Ambition in the Wizarding World (Ron, Percy and Bill)

[Penny Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 38740

Hi --

Debbie wrote a *wonderful* post comparing Ron with Percy and Bill, and I'm racking my brains trying to think how to avoid my response being an illegitimate "me too" post.  <g>  This is really just fascinating ....

<<<I believe that Ron is not lacking in ambition, talent or willingness to work hard, but that he suppresses it.  Accordingly, in the ordinary course of events, Ron masks his abilities and desires in a show of lackadaisical 
unconcern. Ron's talents manifest themselves only in rare, stressful moments>>>>

I can definitely buy this.  I think Ron *has* ambition.  He clearly wants recognition & to "stand out" from his brothers.  I agree with Cindy and others that he definitely doesn't take steps toward realizing his goals.  But, I was struggling with the notion that he didn't have ambition at all, just because he's not yet taken any steps toward achieving his desires.  I like Debbie's approach much better.  I especially like this idea that Ron has a profound fear of failure, which leads to him not trying much of anything because, after all, it'd be better to do nothing than to try & fail.  

I wonder how this particular characteristic, if Debbie's right, would play out in the context of a Ron/Hermione romantic relationship.  If he's got a real hang-up about failure, will he even take the steps to try & change the relationship to romance?  If he does, how will his fear of failure & Hermione's over-achieving actions mesh?  Hmm....

<<<<And that's why he's so frustrated when Harry becomes a Triwizard champion.  Harry doesn't do anything to earn it, and he has to come to terms with that.>>>>>

Yes, and Harry hasn't earned his wealth either, so Ron resents it.  

<<<<After all, there's a clear disconnect between Molly's pushing 
her children to academic success in order to start a career in the Ministry 
and Arthur's position.  Arthur's been working at the Ministry for many years and can barely support his family.>>>>

Yeah, I've noted that before.  I don't know why in the world Molly is so sold on the MOM as a career path under the circumstances, and it's a bit strange really to think that Percy, with his stand-out academic success, would choose that route.  Well, other than I suppose it's the most direct path to his alleged goal of wanting to be Minister of Magic.  I still say that Percy might well be ambitious in this sense not for power but as a platform for instituting sweeping reforms.  Who's the one person who really gets on pretty well with Percy?  Hermione.  I suspect they've had some conversations about this subject.  I think there's more than just a common interest in academics and a common approach to following rules between Percy and Hermione.      

<<<<<So, Ron outwardly allies himself with the twins to avoid being tormented himself. He consciously becomes an anti-Percy and more Twin-like.   (I actually think Ron's fear of spiders may have as much to do with his fear of becoming a target as the spiders themselves; after all, the triggering event was that Fred turned his teddy bear into a spider because he broke one of Fred's toys.)>>>>>>>>

Oh, and one of the Twins (Fred?) killed one of Ron's pets, right?  Yes, he used Ron's puffskein for bludger practice.  Yes, I think you're on to something with this avoidance of target theory.   

<<<<In spite of Ron's attempt to be the anti-Percy, in fact I think they are very much alike, two bookends driven apart by the noisy, attention-getting twins. There are little details suggesting how they're alike, starting with their tall and lanky builds (shared with Bill, but not with their shorter, 
stockier, Quidditch-playing brothers).  Both have a tendency to embarrass 
easily.  Both demonstrate very strong loyalties.  Both are somewhat insecure about their position in the family and have a consequent need for 
recognition.  But because of that wedge that's been driven between them, they have opposite reactions to Molly's ambitions, and are in opposition to each other.>>>>>>>

Yes, yes, yes!  That would also explain the particular antipathy that Ron feels with respect to Percy; he's lashing out because somewhere inside, he knows that he's alot more like Percy than he'd care to admit.  Oh, yes.  I can get behind this theory.  Most definitely.

<<<<If Percy and Ron, despite their similarities, represent the opposites of accepting and rejecting Molly's ambitions for them, how can they be 
reconciled?  Is there a middle ground?  How about the third member of the 
trio of tall and lanky Weasley sons?  Bill Weasley represents the amalgam of Percy's acceptance and Ron's apparent rejection of Molly's goals. He achieved the academic success that Molly wanted for him, but charted his own career course outside the Ministry.  <snip> He also appears to have a 
good relationship with both Percy and Ron.  <snip more> Bill and Ron are playing chess together, something that always struck me as significant about their relationship.  All could be viewed as signs that Bill plays a mentoring role for Percy and Ron - the kind of mentoring that I think Ron would have benefited receiving from Percy.>>>>

Gee, I'd never picked up on those details, but you have some good points there.  I'm very intrigued by Bill myself, and seeing your list of interactions between him and his brothers is adding to my desire to get OOP *now.*  :--)    

BTW, I wonder if the tall lanky build is a liability in Quidditch -- could this be one reason Ron hasn't attempted to try out for the Team as a reserve player as far as we know?  I'd not really correlated before, but Debbie's right that the Twins share the same build as Charlie, and it's the 3 of them who are the Quidditch players.  As far as we know, Bill didn't play Quidditch at Hogwarts, and we know Percy didn't and Ron hasn't so far.  Interesting.

Great points, Debbie.  

Penny



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