Ron's Alleged Jealousy and Authorial Intention

[dicentra63 <dicentra@xmission.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52762

Rhiannon the RavenSlyth:

> Without further ado, to the can(n)on suggesting that JKR intends Ron 
> to be jealous in GoF.
> 
> GoF, US paperback edition, p.389, The Unexpected Task:

> "'Listen, you're not going to have any trouble. You're a champion. 
> You've just beaten a Hungarian Horntail. I bet they'll be queuing up 
> to go with you.'

> In tribute to their recently repaired friendship, Ron had kept the 
> bitterness in his voice to a bare minimum."

> Now, is that really Harry judging Ron's tone? Is that Harry who's 
> explaining exactly why Ron's trying not to be bitter? Or is it JKR? 
> It wouldn't be the first time she's slipped from Harry's POV to 
> explain Ron's actions. 

I will concede that at this moment, Ron is indeed envious of Harry. 
He's envious of the fact that because Harry made it through the First
Task alive, Harry won't have to ask someone to the Yule Ball, because
girls will be asking *him*.  Ron, on the other hand, has the
unenviable task of finding someone who'll agree to go with him.  He'll
have to put his neck on the line and risk rejection.  Who wants to go
through that at 14?  (Who wants to go through it at 40, for that
matter?)  So yeah, the "bare minimum" of bitterness in Ron's voice is
probably authentic, whether it's Harry's interpretation or the
narrator's insertion.

(Rhiannon's noting that the narrative voice leaves Harry's strict PoV
and goes somewhere else for a moment is interesting in and of itself.
 Someday I'll have to analyze it in depth.  Don't hold your breath,
though.:D)

However, I cannot agree that this isolated incident is evidence that
jealousy is something that plagues Ron throughout the series, or even
throughout GoF.  Not with regard to Harry, anyway (vis à vis Hermione
is another issue). Part of the problem is that there seems to be an
unclear idea on this list of what is meant by "jealousy."  For some
time on HPfGU, we've been concerned that Ron's darker side, which is
allegedly dominated by jealousy, will make him vulnerable to betraying
Harry.  I say that Ron might have many vulnerabilities (resentment at
being poor the most worrisome), but being jealous of Harry isn't one
of them.

bboy_mn remarks:

> As I pointed out, even I'm jealous of Harry. I'm sure a lot of the
> other guys in Gryffindor are jealous of Harry including Ron. But
> that's not the question at hand. The question is, 'Is the emotion at
> the root of the rift between Ron and Harry stemming from jealousy or
> Ron's sense of betrayal?

Well, at this point I think the subject has shifted away from The Rift
itself to whether JealousInGeneral!Ron exists.  The Rift is often used
to prove that Ron is jealous of Harry in general, but it doesn't. 
Ron's feeling betrayed at that point, not jealous -- according to Ron
himself, whose word I'll take over Hermione's in this case, if you
don't mind.

As for your own feelings of "jealousy" about Harry, I remember you
mentioned feeling jealous when you read about Harry being able to fly
on a broomstick.  You'd *love* to do that, too, but you can't (because
you're not fictional :D).  But I wouldn't characterize your emotions
as "jealousy" per se.  You don't hate Harry because he can do
something you can't (or do you?).  You wouldn't want to see Harry fall
on his face just because he can do something you can't.  Right?  

Clear?

Maybe not.

OK.  An excellent study of jealousy -- "soul-eating, deadly sin
jealousy" -- is in "Amadeus," the movie and the play.  Salieri is a
reasonably good composer in his own right, but next to Mozart, his
music looks positively mediocre.  It drives Salieri nuts that the
bawdy, irreverent Mozart can write amazing music in his sleep, while
the pious Salieri cannot praise God in terms nearly so sublime as
Mozart can.  Salieri had two options, really.  He could have put his
ego aside and counted himself lucky to be in the presence of such
greatness.  He could have become Mozart's greatest friend and admirer
and studied Mozart in the hopes that he could learn something -- or at
least be able to grasp Mozart's greatness from up close.

But instead Salieri let jealousy get the best of him.  He esteemed
Mozart his enemy.  He took each of Mozart's triumphs as a slap in the
face and a threat to his own success.  He *hated* Mozart and wanted to
see him fall flat on his face.  If I'm not mistaken (I've not seen it
for awhile), he undertook to discredit Mozart in the hopes he could
get him out of his way.

