Am I the only one

[sienna291973]

No: HPFGUIDX 95675

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "a_reader2003" 
<carolynwhite2 at a...> wrote:
> > 
> Carolyn:
> Neil, health warning - this topic invokes the mum brigade, big 
time, 
> every time it comes up; get out your tin helmet and stand your 
> ground. 

<Grin> Sienna takes Carolyn's advice and pops the empty butter-
cookie tin on her head.
 
> And she's dangerous -
> Harry increasingly needs to know what is going on, and her over-
> protectiveness does him no good the older he gets. Hell, JKR even 
> spells it out to us 'He had been touched by what she had said 
about 
> his being as good as a son, but he was also impatient with her 
> **mollycoddling**. Sirius was right, he was not a child.' (OOP 
p.86, 
> UK edition, my emphasis. I am sure she is called Molly as a 
reminder 
> of this well-known British term for fusspot parenting).

This is a key point I think and one of the reasons why I become so 
impatient with Molly.  I can completely understand that a mother's 
need to protect her children can become overwhelming, but her 
overprotectiveness of Harry in that particular example was dangerous 
and ill-advised.  Harry is at the centre of the war against 
Voldemort whether Molly wants it or not.  Despite all attempts to 
protect him, he has been faced with Voldemort four times now.  Her 
inability to see clearly on this issue could quickly become 
problematic.  Similarly, her own children could be put at risk 
through their ignorance if she continues to insist on keeping them 
in the dark.

> In the earlier books it didn't come out so much - nothing wrong in 
> her administering big hugs, presents and enormous meals, but she 
was 
> rather a stereotype who didn't seem important. 

I always found the stereotype quite annoying... not so much the 
hugs, presents, meals etc (which I found quite touching, especially 
when administered to Harry... poor kid), but the shouting, brow-
beating, insisting that everyone toe her line tried my patience time 
and time again.  In the Weasley family, it is Molly who is the one 
that others must placate in order that things run smoothly (she's 
constantly shouting, that woman).  I can actually understand how a 
talented and powerful woman could turn extremely grumpy and 
tyrannical having to take care of seven men and a girl... but this 
doesn't excuse her behaviour.  I find it sad that such a strong 
female figure is presented in such a negative light.
 
> Much simpler to carry on in little Hitler mode, which she 
> does with a vengeance, treating everyone in her (war)path like 
small 
> children, including her husband and other adults. 

I agree here.  I think perhaps she does try to cope with her 
overwhelming responsibilities by essentially treating everyone as 
children that she needs to take care of.  Molly always seems to 
*know what's best* for everyone.  The most frustating aspect of this 
is her relationship with her husband.  I don't think strong enough 
words exist for how irritating I personally find that relationship.  
I can't think of anything worse than a woman who needs to treat her 
husband as a child in order to deal with him. Arthur has many 
eccentric qualities but they are what make him so special.  Molly 
does not seem to share his enthusiasm for his passions and indeed 
treats him in a mothering way much of the time (e.g. flying car, 
muggle obsession, stitches).
 
> The cheapness of her remark to Sirius 'the thing is, it's been 
rather 
> difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in 
> Azkaban, hasn't it?' just shows how limited her outlook is. 
Whatever 
> Sirius's shortcomings as a potential godparent might be, she knows 
> the exact truth of why he was in Azkaban. Did she really consider 
it 
> so rash of him to track down Pettigrew once he realised what had 
> happened at Godric's Hollow? Did she have no feeling for his 
> sufferings and remorse, all those years he spent rotting in jail?

Oooh.. don't get me started mate... my poor poor Sirius... (takes a 
deep breath and glares at Molly).

> Looking at her actions and character in a wider context, I could 
be 
> persuaded that they stem from some episode in VWI, where Arthur 
was 
> Imperio'd and slipped up big time. She has maybe taken control of 
her 
> family so completely because it could happen again. Hence the 
desire 
> for all her children to have proper jobs, behave respectably. She 
is 
> trying to make good the damage done to her family's reputation 
(which 
> Malfoy evidently knows about - there seems special venom in his 
> singling out of the Weasley family on many occasions).
> 
> But she is definitely a weak spot in the Order - she could be 
> blackmailed or otherwise persuaded to betray them in order to save 
> her family. As many posters will say ad nauseam, its apparently a 
> fundamental instinct of parents to do this, but I hope Dumbledore 
has 
> factored it in to his plans, and makes sure she never knows too 
much.

I always assumed that it was Arthur's muggle-loving habits that had 
led him to be in such a position in the Ministry, but I could be 
wrong.  One thing I will agree on is that Molly's overprotectiveness 
of her family and her tendency to put everything second could very 
well become a liability for the Order.

Once again, for those who love Molly - I am not saying that I do not 
understand her (her overwhelming need to protect those she loves, 
the enormity of the responsibility of taking care of such a large 
family etc.), simply that I find her stereotypical and irritating.

Sienna