Why does Ron have a crush on Hermione?

[antoshachekhonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 93900

> Mo:
> 
> Actually, we find out that she is NOT so plain in book
> 4.  She just chooses not to upkeep her appearance most
> of the time.  But, she is a pretty girl.
> 
> Also, yes she is bookish and bossy, but some guys are
> attracted to a "challenge."  They like dominant women.
>    
> Ron's mother is very strong and bossy, but also
> emotional.  Hermione is strong and bossy, but also
> cries a lot/is emotional.  
> I think Ron is attracted to that.  (Oedipus complex,
> maybe???) She frustrates him and he doesn't know what
> to make of it and is attracted to her without even
> knowing why.
> 
You know, I've been thinking about this a lot since this question came up (which just 
proves I need to get a life). It seems to me that you're exactly right: Hermione demands a 
lot of Ron, but she also believes in him, and so it isn't at all surprising that he would be 
interested in her. Even teenage boys are less stereotype driven than you would think when 
it comes to whom they are attracted to....

Having said that, Ron's main weakness is his low self-esteem. Now, we've had a character 
come in in the last book who clearly *adores* Ron: Luna. OK, so she's an oddball who 
wears salad items as jewelry. Still she's talented, smart, and emotionally fairly mature for a 
fifteen-year-old--the scene with Harry at the end of OotP wipes me out. It seems that 
perhaps JKR is setting Ron up for a heavy jolt of positive reinforcement


ANtosha, who doesn't SHIP, really, but who thinks any series of books about a co-ed 
group of teens sort of HAS to involve romance (and all that goes with it)