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

[neith_seshat]

No: HPFGUIDX 88884

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "abigailnus" <abigailnus at y...> 
wrote:
> Chapter 9 - The Woes of Mrs. Weasley

Abigail, many thanks for your precise and detailed summary and 
interesting questions
> 
> Discussion Questions:
> 
> 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.  

I think it's really common, as the existence of the office where he 
works shows. As you well say, it seems that many wizards just 
consider Muggle-baiting a minor offence, nothing to worry about, and 
a childish prank. 

>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? 
 
Yes, I think it really counters the claim, and allows us to have 
another view on Arthur, that of a person who sees the faults in their 
society; he gave another example in GOF, when he and Hermione talked 
about elf rights.

<snip>

> 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 agree with many others in that Arthur is angry about the fact that 
Malfoy does his will in a corrupted ministry: he feels the unfairness 
of the system. I don't think he'd like to be in Malfoy's shoes.


> 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 been around for 150 years (more or less); then, he has been able 
to know many people and their characters. Remember in GOF Parting of 
the Ways, when he qualifies Fudge's reaction as " not unexpected". 

<snip>

> 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?


I think she's not trying to recreate Percy in Ron; for her, being a 
prefect means the first step for success (you now, then HB, then 
Ministry or Gringotts; I don't think she's too happy with Charlie's 
job). Also, IMO, Molly overreacted because she had assumed, as 
Hermione and many others, that Harry'd be prefect; the fact that Ron 
suceeded having "the" Harry Potter as a "rival", is an added factor. 
She loves Harry, but he's not her son.



> 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 have thought about that, and in the end I decided it was plot-wise 
to have Ron. I'd have preferred Neville, although it has been said 
it'd have been a burden for him. In any case, I put my hopes on 
Neville as Head Boy: he's developing himself in a way that maybe next 
Harry's year will be shown as parallel to James'. 
 

> 
> 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?


Maybe he was trying to provoke that reaction; remember he's the one 
(well, Fake!Moody, but in any case) who says "Constant Vigilance!" 
every five seconds. It is a way of saying: "Suspect everyone, and 
don't trust blindly on your closest friends".
 

Neith