Is it all Percy's fault?

[delwynmarch at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 87180

"greatlit2003" wrote:

> I think that many important ideas in the books are unspoken. One is 
> love. Characters in this book don't hug much (except Molly and 
> sometimes Hermione) and don't tell each other how they feel. 
> Knowing Arthur Weasley as we do, I have no doubt that he loves all 
> of his children and wants to reconcile with Percy.

I would agree that he loves Percy. But that does NOT mean that he 
wants to reconcile with him at any price. Both real life and 
literature are full of examples of parents who love their children 
but will not forgive them for whatever reason.

Moreover, I also believe that Percy loves his parents very much and 
wants to reconcile with them very much too.

> He didn't insult Percy by telling him that Fudge promoted him to be 
> a spy. Arthur was trying to save his son from an awkward situation. 
> Percy, always ambitious, took his advice the wrong way.

Okay. Let us then say that your 20 year old son and yourself happen 
to work in the same company, but in different departments. You are a 
big asset to the chief of your department, who in turn is not on good 
terms with the big boss of the company. In fact, the big boss is 
afraid your boss might try and take his place over, with your help. 
But he cannot fire him, for whatever reason. One day, your son comes 
to you and tells you that he has been promoted to become assistant to 
the big chief. Well, you happen to know the inner working of that 
company better than he does, because he has been working there only 
for a year, does not socialise much with the other employees (being 
too occupied to *work*), and is still a young naive innocent boy who 
pretty much sees the world in black and white. So you realise right 
away that he was taken in only so that either he would unadvertently 
tell his boss about what you and your boss are planning, or to 
discredit you in the eyes of your boss, which would make your boss 
weaker. What do you do ? Do you really go ahead and tell him : ah, 
sorry son, but all this is really not about you and your capacities 
and the hard work you have done for the company, it is only about me 
and the bosses ? And if you do, do you *really* expect him to take it 
nicely ?!

> Percy shouldn't have allowed his fight with Arthur to affect how he 
> treated the rest of his family.

As far as we know, the rest of the family sided with Arthur. Ron and 
the twins call Percy a git, and there is no sign from anyone, not 
even Molly, that they supported Percy. So the fight is not just 
between Percy and Arthur, it is between Percy and the whole rest of 
the family (with the only possible exception of Charlie).

Moreover, I think you are expecting a great deal from a very young 
man. Percy is only 19 or 20 after all, and he has barely started his 
career. He has the right to expect complete support from his father, 
not outright sabotage.

When it comes to the fight between Snape and Harry, everyone is quick 
to defend Harry, saying that Snape is the adult. Well, in that case, 
I would like to remark that *Arthur*, not Percy, is the adult.

> He sent back his Christmas jumper, which his mother knitted.

Even Ron hates those jumpers. They are a constant reminder that Molly 
will not acknowledge that her sons are growing up. As a young adult, 
I would understand that Percy would be outraged to still be receiving 
that kind of gift from his mother !

> He slammed the door in her face when she went to talk to him. 

It all depends on *what* she told him. My own mother and sister were 
constantly at war when my sister was a young adult, because they had 
a gift for saying *exactly* the wrong thing to each other !

> Furthermore, Percy preferred to keep his job and lose his family. 
> That says a lot about him.

Yes, it does say a lot about him. It says that he is young and he 
wants to grow up. He wants to be an adult, as all young adults this 
age do. He wants to be respected. And for that you need to have a job 
and stop depending on mommy and daddy. Well, he *has* a job, and he 
is offered an even better one. In fact, he is offered a DREAM job, 
one he probably did not even dare hoping for before several years. 
But his family takes that accomplishment for nothing, and keeps 
considering him like a little boy who does not understand the world 
around him. So he goes away from them. Like my sister did, because 
she thought she could never grow up as long as she stayed home.

And let us not be overly dramatic please : Percy probably does not 
think he lost his family. This is all just a temporary disagreement, 
like it happens in many families when kids get this age. They roam 
free for 3 or 4 years, and then they come back and everyone pretends 
nothing happened. Not such a big deal honestly.

> In the face of what happened to Arthur, a fight with Percy was 
> trivial, and Percy was being petty (to the say the very least) for 
> not visiting his father. People fight, it's a part of life. But to 
> not visit one's own father who has almost been killed by a crazy 
> snake is unexcusable IMHO.

Well you said it : Arthur was *almost* killed. Do we know *when* 
exactly Percy learned about his father ? And do we know if he is told 
about the snake, or about the extent of the wounds ? It could very 
well be that by the time he finally learned about it, he called the 
hospital and was told that Arthur was fine.

Moreover, you have to keep in mind that in the eyes of Percy, Arthur 
is in the wrong team, doing the wrong things. So if he gets hurt 
doing something wrong, this is bound to make Percy even more mad at 
his father.

> However, I am willing to give Percy the benefit of the doubt, and I 
> think his behavior is more of a reflection of his age and lack of 
> life experience than a reflection of his character. Some people do 
> go through phases where they may avoid their families, only to 
> reconcile later.

Exactly ! See, you say so yourself :-) !

Del