The tragedy of Ron Weasley

[Tari]

No: HPFGUIDX 91397

Hi, I'm generally a lurker here, but I simply feel compelled to reply 
to this post as Ron is one of my favourite characters.  But first, 
since this is my first post, I'll introduce myself.  My name's Tari, 
and I'm a university student studying in Paris.  I've been reading HP 
for about two years now after PS was shoved into my hands by a 
flatmate - I was hooked after the first sentence.  So, on with the 
post.

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Christopher Nuttall" 
<christophernuttall at h...> wrote:
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 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.  
> 

**Tari:
Well, I think its pretty obvious that Ron has an inferiority complex 
(and he does have to get over that and realize how amazing he is), 
but he's not the only one in the series.  Hermione had an inferiority 
complex as well earlier.  However, she seems to have grown out of 
that in OotP... but that's another topic altogether.
As for the Weasleys - I don't see where you got the idea that Percy 
is Molly's favourite son.  She was clearly proud of him, but then, 
she's incredibly proud of all of her children.  I see no canon 
evidence that Percy's her 'favourite.'  With Ginny, she probably gets 
her clothes at a second hand store of some sort. Remember when Ron 
got his first set of dress robs?  They weren't hand-me-down, they 
were bought second hand.  I can't see that Molly would get Ginny all 
new things, while buying second hand for her sons.
As for Ron being "clearly aware that he's at the bottom of the family 
pile."  He may think this because of his inferiority complex, but 
that doesn't make it true, as is implied by this statement.  Ron does 
see that his brothers have all stood out in their own way, and may 
feel that he could never live up to them, but that doesn't make it 
the truth.


Chris:
>  
> 
> 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.  
> 


**Tari:
I see no evidence that Ron is the "least capable magician and the 
worst student?" In PS Ron was working with someone elses wand (and we 
all know that wizards perform best with thier own wands), while in 
CoS, he was working with a broken wand.  There were references in 
those books that Ron had difficulties with spells (Wingardeum Leviosa 
(exuse spelling errors please, my books are not at hand) and his wand 
backfired throughout CoS), but I cannot remember there being a 
specific mention to Ron's lack of skills with a wand since he's 
gotten his own wand.  Academically, we don't know how Ron is doing.  
We do know that he doesn't like to do homework, and procrastinates, 
and bothers Hermione for notes.  Hell, I do that, yet I have a pretty 
decent GPA.  We'll have to wait for the OWL results...

OK, yes, we see Harry and Hermione invovled in a lot of the action 
together in OotP, but what we don't see (because the books are from 
Harry's POV) is the interaction between Hermione and Ron.  They spend 
a lot of time together without Harry.  First at Grimmauld Place, then 
on the Hogwarts express, Prefect duties, when Harry's at Occlumency 
lessons.  In the D.A. its Ron and Hermione who partner up.  They 
spend much more time together alone than Harry and Hermione.



chris:
>  
> 
> 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.  
> 

**Tari:
So what if Ron comes from a poorer family.  Malfoy comes from a 
wealthy family and you can see how he's turning out.  And how does 
fon have "no real prospect of obtaining any" money?  Because he's a 
student?  I really don't understand this.  He may not be making money 
now, but that doesn't mean he won't find a wonderful job that he 
loves and pays a lot of money.  There's nothing in canon that says 
this won't happen.  Ron may be a bit ashamed and embarrassed of his 
family's financial status, but I don't see resentment because of it.  
It seems as though he understands his family's current standing and 
accepts it even if he may not want others to know that his family 
isn't rich.  Look what he does when he finds out he's become a 
prefect.  He asks for a broomstick, but knowing that they're 
expensive, he goes and tells Molly to get him a Cleansweep, a broom 
that's more financially in reach.  That shows maturity.  He isn't 
resentful he's not getting a top of the line broomstick, he's 
thrilled he's just getting a broomstick!


chris:
>  
> 
> 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.  
> 


**Tari:
How do we know that Ron doesn't have excellent skills.  We know he 
has good skills during most of OotP, but he was very nervous, and his 
skills suffered because of that.  Once Fred and George left Hogwarts, 
though, Ron had a bit of pressure off his backs.  Yes, he was nervous 
going into that last match, but he must have gotten over that 
nervousness - look what happened.  From the reaction of the other 
students, Ron must have played incredibly well.

