Draco vs. Ron

[gwendolyngrace <gwendolyngrace@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52660

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z <lupinesque at y...>" 
<lupinesque at y...> wrote:
> 
> Well.  I can think of *lots* of pairs of people, both in real life 
> and in fiction, in which the two have lots in common but I only 
like 
> one and not the other.  I "like" Ron, as in, I think if he had been 
a 
> real person of my own age when I was a teenager, I would have 
enjoyed 
> his company.  I "dislike" Draco, as in, if *he* had been walking 
the 
> halls of my high school, I'd have ducked into a classroom whenever 
I 
> saw him coming.  Despite their similarities, they are two different 
> people.


Oh, sure... if you're talking about liking them as *people* and not 
as *characters.* 

In real life, I'd want to slap the smirk right off Draco's smarmy 
little pointy-nosed face. But I think he's a fabulous 
characterization of a bratty antagonist, and I can see a lot of 
potential for making him a dynamic, if still incidental, character.

In real life, I'd want to sit Ron down and tell him he reminds me 
uncomfortably of my ex-husband in attitude. As a character though, 
the boy cracks me up and I think he's just tops.

I guess I've never understood the visceral reaction readers have to 
characters as if they're real. Sure, there've been times when I 
*really* wish a character could step off the page, either so I can 
dazzle them, or alternatively, put them in their place, but that's no 
reason not to see their worth in terms of what they add to the story.

I've said on other threads (who do you like/hate, etc.) that the only 
characters I really don't care for in this series are the ones who 
seem to be there only to take up space - the Creeveys, for example. I 
know they fit the bill for the adoring, idolizing, annoying little 
geeky ankle-biters one can find in any junior high or high school, 
but, well, they don't add anything for me. Although I have to say 
that Dennis's reaction to falling in the lake is precious.

Sure, I have my moments when I'm disappointed in Ron. Sure, I have 
moments when I want to just put Draco over my knee - but does that 
temporary "tsk" make me decide that one is to be revered, while the 
other is to be reviled?

Um. No. It means they're both characters who have flaws - and they 
both need to grow the heck up. But I really, really hope that they 
do. I genuinely would like to see Draco go through hell *if* it means 
he comes out of it more aware of his problems and ready to deal with 
them. I truly would love Ron to fix his sensitivity meter and learn 
to think before he speaks - not because it would make me "like" him 
more but because I think it would realize the potential Rowling put 
into him. I certainly don't wish either of them to die ignominiously 
or painfully or languish forever in villainy. 

I guess I just don't understand what makes a reader want to 
pigeonhole characters and judge them based only on whether they'd 
want such a person in their lives. Some of the most interesting 
characters to portray or to write about are the most flawed. So, does 
anyone else have different opinions about the characters as 
characters than they do about the characters as people? Or is it just 
me?

Hm. Have I made a canon point? I doubt it.

Oh - Susan (?) asked where I saw Ron revising his opinions, and where 
he was cruel to Hermione.

I rather meant that even in the short passages she quoted, Ron had 
second thoughts, even about Hagrid. It wasn't as if he pulled a 180 
and suddenly hated Hagrid, but he did momentarily succumb to doubts. 
The line about how people who knew him would be okay, but everyone 
else, strikes me not only as anxiety for Hagrid's well-being, but 
anxiety over how they will be viewed for taking Hagrid's part.

And for Ron, yes, there are folks who say that Ron's treatment of 
Hermione throughout the evening of the Yule Ball was utterly 
reprehensible. I think he's being 14, but lots of people have said 
that that's where they lost all respect for him. IIRC. Not to mention 
his treatment of Padma - who really hadn't done anything. Yeah, she 
wasn't broken up about it, but it was still highly discourteous of 
him to ignore her.


Hope that was enough canon...

Gwen