In Defense of Molly (Was: In Defense of Fred and George)

[judyserenity]

No: HPFGUIDX 43208

Well, it seems to be "Annual Defend the Weasleys Week" on HPfGU! 

We've heard defenses of Percy, Fred, and George, we've seen
speculation that Arthur will run the MoM, we've learned that Ron
deserves credit for his predictions, and I'm sure that the adherents
of GIANTCUSHION (Ginny Isn't A Naive -- oh, I forget the rest) are
around here somewhere.  Charlie and Bill are off overseas and don't
need defending.  So, it must be Molly's turn!


Nicole L. wrote:
> Now, I love Molly as much as the next HP fan
> but I think that she is making a big mistake in
> nagging Fred and George as she does.  Naturally, she
> wants them to succeed because she is a loving mother
> but she is refusing to see them for what they are and
> is refusing to listen to them when they tell her what
> they want to do with their lives.... I think
> Molly is showing a serious lack of judgement here. 
> She wants the best for them but she is going about it
> in the wrong way.  She wants them to conform to her
> idea of what they should be and they are resisting her
> with all their might, as I would if I were in their
> shoes.

I think Molly is an excellant mother, and I think JKR may even be
presenting Molly as her own idea of the ideal mother.  Compared to the
 various parents I have known (not just my own) I think Molly actually
is pretty mild in her response to Fred and George's behavior.  She
doesn't physically punish them or try to throw them out of the house.
 She is affectionate to them. She doles out the same punishment to
them as to their little brother Ron when the three of them take the
family car without permission, and it's a pretty mild punishment at
that. 

As a parent, it is Molly's *job* to try to get the twins to be
responsible and work hard.  If they are serious about wanting to run a
 magic shop, and it actually seems to have a chance of success, then
yes, Molly should be supportive. But, she hasn't had a chance to do
that yet, because they have just entered the work force at the end of
GoF. Up through GoF, the Twins have been in school. They should be
focusing on their studies, and I think it's fine that Molly tries to
get them to do that. If the twins were just allowed to do whatever
they wanted, Arthur and Molly would face the same criticism that the
Dursleys are facing here, that they fail to set limits for their
children and guide them into adulthood. 

In regards to the Twins calling Percy Humungous Bighead, Nicole says:
  > Mrs. Weasley also doesn't laugh because she's ticked that
> the twins don't take her seriously when she urges them
> to be more like Percy.  The twins are pushing her
> buttons and she doesn't like it.  Think about this. 
> Their antics often make her laugh but she is becoming
> seriously annoyed with them for not conforming to her
> ideas about how they should live their lives.  She is
> too angry with them to laugh at them as she has in the
> past.

I think Molly doesn't want to laugh at *Percy* here. She doesn't like
the idea that a child of hers is being made fun of. She laughs in GoF
when the Twins tease *her*, though.  (This is when they say how guilty
she'll feel if she gives them a hard time about the Wizard Wheezes and
they get killed the next day.)  I don't see her as angry at the
Twins. 

Nicole also said:
> [The Twins] are simply misguided from time to time, unlike Draco and
> Snape, who are both mean just for the sake of being mean.

What???  Snape is mean just for the sake of being mean?  First of all,
this seems to imply that Snape is mean to begin with, and it's obvious
that, while he might be a bit rough around the edges, underneath it
all Snape is actually a sweet, kind --- oh, what's that you say?  It's
still Defend the Weasleys Week?  Defend Snape Week isn't until *next*
week?  Oops, sorry. 

-- Judy, who must agree with Nicole's assessment of Cho as boring,
because she misread the subject heading "Cho is Ever-So-Evil" as "Cho
is Ever So So-So"