Anatomy of a Rift (Part 1 of 2) LONG

[naamagatus <naama_gat@hotmail.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52733

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dicentra63 <dicentra at x>" 
<dicentra at x> wrote:


> If Ron is merely jealous because "everything happens to Harry," he 
> has no reason to accuse Harry of lying.  He just has to accuse 
>Harry of always being the center of attention.  

Me:

But how can you justly accuse someone of something he has no control 
over? The point is that Ron can't justify the resentment he is 
feeling (according to Hermione), so he rationalizes it by accusing 
Harry of something else - of lying to him, of betraying their 
friendship.

> 
> Hermione believes Harry is telling the truth, and to her, this is 
>Yet Another Thing That Happens To Harry.  That's why the jealousy
> explanation makes sense to her. 
> 
> But Ron himself tells Harry that he's upset about being left out. 
> Unless he's hiding his jealousy behind a mask of betrayal (and 
>there's no evidence to support this), we have to take Ron at his 
>word.


Well, there is Hermione's interpretation - and that is given as the 
only explanation of Ron's behavior in the book (other than his own 
words, that is). And I don't see why we have to take Ron at his word. 
His behavior seems, both to Harry and to Hermione, as inexplicable on 
the surface of it. To reiterate what I have already said - Ron had no 
substantial reason to disbelieve Harry's word. Since his disbelief is 
not rationl, it makes good psychological sense to understand it as a 
rationalizing mechanism of some sort. In this context, Hermione's 
explanation makes perfect sense. 

Naama