CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 9, The Woes of Mrs. Weasley - Discussion Questions

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 88390


 
> 1. How common do you think Muggle-baiting is?  Arthur's 
> statement that it might strike some people as funny suggests 
> that this is perhaps an attitude that he's encountered in the 
> past.  Arthur has been criticized as viewing Muggles in a 
> patronizing, condescending manner ("Bless them!" is most 
> often cited as an example of this attitude).  Does the fact that 
> he seems to have an awareness of his society's troublesome 
> attitudes towards Muggles counter that claim?  Does Arthur's 
> statement shed a new light on him?  

I get the sense that it's quite common.  Which is sort of odd when 
you think about how the WW seems to want to go to great lengths to 
hide their society from Muggles.  I don't know that I'd call Arthur 
condescending, although I can't think of another word.  He's never 
deliberately condescending.  I don't get the feeling that he thinks 
Muggles are beneath him or worthy of contempt.  Which is exactly how 
I think Lucius Malfoy thinks.

 
> 4. There's a distinct note of bitterness in Arthur's voice when 
> he speaks of Lucius Malfoy and especially of his money.  Money 
> has always been a delicate issue around the Weasleys.  We 
> know that Ron is embarrassed by his family's poverty, that Mrs. 
> Weasley, when she breaks down momentarily at the beginning 
> of GoF, expresses her frustration at her family's financial 
> situation, and that Percy threw the money issue in his father's 
> face during the row the precipitated his leaving home.  Does 
> Arthur's tone of voice suggest that, despite his ideological 
> reasons, he regrets choosing a lifestyle that isn't financially 
> rewarding?  Does his resentment of Malfoy have financial 
> underpinnings?

I don't know that Arthur resents Malfoy for his money per se.  Rather 
I think it's more that he resents that Malfoy uses his wealth and 
postion purely for his own self-interest.  Plus, he probably knows or 
suspects Malfoy's DE background, and lack of punishment for potential 
pass misdeeds, so that would add to his resentment. 

> 5. Having read the rest of OOP, there seems to be no reason to 
> believe that Fudge is under the Imperius Curse, but how could 
> Dumbledore know this for sure?

He's omniscient, isn't he?  ;-)

> 8. Does Mrs. Weasley's glib mention of Scabbers suggest that 
> she doesn't know who he really was?  If so, why not?

Maybe she's disassociating the Wormtail part of him, and simply 
remembers the long-lived rat.
 
> 9. In past discussion, Mrs. Weasley has come under a lot of fire 
> for her behavior when she discovers that Ron has been made a 
> prefect.  She is criticized for dismissing Fred and George ('that's 
> everyone in the family!') and for 'bribing' Ron for his 
achievement.  
> Do you feel that these criticisms are justified?  How do the 
> revelations about Mrs. Weasley's state of mind later in the chapter 
> affect your opinion of her?  Is it possible that she's overreacting 
> to the first bit of good news she's had in a while?  Could Mrs. 
> Weasley's joy over Ron's selection have something to do with 
> Percy?  Is she perhaps trying to recreate her lost favorite son in 
Ron?

Molly seems to put Fred and George into a different category from her 
other children.  It's as if they somehow broke out of what she wanted 
as the acceptable path to adulthood, which her other kids have 
followed, and she realizes somehow that they run on a parallel track. 
They're part of the family, yet different. Does that make any sense? 
I think there may be something to the Ron/Percy idea. I don't think 
Molly is trying to recreate Percy, but rather, sees Ron as another 
chance for accomplishment.  And, maybe as a balm to the pain Percy 
has caused her.
 
> 10. We already know why Harry wasn't selected for Prefect, but 
> do you feel that Ron was a good choice?  Does he truly have 
> latent leadership qualities or did Rowling select him simply to 
> make Harry jealous (and because, apart from Harry, he's the 
> Gryffindor boy with whom we have the most contact)?  What do 
> you feel might have been Dumbledore's reasons for selecting Ron 
> as prefect?  Is he perhaps trying to guide Ron in the path of his 
> older brothers?  Would another Gryffindor boy have made a better 
> choice?

I can't honestly think of examples of why Dumbledore would think Ron 
was more of a leader than any of the other boys.  Of all of them, 
Neville seems to be the one who has shown he can act independently 
for the right reasons, even if they are not the popular reasons.  
But, making Ron prefect has more dramatic potential in the Trio 
interaction.

