Ron's Downfall...

[serenadust]

No: HPFGUIDX 55301

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "daughterofthedust" 
<daughterofthedust at y...> wrote:
>  I mentioned earlier (in the list of things I wanted to learn in 
the 
> future books)that I have a feeling that Ron will end up screwing 
up 
> royally.
> 
>  Now, here's why I think so.
> 
>  Ron has always had too much pride...That manifests itself in his 
> shame of his family's finicial condition. He's almost completely 
> oblivious to the the good things about his family, taking all that 
> he has for granted.
> 
>  I think his pride is going to be a part of some future plot of 
> Voldemort's....
> 
>  Mark my words. ;-)



:Sighing heavily:
I've pretty much abandoned my efforts to defend Ron from the 
frequent bashing he receives in the fandom since most of it seems to 
be related to the shipping position of the basher. Defending him in 
those cases is mostly pointless. I'll assume that's not the case 
with daughterofthedust however, unless she tells me otherwise.

How do you define "too much pride"?  If it's because he's ashamed of 
his shabby dress robes and hand-me-downs, can I ask you to outline 
how a 14 year old with just the right amount of pride should react?  
After all, his family's poverty and it's outward signs have gained 
him unending abuse and humiliation from Malfoy for 4 solid years.  
He's also seen his home and parents insulted repeatedly and even had 
to witness his father's public humiliation from Malfoy senior. IMO 
it's a bit much to ask that an adolescent boy accept this sort of 
treatment without some sort of negative response.  In fact, if he 
didn't get angry at this abuse, I'd like him a whole lot less.

I don't agree that he is oblivious to the good things about his 
family either.  If he were, he wouldn't bother sharing them with 
Harry and Hermione; he'd be much too embarrassed by the shabbiness 
of 
his home.  His rather generous inclusion of Harry in particular, 
shows me that he knows exactly what Harry needs most of all in life, 
and that he's in a unique position to provide it.  He never shows 
any resentment about his mother's fussing over Harry. What you 
describe as "taking all that he has for granted" I would describe as 
the typical behavior of an adolescent boy who has never had any 
reason to doubt that he is well-loved by his entire family.  Any 
child should be able to take that for granted.  I certainly hope my 
kids do.

If you want to focus on characters with an excess of pride, then you 
might want to take another look at Harry.  His pride has caused him 
more than a little trouble over his four years at Hogwarts.

Jo Serenadust