The tragedy of Ron Weasley

Sat Feb 21 01:31:26 UTC 2004

No: HPFGUIDX 91354

Ron Weasley is one of the most tragic figures in the Potterverse.  He's very much inferior to almost anyone else in most categories and is perhaps unable or unwilling to change.  Ron is heading towards a massive crisis, even perhaps being tricked into betraying Harry, and, as such, is also one of the most misunderstood characters in the world of HP.

First, a look at Ron's family.  To quote Ron himself:

"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left -- Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers.  I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat." 
     -- Ron Weasley (SS6)

He is in fact one of the odd ones out.  The first two children did very well; while Percy is clearly his mother's favourite son, and Fred and George have a relationship between themselves that probably won't admit Ron.  Ron has to live up to the other children's reputation, while lacking most of the support that they had.  Ron is clearly aware that he's at the bottom of the family pile - Ginny, being a girl, would have had new things simply because of her body being different.  If Ron did not have an inferiority complex, I would be very suppressed.  

Matters are worse, not better, with his friends.  Ron is clearly the least capable magician and the worst student.  Ron main skill, processing a lifetime of knowledge that the orphaned Harry and Muggle-born Hermione, is slipping.  Further, Harry and Hermione have formed a double within a trio, witness their actions in OOP, leaving Ron out in the cold.  This is not intentional, but children and teenagers rarely stop to consider that harm is sometimes accidental - for Ron not to feel any resentment, he would have to be a saint.  

Ron is clearly very poor, a stark contrast to Harry and Malfoy's wealth, which clearly grates on him.  Having little money and no real prospect of obtaining any - unlike almost all of his siblings - Ron has another cause for resentment.  

It gets worse.  Harry is an excellent sportsman on a broomstick, again outshining Ron.  Ron does get his chance in OOP, BUT, instead of watching from the sidelines, as Ron did in books 1-3, Harry and Hermione abandon the clearly nervous Ron - with good, but not excellent skills - and head off on their own mission.  Again, I would be very surprised if Ron is not bitter.  

Ron does get some kudos in OOP, becoming a prefect.  However, even this proud achievement is tainted: first Hermione congratulates the wrong person (assuming its for Harry), it's a honour shared by Malfoy and finally, Ron's brothers don't respect his authority.  They mock him relentlessly, turning his victory to ashes in his mouth.  As prefect, Ron commands no authority from the ones who matter most.  

Finally, Ron is clearly romantically interested in Hermione, but she appears not to return that interest.  In GOF, she dates Krum - who sees Harry as a potential rival - and in the COS movie, hugs Harry and refuses to hug Ron.  Ron must be very jealous of them, even though Harry and Hermione are not lovers, Ron may well suspect them to be.  Ron's comments at the end of OOP about Ginny dating someone better, said with a sharp glance at Harry, could be interpreted as an attempt to set his rival up with someone else.

How is this bad?  Ron may be jealous enough of Harry (who has everything Ron wants without having to work for it (ok, there's a mad dark lord since book 4) that he may break up with Harry for good.  As far as we know, Ron has no other friendships apart from Harry and Hermione, so a break-up would leave him alone, and we might expect Ginny to side with Harry or just ignore Ron's problems.  A loner, Ron might well be seduced by Voldemort and betray Harry.  Voldemort could offer Ron whatever he wants - there's no law for dark lords that say they have to follow though.  

Ron's case bears some limited comparison with Peter's.  Peter was clearly, like Ron, the weakest of his set.  Peter had hidden skills (like Ron's flying) and a cunning mind (Ron plays chess).  We can guess that Peter was the last to find out that Remus was a werewolf - did James and co think he would be scared - and James affected a concern for him that would have been humiliating.  Sirius's charge about Peter simply wanting the most powerful protector may be seriously mistaken - Peter is clearly able to take care of himself, not to mention Dumbledore being the most powerful wizard around.  Ron is far more important in his circle than Peter was in his, yet there are uncomfortable similarities.  

To conclude: Harry is rich - Ron is poor.  Harry is a hero - Ron is a supporting character at best.  Harry has the girls (in Ron's eyes) - Ron is too shy to ask a girl out.  Harry has no family to look down on him - Ron's family are a weight around his neck.

Look at this and ask yourself; would you not be bitter too?

Chris

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