Fred and George: The Bullies You Do Know - Round II

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 65818

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lucky_kari" <lucky_kari at y...> wrote:
> I must be crazy to start this again, but hey! we've got new canon!
> 
> Message 43024 - August 22, 2002
> 
> Elkins:
> >But I just have to say it. I do not like the twins. At all. 
> >I think that they are a pair of mean insensitive bullies, and 
> >I tend to feel that the only reason that readers don't generally
> >perceive them as such is because we see the story through Harry's
> >eyes -- and Harry happens to be inside of the magic circle of 
> >people the twins perceive as their in-group, and who are 
> >therefore protected from their harrassment.
> 
> The entire, quite spirited discussion can be read in the archives. 
> 
> Now, I don't feel up to writing a thesis on the new canon yet, so 
> I'll just bring up two side points  for discussion.
> 
> 1. Percy and the Twins
> 
> Elkins - Message 43162
> >let me just say that I really don't see the twins' interactions 
> >with Percy in GoF as normal or acceptable at all. By GoF, I think
> >that it is bullying.
> and
> >It seems clear to me that the Weasley family dynamic is in a 
> >good deal of trouble in GoF. Percy has become so deeply alienated
> >from the rest of his family that he has chosen to transfer his
> >filial loyalties onto his employer Crouch -- a man who doesn't 
> >even know his name.
> 
> HF responded:
> > They do put Percy at his wits' end, but unlike Elkins's friend, 
> > Percy has not been driven away from his home, nor is there any 
> > indication that he'd prefer to live elsewhere. 
> 
> Well, well, well...
> 
> Anyone up for discussion?

I am!  I haven't gotten to my planned re-read of OOP yet, but I'm happy to jump in anyway.  Some impressions (sorry, Eileen, I've gotten a bit carried away and gone way beyond your question) --

My worst fears about JKR's attitude toward the twins were confirmed.  
JKR seems to have great affection for the twins and she gave them a brilliantly executed exit scene that is hard to forget.  It's hard not to view their guerilla warfare campaign against Umbridge favorably because Umbridge is so completely evil.  JKR gave the twins an opportunity to show off their ingenuity in support of the good side, and the reaction of no-nonsense professors such as McGonagall to their leaves no doubt, IMO, that we as readers are expected to cheer them on.   

But it didn't really make me like the twins any better.  I think they are still bullies.  They used their charisma, BMOC status, and available cash to lure the newest kids in school to suffer nosebleeds, blackouts and vomiting.  While lining up the first-years and paying them to test the latest joke shop products was amusing at one level, it also smacked of hazing.  Because they were first years eager to impress, their participation seemed to be only semivoluntary.  It's not as bad as the Ton-Tongue Toffee or deliberately stepping on Malfoy and cronies at the end of GoF, but it's not behavior I'd condone.

Maybe JKR is deliberately contrasting the Twins' brand of bullying with that of James and Sirius, and suggesting that since the Twins are behaving with more restraint in their seventh year, it's likely that James, at least, also did so.  However, that doesn't stop me from disapproving the fact that she's using bullying for laughs.  Or, she may be leading us down the primrose path here as many feel she did with Sirius.  Sirius was for many a beloved character, but there were hints of his flaws.  The Twins are similarly loved by many, and we're having a similar debate about the extent and relevance of their flaws.

There's also the possibility that the Twins are Toons.  Percy at times can be Toonish as well, particularly in OOP.  Some of the things Percy does are exaggerated beyond belief, such as his characterization of Umbridge as "delightful."  (Did anyone else get the impression that Umbridge herself had input into that letter?)  But the twins don't function entirely as Toons, because JKR simultaneously uses them as agents in subplots, like Ron's, that are treated with more seriousness, and I don't think Percy should be considered a Toon, either. 

In fact, I see a clear between Percy's development in OOP and Ron's subplot that reinforces the conclusion that there's something very wrong with the Weasley family dynamic and that the twins are behind it all.  The Twins had intimidated both of them in the past.  Percy used pomposity and ambition for self-defense.   Ron's reaction was inaction and passivity.  Both Percy and Ron were given jobs for which they were unqualified.  Percy was made Crouch's assistant, then Fudge's.  Ron is handed the prefect and Keeper positions, two rewards which, JKR makes clear, he has not earned. Neither is really successful, at least at first.  Percy failed to notice that anything was unusual about Crouch, and then he gets a reprieve and a new reward.  Percy characteristically attacks his new responsibility with great relish and the more ridicule he gets at home, the more devoted he becomes.  So it's not suprising that he takes refuge in the Ministry's apparent recognition of his talents.   

Ron proceeds to fail at both Quidditch and prefecting as long as the Twins are still around yanking his chain.  He's handed a couple of teddy bears, so to speak, and still fears the twins will turn them into spiders.  Having the Twins make a grand departure from Hogwarts in a blaze of glory was the best thing that ever happened to him, and I think Ron will slowly but surely come out of his shell.  Ron's success in the third match juxtaposed well with Harry's continuing failure, and on the whole I think JKR gave this subplot the right amount of seriousness.  (I do wonder, though, why she then proceeded to humiliate Ron with the curse of the giggles and the brain attack.)

Percy's treatment, on the other hand, seems cartoonish, and it's only when I went back to some of the Percy passages that I could see more depth underneath.   Whereas Ron looked to others as evidence of his failures but within himself to find success, Percy looks to others for evidence of success and casts his loyalty with those who give him that reassurance, and he's not getting it from his family. 

But what troubles me about Percy's characterization in OOP is that he *did* get some reassurance and support from family.  In GoF many family members were clearly supportive of him.  Molly always supported his ambitions, and Bill was also quite sympathetic to him.  They showed a lot of concern for the pressure he was under at the Crouch inquiry, which was just 2 weeks before Percy left home.  

As a result, there just didn't seem to be any groundwork laid for Percy's sudden and complete rejection of his family and their support for Dumbledore, and in particular for the manner in which it occurred.  I find this hard to understand, unless Percy was already so alienated from the family that they weren't telling him what was going on.  According to OOP, Percy left a week into the summer, at a time when the family was preparing to go join the Order.  My question is this:  Did they tell Percy they were doing this?  It's not clear to me that they did.  If not, it suggests that the family already didn't trust Percy.  And if that's the case, no wonder he decided his loyalty lay with the Ministry.  

I'm not sure he's given up on his family, though.  If he really didn't care he wouldn't have made that misguided attempt to mentor Ron (at least if Umbridge didn't put him up to it).  And he wouldn't have bothered to send the Christmas jumper back; I think that he feels betrayed by Molly, who pushed him toward a Ministry career in the first place, even if he is sadly mistaken in this belief.  

I also don't get the sense that the Dumbledore vs. Fudge conflict is resolved.  Fudge was very flustered at the end of OOP, and though the Prophet subsequently reported his acknowledgement, I don't think there's been any kind of reconciliation between them, and Fudge, now that he's not come off too well in his attempt to discredit Harry and deny Voldemort's return, may be looking for another opportunity.  And for the time being, I think Percy has too much egg on his face to return to his family.

So, to answer HF's question, is Percy's departure Fred and George's fault?  I think the fault is with many people, but Fred and George are not blameless.  In fact, I find the following quote from ch. 4 rather chilling:

"'I think we're well shut of him,' said George with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face."

I read that to mean good riddance, unless "well shut" is British slang for something else.

Debbie
who still thinks Percy has the makings of a tragic hero


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]