[HPforGrownups] Don't Kill Ron!

[Jesta Hijinx]

No: HPFGUIDX 60672

>It seems to me that a lot of people could careless about Harry or
>Hermione, but practually worship Ron. There are entire web-sites
>devoted to fans of Ron. Of course what isn't there to like about Ron?
>Personally Ron is my favorite character, even though I identify more
>with Hermione. I certianly hope that Rowling isn't planning to kill
>off Ron. I don't think she can afford to (at least not until the last
>book). I wouldn't want to read the books anymore if Ron wasn't in
>them (and I'm a big fan). Are there anyother Potheads (this is my
>brother's name for Harry Potter fans) who are fans of Ron and would
>ditch the series if he were killed?
>
>"Michael"
>
Dear Michael:

Well, if you haven't seen one of my posts before, let me warn me you're 
likely to get a peculiar posting from me.  :-)

But I hear what you're saying:  there are a lot of fans of Ron.  I don't 
know why one way or the other:  but I really don't think JKR will kill him 
off.  Of the trio, I think Ron is most likely to be gotten into some really 
hot water from which he needs rescuing before the end, and he may have a 
narrow escape; but I don't think he'll die.

The reason I said you might find my post peculiar is that I find the idea 
that one might like or dislike a character the same way that one might like 
or dislike a real person a little strange.  :-)  I know plenty of people do 
- and maybe that's just a sign of good writing and character development!  
After all, writers want us to care about the characters.

The major rule I use, personally is whether I like the *character*.

The minor one - which I *do* apply, but not as strongly - is if I would like 
this person if I met them in real life.

Often, the two are at odds.  :-)

On Ron, I'm lukewarm on the character - he's written to show loyalty and 
such, and certainly he has believable foibles.  But I find him a little 
muddled at times - maybe on purpose, to hide some future things he's going 
to do.

As a person, I don't think I would have much patience with him, and I think 
some of his teenaged hijinks would get on my nerves.  Oh, I know he comes 
from a background with challenges - as do we all, just differing challenges 
- but I find some of his demonstrated character traits obnoxious and 
irritating.  And yeah, he's meant to be a teenaged boy, and I'm often less 
than patient with some real teenaged boys because I think they're sometimes 
indulged too much in attitudes and behavior as part of "a phase" that really 
would respond better to firmness and discipline - there's a lot of boundary 
testing that goes on in teenaged years, and it's sometimes tough to know 
when to ignore it and when to clamp down on it.

But then I didn't have much patience with teenaged boys even when I was a 
teenaged girl.  :-)  I don't like a lot of the behaviors that are associated 
with a normal part of that age.

Felinia

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