More on Ron

[Susanne]

No: HPFGUIDX 39390

Hi,

I just threw down a few thoughts before work, so things
might be a bit diconnected!

Monday, June 03, 2002, 4:05:51 PM, Laura wrote:

>> Plus, it doesn't beginning to make up the whole thing with the Krum
>> doll for me...that part always made me feel *very* uneasy.. 


  Imo JKR has made it quite clear that this Krum figure is a
  model, not a sentient being with feelings or a voodoo
  doll, somehow connected to Krum himself.

  Honestly, let's look at real life here! If JKR had had Ron
  seek out Hermione for a calm and collected talk about his
  feelings, I would have put the book aside and looked for
  something else to read.

  While there might be a few teenagers who could and would
  have all the insights to do this, the vast majority
  (including Hermione and Harry) could not.

  And concerning my suggesting Ron should go and hurt Krum
  himself instead of the toy (which I never did), I meant
  that it is quite common for kids that age to actually do
  stuff like that and I was proud of Ron that he didn't
  confront Krum.

  Kids (and adults) do think hateful thoughts and that's
  perfectly alright as long as they realize it's not alright
  to go and do hurtful things to their object of hate.

  I don't think there's anyone around in the whole world who
  can claim they've never thought about how they would like
  to get back at somebody who insulted them or hurt their
  feelings (and yes, Ron's feelings are hurt here, even if
  Krum doesn't have a clue that he's partially the reason
  for it).

> I guess I don't feel that the *extent* of his "feelings" (read: blind
> hatred) are appropriate, given the situation.  Really, it disturbs me. 
> I've seen allot of similar situations amongst my friends..and none of
> them got quite so -- vicious about it as Ron did..

How do you know what they do in private?
If Harry hadn't found the ripped off arm, nobody would have
ever known about it, either.

And Ron may have even regretted later what he did in a
moment of fury, but we are not privy to his thoughts.

Anyway, I don't see Ron's reaction here as an abnormal one,
in fact, to me it seems pretty common.
I've worked with kids from age 3-17 in the past, and no, they
were not juvenile delinquents :)

> I mean, I can't believe that you would suggest Ron might actually go
> *hurt* Krum over something like this -- if he didn't get to rip the arms
> off a mini-Krum..that takes Ron's mental state to a whole new level of
> derangededness (not a word, I know..don't mind me) for me. ick.
> 
> I mean, imagine Ron..up in the dormitory all alone..slowly ripping the
> arms off the little Krum figure, watching its face while its limb was
> pulled from its socket...*shivers*   

LOL! Maybe I'm not quite as involved with the storyline, but
I imagined it more as a quick rage kind of thing, not slow
"torture".

Seriously, don't you remember your childhood?
Have you truly never been angry enough to storm off and
throw something against the wall or yell at your parents and
then regretted it right away?

Even the calmest kids I know have their moments, especially
when puberty starts to enter the picture.

And I think it would be unhealthy to teach children that
even *thinking* angry thoughts is "bad".
That can do some serious damage imo, because it's frankly
impossible!

Even adults don't have their feelings and thoughts under
that much control.

While Ron has a temper, he doesn't go out of his way to
insult for example Draco. He react when provoked, but
doesn't seek out confrontations.

He could have definitely handled things a bit better in GoF,
but I really don't see him as anything but a pretty typical,
clueless about the relationship stuff, teenage boy.

It certainly doesn't change my view of him being an overall
pretty darn nice guy, with a few problems that he'll
probably tackle with time.

It's not like he doesn't have feelings of inadequacy to
tangle with.
As a guy who doesn't have much in the way of money or fame
to offer, how do you think he feels, thinking he needs to
compete with a famous (and rich?) quidditch player?

He already is pretty insecure (the way I see it) and while
he could try and do something about distinguishing himself,
this isn't as easy as it sounds.


-- 
Best regards,
 Susanne                          mailto:siskiou at earthlink.net