In other words, he saw it as a zero-sum game, a competition in which
there is one winner only and everyone else is a loser.  Every time
Mozart won, he lost.

Does Ron see Harry that way?  Does he see Harry as a barrier to his
own success?  Does he take pleasure in Harry's failure because he sees
it as a "win" for him?  Does he undertake to discredit Harry?

No, he doesn't.  That's what Draco does.  Draco is jealous of Harry;
Ron is not.

For one thing, what's there to be jealous of?  What has Harry's fame
got him that Ron would want?

Let's take inventory of all the things that fame has gotten Harry:

1) Harry has a place in history for being the Boy Who Lived.  His name
is in all the books, as Hermione says.  But Harry's fame came at the
cost of his parents' lives, and as a result, he goes to live with the
Muggles From Hell -- penniless, friendless, bullied, unloved, and
neglected.

2) Everyone in the Leaky Cauldron wants to shake Harry's hand.  (Ron
doesn't see this.)

3) Ollivander recognizes him. (Ron doesn't see this.)

4) Seeking to enhance his own reputation and status, Draco Malfoy
cozies up to him in the train.  Harry rejects him, and as a result
Draco makes a point of tormenting Harry every chance he gets.  He also
goes after Ron for good measure.  Were Harry not famous, Draco would
probably ignore both of them.

5) All of the kids at school look at Harry and point at his scar as he
walks down the halls during those first few days.

6) Flitwick, upon reading his name on the rolls, is so thrilled he
falls off his stack of books.

7) Snape, upon reading his name on the rolls, goes out of his way to
humiliate Harry on the first day of class with a barrage of questions.
 Snape continues to torment Harry as often as the chance comes up.

8) Lockhart, seeking to enhance his own reputation and status, cozies
up to Harry and forces him to be in a photo with him at Flourish and
Blotts.  (The free set of books Lockhart gives him Harry gives to Ginny.)

9) Lockhart continues to sidle up to Harry whenever possible, giving
him unsolicited advice in front of the other students, and humiliating
Harry in the process.

10) Colin becomes Harry's groupie and paparazzo, always underfoot and
always fawning over Harry.  When Dennis arrives two years later, the
fawning continues.

11) Harry's fame as the one who defeated Voldemort leads people to
suspect him as Slytherin's heir more quickly than they otherwise
would.  Snape, who chooses Harry to demonstrate with Draco during the
duelling club, might have told Draco to do Serpensortia to test
Harry's reaction to snakes.  Harry is revealed as a Parselmouth and
he's immediately shunned by the student body.

12) Harry's fame as the one who defeated Voldemort leads Tom Riddle to
take especial notice of him, and then to take *aim* at him.  He lures
Harry into the Chamber and nearly kills him.

13) Harry's fame as the one who defeated Voldemort leads Fudge to
believe that when Sirius Black mutters "He's at Hogwarts. He's at
Hogwarts" in his sleep that he's talking about Harry, the result being
that no one will allow Harry to go to Hogsmeade.  (Fudge doesn't let
Harry off the hook because he's famous; he lets him off the hook
because he was worried that Sirius Black might have got to him first.
 If it were just a Famous Harry Potter thing, Harry wouldn't have got
that letter from Mafalda Hopkirk after Dobby's trick.)

14) When the Durmstrang students leave the Great Hall, they block
traffic when they notice that Harry Potter is standing there.

15) Harry's fame leads people to believe that when Harry's name comes
out of the Goblet, he's being a fame-hound.  (Ron and Hermione have
other interpretations.)  Again, he's shunned by the whole school. 
Draco and his cronies wear HARRY POTTER STINKS badges.  (Ron had the
opportunity to be glad that Harry was suffering, but he wasn't,
because he's not jealous of Harry's fame.  Really.  He's not.)

Harry's fame does NOT lead to the following:

--greater popularity among the students
--no punishment (or lessened one) when he's busted for breaking the
rules; he gets the same punishment as anyone else (Floating Marge
notwithstanding)
--preferential treatment from the professors
--more money

Ron, being privy to all of this, has no earthly reason to be jealous
of Harry's fame -- it's more a liability than an asset for Harry.  Ron
might believe that Fudge went easy on Harry in PoA when he blew up his
aunt, but he's NOT upset that Harry wasn't expelled.  If he were
jealous, he'd be furious that Harry got preferential treatment.

