[HPforGrownups] Ron as a Prefect ( was : SHIPs)

[Erika L.]

No: HPFGUIDX 74553

Erika (Wolfraven) wrote:
>After Umbridge's speech when 
>everyone is dismissed from the hall, the >Prefects are expected to 
>lead the first-year students. Hermione >must remind Ron of this since 
>he "had obviously forgotten". He proceeds >to address the first-years 
>as "Midgets" and when Hermione berated >him, he protests "Well, they 
>are, they're titchy" (Canadian ed 194). >I'd say a lack of respect for 
>younger students, particularly a group of >already nervous eleven-year-
>olds qualifies as an example of Ron being >less than exemplary as a 
>Prefect.


Del replied:
>1. This scene takes place right at the >beginning of the year. Ron is 
>just beginning to learn how to be a >Prefect. He had his first Prefect 
>meeting barely a few hours before on board >the train.

>2. He never expected to become a Prefect, >unlike Hermione. This all 
>came as a surprise and I guess he never >seriously took time to ponder 
>about what being a Prefect meant.

>3. The only Prefect he knew closely was... >Percy ! And we all know he 
>doesn't want anything to do with Percy's >behaviour. So I guess he 
>could unconsciously be trying to be >exactly the opposite of Percy as 
>a Prefect. While Hermione, on the other >hand...

 
Shaun Hately also replied:
>Ron calling the first-years midgets could >very easily have been a way to 
>try and get them laughing - an extremely >good way to deal with nervous 
>11 years olds who are likely to be fairly >intimidated by you. It's not 
>something everybody could do - I'd have >mucked it up - but if you've got 
>a good and obvious sense of humour, which >I think Ron might, it really 
>can work well.

>In some senses, it is important for a >prefect to respect younger 
>students - but you also need to help these >kids establish their place in 
>the school heirarchy. They need to feel >they belong to the school (and 
>to their House) as quickly as possible. >Ron, as a prefect, teasing them 
>can help with that process. It's a fine >line - it can backfire - but I 
>think it's quite unfair to view Ron as >disrespectful of the first years.

Okay, perhaps I am being a bit hard on Ron. I admit I have a tendency to do that.

    Still, Ron's not known for being especially sensitive about other people's emotional needs, so I have trouble buying that he was trying to make ther first years feel better. My expereince of school is that first years always come off as a bit of a joke to the older students. This was certainly the case in high school. And even in university, I remember it being comical when one saw a first year wandering around campus with a map in his/her hand looking generally dazed and  bewildered. However, I do take Del's point that Ron's only just become Prefect by this point, so I suppose he would need time to settle into the role.

Shaun Hately also said:
>A good prefect should 
>*not* be obvious. You shouldn't be able to >easily point to the things 
>that make somebody a good prefect.

>But you will certainly know *very* rapidly >if there's a bad one around. 
>If Ron was a bad prefect, I would have >expected to see real signs of 
>that in the text, considering his close >proximity to Harry. The fact we 
>don't see any signs of him being a bad >prefect really does indicate a 
>high likelihood that he is at least >competent.

 
    Again, I was not trying to imply that Ron was exactly a bad Prefect-- certainly I'm not comparing him to Draco. Draco abuses the authority he's given; Ron in contrast seems reluctant to use his at all. But then,as has been pointed out, the only instances we see involve Fred and George. I guess we'll have to wait and see in the next book if Ron can step up to the plate now that the twins are out of the picture.

Erika (Wolfraven)

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