> 11. Is the twins' slightly malicious needling of Ron motivated by 
> his Prefect badge or by their mother's fawning adoration?  What 
> can we learn from Ron's wistful reaction at their attitude?  Does 
> Ron want to be like Fred and George?  Is he?

Both, I think.  Molly never recognizes Fred and George for their 
peculiar talents and I think that bothers them a bit.  It's as if 
she's telling them that they're not as good as her other kids.  I 
also think that Fred and George are also telling Ron, in their own 
way, that they are not at all intimidated by his badge and they have 
no intentions of changing their behavior for him.

> 12. Harry's argument with himself after Ron gets the prefect's 
badge, 
> and his decision to be happy for Ron, are a rare example of 
emotional 
> maturity.  One could argue that it is in fact the last instance of 
that 
> kind of maturity until the very end of OOP, when he comes out of 
his 
> grief long enough to feel sorry for Luna.  What is it about this 
> situation that brings out the adult in Harry?  Does it have 
something 
> to do with the GoF Rift, and his perception of Ron as constantly 
being 
> in his shadow?  Why does Harry find himself incapable of exercising 
> this same kind of introspection and maturity at other points during 
> OOP?  

This situation happens when Harry is still relatively protected. It's 
the lull before the start of school, where his life gets increasingly 
complicated. He's not yet dealing with all of the things that will 
shortly be on his plate.  And, he's just successfully gotten through 
the hearing.  So, his biggest immediate worry was gone.  I think 
Harry was able to think things though clearly at this juncture, and 
this kind of introspection became more and more difficult to deal 
with as the school year went on.  

 
> 13. Sirius tells us that James wasn't a prefect, and yet we know 
from 
> PS/SS that he was Head Boy.  Several suggestions have been made 
> in the attempt to resolve this paradox, among them the claim that 
> this is a FLINT, the suggestion that a HB isn't necessarily 
selected 
> from among the prefects, and the suggestion that Lupin was 
> stripped of his prefect's badge, which was given to James.  Which, 
> if any, do you think is true?  What do you think this bodes for 
Harry's 
> chances of being made Head Boy?

Well, if Dumbledore felt Harry had too much on his plate to be 
Prefect, why would that change? Of course, if Dumbledore buys the 
farm in Book 6, I suppose the next Headmaster (or Headmistress) could 
appoint Harry.

> 14. Why does Moody show Harry the photograph of the Order, and 
> why does he think Harry would be interested in the picture of his 
> parents?  Is he unaware of the reaction Harry might have to seeing 
> his parents with Pettigrew, or is he purposefully trying to provoke 
> that reaction?  Is Moody unaware that Harry does have pictures of 
> his parents, and perhaps thinks that this is the first time Harry 
has 
> seen a photograph of them?

Why would Moody necessarily know that Harry had pictures, unless he 
was one of the people Hagrid contacted to get picture for Harry's 
album? I don't think he had ulterior motives for showing Harry the 
picture; he's just an odd duck and didn't see the creepiness of 
pointing out the manner of death of so many of those people to Harry.

> 15. What reasons could JKR have for giving us a roster of the 
> original Order?  Do you believe that some of the previously unknown 
> people mentioned in the photograph will show up in later books?  
> Will someone presumed dead turn out to be still living?  

Perhaps Moody's roll-call of the dead is merely foreshadowing of a 
roll-call that will eventually take place with the existing members 
of the Order.  

> 17. Is Mrs. Weasley really reassured, or has she simply regained 
> her composure enough to feel embarrassed?  Why is she so 
> ashamed of her fear, and why doesn't she want her husband told 
> about it?  Do you think we'll be seeing more of Mrs. Weasley's 
> woes?  Do you think she'll be able to handle the stress of the 
> coming war?

I think she's regained her composure.  I don't know why she is 
ashamed of her fear, unless she believes that Order members are 
supposed to be fearless under all circumstances, which cannot 
possibly be true.  Maybe she's never seen any of the others show fear 
and so feels like she's not as brave as others.  She's actually 
braver than she thinks. She's entering this battle knowing full well 
that the odds aret she's going to lose at least one of her family in 
the coming battle. Yet that doesn't make her quit.

I'm not sure of the stress thing.  She certainly seems strung out the 
first few times we see her.  I wonder if she might be the unwitting 
traitor in the future.  If she was asked for information in exchange 
for keeping one of her kids safe (and what a horrible position that 
would be!), what would she do?  I can't yet answer that one.

Marianne