Saving every Sickle (Was: Percy and the Weasleys' finances)

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 59144

Greatlit:


> The parents have barely enough money to clothe their kids, and they 
> squander hundreds of Galleons on a trip to Egypt?! Childhood should 
> be a fun and enriching time, and perhaps the parents were trying to 
> give their kids something that they never had, but a whole month in 
> a foreign country? (PoA p.8) That was a bit excessive. That lottery 
> winning would have been an excellent time to save up, but they 
> squandered. 


They didn't just pick Egypt off of a map. Bill works there, 
remember?  It was a chance to see a family member they don't get to 
see very often and they likely had a free place to stay. We know that 
they also bought Ron a new wand with the money, so it stands to 
reason that the other children got something vital as well.

> I am frustrated with this family's values. They are good people, 
but  the parents seem to be living in their own little world. All 
Arthur cares about is Muggle welfare, even if it means a lack of 
promotion. 
> I applaud his nobility, but not when he sacrifices his children's 
> interests. If anyone disagrees with me here, I would like to ask, 
> how would you feel if you were a child and your parent worked hard 
> to ensure other people's welfare (such as donating to charities, 
> etc.) but neglected your needs? You might grudgingly respect them, 
> but you would still be unhappy. 

Your analogy is not quite right. There is a difference between giving 
money to charity and not getting promoted due to your beliefs.

And what about teaching children that doing what is right is worth 
more than money? What kind of role model would Arthur be if he 
stopped working for the protection of Muggles simply in order to get 
a raise?

We never hear about the Weasleys going without food and clothing. 
They have to buy some clothes second-hand, but many parents do. 
That's why consignment shops and yard sales do such brisk business. 

Ron and the other boys have brooms that aren't top models. Their 
textbooks are used -- so were mine, all through college -- and they 
each don't have a pet. That is the side of poverty we see, that they 
can't rush out and buy new -- and designer -- clothes. That is hardly 
neglect.

So Arthur caves in to the anti-Muggle sentiment of the higher-ups and 
watches evil men like Lucius get their way, for a raise. What does 
that mean? That one of the textbooks each of the kids uses each year 
can be new instead of used?

Not worth it.


I feel sorry for Ron in this aspect. 
> He's got wonderful, loving parents who have chosen not to make him 
> their priority. That is hard for any child.

I think that's a big leap to make from Arthur having a fondness for 
Muggles, that Ron isn't the priority. Are all the children behind 
Arthur's muggle beliefs or just Ron? 

Ron is a middle child, plain and simple. I think he'd feel insecure, 
rich or poor. 

> All five of the younger Weasleys have responded to their poverty. 
> Percy is ambitious, and I think that his desire to be Minister is 
at  least partly due to his humble origins. He wants to prove 
himself. There is nothing wrong with this, but his desires have led 
him to  thus far alienate himself from his family, placing his job 
above  them.Can you imagine a rich kid being so motivated to work? 
Maybe. But I have a hunch that Percy, like everyone else, is 
struggling to  get out. 

A telling passage in GoF, one that neatly skewers the anti-Percy 
sentiment that runs around here.

pg 437: "Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at Harry and Ron 
from the bank as they swam nearer, but Percy, who looked very white 
and somehow much younger than usual, came splashing out to meet them."

Later, Percy tries to physically take Ron back to shore.

When the chips were down, Percy remembered what was important, his 
family. This whole "alienate" himself from his family thing is a kid 
working hard to make a good impression. He's in his first job and 
wants to do well.

But let's not jump to him forgetting his family just yet.

> The twins, as we all know, have lashed out against their poverty by 
> trying to earn money via the joke business. 

"Lashed out against their poverty by trying to earn money?" GASP! 
Someone call the Dementors! Someone is lashing poverty!

It sounds a lot nicer, and I think more accurate, to just 
say, "trying to earn money doing something they love doing."

Ron is a passive  protestor, while poor Ginny's initial insecurities 
about attending  Hogwarts were partly because of her poverty: " 'The 
diary,' said  Riddle...'Little Ginny's been writing in it for months 
and months,  telling me all her pitiful worries...how she had to come 
to school  with secondhand robes and books...' " (CoS p.309) 

So...Arthur and Molly should have done without food to pay for a 
brand new robe and books for Ginny? Is that it? A robe she would 
outgrow by the next year, most likely. A book that she would probably 
barely use after the first year. 

That way, Ginny doesn't feel insecure and never feels the need to 
write in the diary! She's an 11-year-old girl. Nothing else to feel 
insecure about, is there?


> Perhaps the Weasleys expect their children to intuitively 
understand> that they don't value money. But kids should not be 
expected to just understand that their parents are acting in their 
best interest. Ron certainly doesn't understand. All he knows is that 
he has to wear 
> girly dress robes. After all this babbling, my final point is that 
> the Weasley parents should wake up and understand that while they 
> might be perfectly content wearing rags while saving the world, 
they should not expect their children to do the same. 

What you are saying is that Ron's desire to look manly at the Yule 
Ball -- a 14-year-old boy's desire -- should be more important than 
the problems of the world Arthur and Molly deal with.

Buying a new robe for Ron would have been a waste of money. He didn't 
dance with the girl he took and didn't think to ask the girl he 
really wanted to take. Do you think him having a new robe would have 
increased his enjoyment of that night?

Remember that passage in the book? Ron gives his mother grief about 
not having nicer robes. I'm sorry, Prince Ron, let me NOT pay the 
electric bill this month so you can have a robe.

Children always want things their parents can't afford. I'd wager 
even Draco covets things Lucius can't swing. (There you go. Let's use 
Draco as a role-model for what happens when kids get bought things 
without thought to the consequences.)

Darrin
-- Still goes to yard sales, thank you.