[HPforGrownups] Re: Molly-- Thoughts on a witch

[Sherry Gomes]

No: HPFGUIDX 109457

Josh said
Ahh... the road to hell, and all that... :) Yes, absolutely Molly is 
very well intentioned, but she's certainly a terror... and I'm still 
counting her among the short list Harry is going to tell off rather 
convincingly in the nearer chapters of HPB. She deserves it!

It isn't the lack of perfection that is ever a problem. All of us 
needs someone to (metaphorically or not) come up and gives us a slap 
or a kick in the pants when we've lost all objectivity in judging and 
choosing our own actions. Molly's only experience with this in the 
past... 25 years more or less? ...has been Percy's leaving, but Percy 
is clearly in the wrong, so it doesn't do much good. 

I personally look to the wrongs of Molly has JKR not only showing how 
concerned a mother should be, but also how there is definitely a line 
of going too far. If JKR lives the lessons she teaches in these 
passages, her children will be very lucky.

Josh

Sherry replies

The one thing that stands out to me about Molly is how much her family
adores her!  Sure the kids get mad and irritated with her, but then, doesn't
every child get irritated with their parents?  But even so, it's always
clear to me that every one of them loves her, feels completely comfortable
around her, even enough to argue with her from time to time.  And she so
obviously loves all of them, or her boggart wouldn't be seeing her family
dead.  Some people just have different ways of showing their love.  Of
course, we don't see it, but I bet if one of the kids got something like the
flu, Molly would be at their bedside, with the wizard version of chicken
soup and stories and hugs and kisses.  The overbearing, bossy mother is such
a character in books and movies, that it has become a cliché.  

When I was in high school, I dropped a class, because I was failing it.  I
had never failed a class before.  My dad set a high priority on education,
and I would never have wanted to bring home a report card with a failed
class!  That didn't make him an unloving father.  We know that Hermione
threatens Fred and George with telling their mother, but I never got the
impression they were truly afraid of their mother overall.  They may not
always want her to know what they are up to, and I consider that a totally
normal part of being teenagers, almost legal age.  I'm sure every Weasley
would fight to protect Molly and be devastated if something happened to her.


sherry G