And Quidditch?  Well, Harry *earned* all that fame.  Does Ron see
Harry's status as awesome Quidditch player as a threat?  Is he upset
that people have TWICE given Harry cutting-edge broomsticks?  Not on
your life.  He thinks Harry's success on the Quidditch pitch is too
cool.  That's HIS friend catching the snitch, ladies and gentlemen. 
And besides, Ron gets to ride the Firebolt.  Who else can say that?

As for Harry's money, Ron *does* wish he had more money.  He *is*
resentful of being poor.  But does he resent the fact that Harry has a
pile o' gold in Gringotts?  Why should he?  How does Harry spend his
money?  On books and supplies, like everyone else.  On candy, which he
shares with Ron.  On the occasional gift, like the Omniculars.  Does
Harry look down on Ron because he's poor?  Hardly.  Does Harry know
what it's *like* to be poor? You betcha.  And besides, that pile o'
gold isn't getting any bigger; it's getting smaller with every year. 
It's a limited supply.  Someday it will be gone.  Ron doesn't wish
that Harry's parents didn't leave him money.  Ron wouldn't derive
satisfaction out of seeing Harry suddenly lose all his money.  But he
would if he were *jealous* of Harry's money.
 
Cantoramy says:
> 
> Envious would be a better word.  Both boys are
> envious of each other.  Harry longs for what Ron has: a family who
> cares about him and who is interested in what he does and how he
> feels; a magic house (he calls The Hollow "brilliant"); knowledge of
> the WW and its customs and traditions.  

It has often been observed that Ron has what Harry wants and vice
versa.  It's true.  But they *share* what they have with each other to
the extent possible.  Ron shares his family -- and even his mother's
affections -- with Harry, and Harry shares his money with Ron.  Ron
also helps Harry get to know the ropes in the WW, and Harry tries to
help Ron with Muggle customs.  They complement each other.  They might
experience the occasional twinge of longing, but that doesn't qualify
as jealousy at all.  If we're using "envy" to mean "wishing you had
what the other guy has but you don't begrudge the other guy what he
has," then I'll agree with that use of the word "envy."  (However, I
don't think we have a word in English to describe the dynamic.  "Envy"
still is too "deadly sin"-ful for my taste.)

What *I* want to know is what Ron really wants out of life.  We know
he'd like more money, but as far as the expectations to equal his
brothers' achievements, that's still very much a question mark.  (When
he first meets Harry, he mentions the expectations that are on him,
but he doesn't seem to have the same expectations -- he just feels the
pressure.)

I had said earlier (52038-39) that Ron's perfectly content to bask in
Harry's glory (what glory there is):

> Frankly, being the second of the Boy Who Lived is no small potatoes.
> I'm guessing that Ron wouldn't trade it for all the prefect's badges
> and Quidditch cups in the world.
> 
But Naama doesn't agree:

> I don't think Ron 
> feels that being Harry's second is a good thing. He only accepts it 
> because it is inherent in the "job" Ron is interested in -– being 
> Harry's best friend. How can being somebody's shadow feel [like] a 
> good thing, anyway?

[snip]

> I don't think anybody with a proper sense [of] pride and self-respect 
> should be *happy* to be anybody's second. At most, you can come to 
> accept it because you love the other person enough -– which is pretty 
> much where Ron ends at the end of the Rift. 
> 
Are you saying that no self-respecting person would be happy with
anything less than Being Number One?  People have expressed the same
bewilderment about Arthur Weasley, who has turned down opportunities
for advancement because he loves his current position.  Arthur doesn't
see Being Number One as much of a goal. It's entirely possible that
Ron shares that sentiment.  (I myself have turned down advancement
because I didn't like what I'd have to do in the "higher" position,
but I did like what I was doing where I was.)  He certainly doesn't
aspire to position and power -- the way Percy does -- or to get the
highest grades -- the way Hermione does -- or to even be the World's
Best Quidditch Player -- as Harry does.

What *does* he want?  As far as I can tell, aside from a better cash
flow, Ron doesn't seem to want more than what he has.  Except maybe a
girlfriend. :D

--Dicentra, who thinks Not Being Number One is not the same as Selling
Oneself Short