brother's friend.  He's definitely not Harry-Potter-the-Boy-Who-Lived.  
And yet without being asked (or prompted by their mother) they carry his 
trunk on the train and stow it for him. 

<snip> the rest of the post including some very interesting stuff about 
the bully mentality which I (obviously) didn't know.  I'm beginning to find 
the "are they or aren't they" part of this debate a bit tedious, especially 
since, Elkins' definitions notwithstanding, it seems that everyone has a 
different idea of what constitutes bullying, and this idea is very strongly 
coloured by personal experience.  I'm far more interested in Dicentra's 
thoughts on real characters vs. Toon characters (which correspond with my 
own ideas on how seriously we should take the elements of canon involving 
F&G, except that, as usual, Dicentra expresses her ideas a hundred times 
better than I do).  I remain convinced that *it just doesn't matter* whether 
F&G are bullies, because we were never meant to analyze their actions 
as deeply as we do.

Abigail 






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