[HPforGrownups] Re: parental roles in HP books - Molly

[Juli]

No: HPFGUIDX 136318


Betsy Hp:
Speaking as someone who loaths Molly Weasley and her methods of 
mothering, I think her children are a *perfect* example of how she's *not* a good mother.  Her two oldest boys have not only left home, 
they left the country.  It took a war to bring back her eldest and 
he managed to pick out a girl to marry guaranteed to put Molly's 
back up.  (And a girl who seems well able to stand up to Molly, so 
congratulations Bill.)
 
Juli: Are you joking? or it it sirious? many people leave the country to persue careers, Charlie wanted to work with dragons, and since there aren't any in the UK, he had to go to another country. Bill applied for a job as a curse-breaker at Gringotts, and the goblins sent him to Egypt, he could either accept it, or find a job elsewhere.


>>Percy has turned his back on his family.  Which, considering the 
abuse he put up with from his family, was hardly surprising.
 
Juli: I was shocked when it happened, the Weasleys are a loving family. Percy decided to leave  all on his own.
 
>>And Ron has *huge* self-esteem issues (illustrated by his quidditch playing) that come near to crippling him at times.  
 
Juli: so what? he is the 6th son, all his brothers have been good at everything, he has to work hard to keep up with 'their' expectations. I don't see him with low self-esteem, Neville does, not him, I've never heard him talk about how much he sucks at anything besides Quidditch, and I think he's kinda right there, he sucks -sometimes- at Quidditch, and it's all because his nerves.
 
>>Ginny is an accomplished liar and has a rather cruel temper when she's pushed.
 
Juli: When you were 15 didn't you lie to your mom? I did, and a lot. When is she cruel? when she casts a bat-boggers or whatever on someone? it's not cruel it's funny, if she was crucioing everyone, that would be cruel.

>>The twins hold a special place, because I think they are most 
Molly's boys.  And their path is littered with distruction.  From 
the animal they bludgeoned to death at the age of seven, IIRC, to 
the classmate they nearly murdered, to the muggle-baiting they took 
part in (and if that isn't a tip of the hat to their dear old dad, I don't know what is), to the team-mate they nearly killed, the 
partnership of Fred and George is a disturbing one.  And I've not 
even mentioned what they've done to Ron and Percy.

Juli: Destruction? What animal did they kill at age 7? As I remember they turned Ron's teddy into a spider. Which classmate they tried to kill? Montasgue (sp?), they didn't try to kill him, they just shoved him into a cabinet, and it was an act of self-defense. What have they done to Ron? and to Percy? They've made a few jokes on them, so what, my brother used to play pranks on me all the time, and I don't hold it against him.

>>As to Molly's relationship with Arthur, their marriage doesn't seem all that great, IMO. (It answered a lot of questions for me when Ginny implied that Arther and Molly rushed their marriage.)  Arthur works all the time.  And when he's home he's tinkering in his shed (working with nasty muggle things, completely against Molly's 
wishes).  Arthur isn't a horrible father and he isn't a bad man, but he's disengaged from his family, and it shows, I think.  He should 
have been around to lay some real disipline down on the twins and to protect Ron and Percy from their attacks.

Juli: what's wrong with their relationship? So Molly is the 'boss', she sets the rules, it doesn't seem wrong. Of course he's working all day, he's got a family to support, I would complain if he was letting his kids starve! He plays with muggle things, it's a healthy hobby. He disciplines Fred and George, but their personality is like that he can't change it, they are pranksters, that's who they are.

>>As far as managing so many children on such a tight budget, I do 
think Molly does a good job there.  She's a wonderful cook and 
apparently a decent seamstress (except where Ron is concerned).  I 
did cringe when she brought her family (and Harry!) right into their empty bank vault.  It's probably a personal thing, but in our family parents *never* talked about finances in front of the children.

Juli: Why is it wrong to let the kids know there isn't a lot of money? My family talked about finances whenever it was needed, granted there really was never any lack, but still, sometimes vacations were postponed or something, and we all knew the reason.
 
>>Honestly, I doubt JKR is trying to make Molly ESE, or even 
completely cruel.  But I do think, with her wicked sense of human 
foibles she gave Molly flaws that just happened to be the ones that 
grate on me the most.

Juli: OMG, are you sirious? ESE!Molly? NO WAY.
 


Juli
Aol: jlnbtr
Yahoo: jlnbtr
MSN: julibotero at msn.com
http://360.yahoo.com/jlnbtr


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