As for Harry and Hermione leaving the game, look at the 
circumstances.  Ron didn't (and couldn't) know they had left at the 
time, there was a stadium full of students cheering for him.  Then 
there's Hagrid, who goes up to Harry and Hermione full of bruises and 
blood asking for their help.  They go and help their friend, Hagrid.  
When Harry and Hermione told Ron that they were't at the game, Ron 
does seem a bit taken aback at first.  However, once they explain why 
they left, Ron immediately seems to understand.  Even if he feels a 
bit of resentment, he pushes it back because he can see what was more 
important in the long run.  Again, this shows maturity.



chris:
>  
> 
> 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.  
> 


**Tari:
Hermione walks into their room highly elated having just found out 
that she made prefect.  She sees Harry holding a prefect pin and 
assumes he's been made a prefect.  She wants to tell everyone that 
she's made prefect, so she says what she says (I'm sorry I can't 
quote or include page numbers - don't have my books with me).  Yes, 
Malfoy's a prefect as well.  So what?  Ron being prefect is an honour 
shared by a lot of other people as well.  Three of his older brothers 
were prefects as well as a lot of other respectable witches and 
wizards, I'm sure.  Because Malfoy's a prefect doesn't mean that its 
a bad thing.

As for his brothers.  They only listen to Molly.  And besides, what 
older sibling is going to want to take orders from their younger 
sibling.  I'm the oldest in my family, and would have a very 
difficult time taking orders from any of my younger siblings.  This 
is completely understandable.

As for this "As prefect, Ron commands no authority from the ones who 
matter most."  I don't see that.  Look at the scene when Harry first 
goes back to the boy's dormitory and has a fight with Seamus.  Ron 
has authority there, and uses it.  Seamus listens and shuts up.  That 
matters.  Ron stands up for Harry, and this matters.


chris:
>  
> 
> 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.
> 

**Tari:
Do you really think Hermione not interested in Ron?  She goes to the 
Yule Ball with Krum, and they have a correspondence, but we don't 
know the extent of their relationship - if they're just friends or 
more.  Krum clearly wanted more from Hermione, look at the way Krum 
confronted Harry, but we don't know how Hermione feels about him.  
Oh, and yes, Krum thinks of Harry as a rival, but that's because of 
that Rita Skeeter article.

I highly doubt that Ron's furtive glance at Harry on the Hogwarts 
Express at the end of OotP was an "attempt to set his rival up with 
someone else."  The way I see it is Ron trying to protect his younger 
sister.  He wants the best for her, but also doesn't want to see her 
date.  Harry's a safe option.  Ron thinks highly of Harry, but Harry 
also doesn't appear interested in Ginny right now.  Ron wants Ginny 
going back to having a ridiculous crush on Harry.  That's something 
Ron's used to, something that's safe, because Harry doesn't seem to 
reciprocate those feelings.  Therefore, Ginny wouldn't date, making 
Ron a happy older brother.


chris:
>  
> 
> 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.  
> 


**Tari:
Ron's extremely loyal, and I simply can't see him going to 
Voldemort.  Ron and Harry had a bit of a hiccup in GoF, but honestly, 
what friendship doesn't at some point?  Friend's fight.  It happens.  
To me it seems apparant that Ron was the most mature member of the 
trio in OotP, and he won't succumb to petty jelousy and break his 
friendship with Harry for good again.  The fight they had in GoF was 
huge.  They might fight again, but it seems highly improbable that 
there will be another fight of that magnitude between them.


chris:
>  
> 
> 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.  


**Tari:
Ron is not like Peter.  Ron is not the weakest of the set.  Ron, 
Harry and Hermione are all equal components.  What are Peter's hidden 
skills, I fail to see them.  And as for a cunning mind, Peter does 
not have a cunning mind.  He has a base mind, there's no cunning in 
there.  Peter isn't able to take care of himself.  In his school days 
Moony, Padfoot and Prongs take care of him, then Voldemort takes care 
of him, then the Weaselys take care of him before he goes back to 
Voldemort.  He never takes care of himself, and is incapable of doing 
so.  He's a sniviling rat who wants to look out for himself, but does 
it in the most vile and base way.


chris:
> 
>  
> 
> 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.
> 

**Tari:
So what if Harry is rich and Ron is poor.  They're still friends and 
they still respect each other.  Harry needs a lot of support becasue 
of what he has to do and what he has gone through.  That doesn't make 
Ron a sidekick, it makes him a hero in his own right.  Harry's just 
as shy around girls as Ron is.  Cho was forward in OotP, that's why 
that relationship happend, not because of Harry's initiative.  
Harry's only living relatives (the Dursleys) do look down on him.  
Ron's family greatly support both Ron and Harry.  The twins may tease 
Ron, the way siblings tease each other, but they still support him.


Tari