Molly and Sirius redux

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 84396

I feel kind of bad about the firestorm I accidentally seem to have 
provoked with my posts (83940 et al.) a while back about Sirius vs 
Molly.  My point was to argue that Molly behaved inappropriately 
when she tried to interfere with Sirius's relationshipp with Harry.  
It certainly wasn't to disparage stay-at-home mothers or to suggest 
that JRK had some kind of "feminist" political intent when she 
created the WW.  

I think we have to be very careful when we assign any character in 
canon the place of an archetype.  First of all, canon's not 
complete, so we can't really say yet with any certainty what JKR's 
ultimate message(s) will be, although we can theorize.  Second, the 
realness, the individuality and the quirkiness of the characters in 
HP are a large part of what makes it such compelling reading.  To 
strip those characters of their uniqueness and say that they only 
represent some larger moral construct would be to lose a lot of the 
joy of the books, imo.  

Molly is a very real character to me-in all of her strengths and 
weaknesses.  Clearly she loves her family above all else, and 
clearly they are the better for that.  Her kids have learned to 
handle her overprotective behavior in a variety of ways, mostly with 
pretty good humor (Ron has flashes of irritability, but that's 
understandable).  The Weasleys have worked out a way of living 
together with mutual love and respect that works for them. Harry is 
the willing and lucky beneficiary of this loving relationship, and 
thank goodness they're around!  

But...I wish Molly could have seen that Sirius longed for the same 
thing with Harry that she had with her family.  I think she made a 
bad situation worse when she could have made it better.  She has 
great stores of love and compassion in her-where did they go when 
Harry needed them? If you don't like or trust Sirius, then you think 
Molly was right.  I like and trust him, and I think she was, 
uncharacteristically, selfish and wrong.

Laura, hoping to bring peace...