[HPforGrownups] Re: The Purpose of the Weasleys (was; Saving every Sickle)

[Jesta Hijinx]

No: HPFGUIDX 59276

Hm.  I found this post interesting, and an opportunity to make some remarks 
of my own about the Weasleys, and what I feel their purpose as textual 
devices might be.

As an example, Jodel wrote:

>Because you are absolutely right, and I do not think it is accidental. For
>all that Harry thinks it is paradise on earth, the Burrow is not the 
>happiest of
>households. (Don't run away with that statement. The Weasleys aren't going 
>to
>make the top ten list of dysfunctional families in childrens' literature 
>any
>time soon, either.)
>
Hm.  My take on this is that Harry feels that it is paradise on earth 
because for all their flaws (and what family doesn't have them taken as a 
whole?) the Weasleys love and care about each other.

I'm frustrated by a whole set of circumstances than those expressed here 
about the Weasleys:  namely, that Ron, at least, appears to suffer from 
something common to the modern "Muggle" world which I am just as 
condemnatory about as some of the writing here about the Weasley family 
values taken from different perspectives:  he shows signs of money addiction 
and an obsession (and I don't use the word lightly, if you look at some of 
my past postings).  It's true:  one of the most common addictive/obsessive 
behaviors in modern America that isn't talked about or dealt with is an 
addiction to money and matters financial.  It goes far beyond any sort of 
common-sense budgeting (and I would agree that it doesn't always appear to 
me that Arthur and Molly are necessarily particularly good at that - but on 
the other hand they've managed thus far) and sensible pursuit of expanding 
one's career into the now-debunked myth that "greed is good".  Greed is 
*not* good, and usually it's futile in the long run.  But because America is 
now so lucre-oriented, we even have pundits fretting about "love addiction" 
(which isn't a true one, but just an excuse for a few people to sell more 
books and seminars) rather than financial addiction/obsession, which can and 
does destroy lives and families.

I personally think Ron needs a good paddling over some of the stuff he frets 
about (but then I favor corporal punishment for spoilt brats).  Ron is the 
only Weasley we see fret openly or get weird about money - has anyone else 
noticed this?  I'd like to think the others realize that their parents are 
doing the best they can, they're really doing okay (they're all managing to 
make it through Hogwarts, after all) and Charlie and Bill have independent 
careers which they appear to enjoy and seem to be remarkably well-adjusted 
human beings.

I'm sorry to state this, Jodel, and you are certainly entitled to your 
opinions, but I don't agree with some of your other assessments about the 
Weasleys - especially the one about Ginny being tied to Molly's apron 
strings.  I'm not sure where you're getting that from.  Ginny was the last 
child left at home; she's the only girl and probably Molly did girl things 
with her and even indulged her with more outings together than she'd done 
with the boys.  But she's packed off to school right along with the rest and 
doesn't seem to be getting an unusual stream of packages or letters bearing 
motherly admonitions or more visits.  I think Ginny's doing just fine, 
actually.

My one thought is that their financial priorities do seem to be a little 
skewed - the vacation to Egypt hit me wrong, as it did many others, when 
there were problems buying robes and paying tuition.  But it might be that 
the Weasley parents saw it as important to have everyone together and see 
Bill - moreover, and we mustn't forget this as the overarching concern, it 
was a plot device plain and simple for Sirius to see a photograph showing 
Pettigrew.

I also disagree that Molly has misapplied her ambitions to her children.  I 
don't think that's true at all.  I think she wants them to grow up to be 
self-supporting children able to stand on their own two feet and not come 
back at home and live with Mummy and Daddy forever; and of course she wants 
her children to be well-behaved and get good grades and be credits to the 
family - that's a natural parental reaction.  Parents *really* don't want 
rebels without a clue, no matter where they live.  :-)  For every wild 
success story that makes 'People' magazine, there are 10,000 failures who 
wind up back at home with the parents for a while, busted flat broke.  It's 
quite natural for parents to err on the conservative side of things, 
especially where dreams are bigger than talent or drive.

YMMV, naturally.

Felinia

_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail