Mother Molly (was: Some OOTP Questions)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 125029


>>Betsy:
>I've always read this scene as a bit more of "toxic mom" Molly 
coming out.<
<snip>

>>vmonte responds:
>You obviously don't come from a large family. This particular scene 
with Fred and George made me laugh because it's a typical moment in 
my family. My mother will look right at me and call me by my sister's 
name, or my cousin's, or her sister's, etc.<

Betsy:
Actually, I *do* come from a large family, and yes, calling someone 
by the wrong name is a common and funny part of being in a large 
family.  (In our family the list wasn't complete until you'd run 
through the dogs' names, too. <g>)

However, that's not what Molly is doing.  In her subtle way (and I 
hope it's unconscious - though the Redhen article has me rethinking 
that - thanks Julia!) Molly has just set the twins on Ron.  She has 
just made absolutely sure that Fred and George will see Ron as an 
enemy.  And it works.  The twins give Ron a much harder time than 
usual in OotP.

And I do think the proof is in the pudding.  Her three oldest boys 
have little to do with her.  (Bill and Charlie are out of the country 
and Percy has refused her entrance to his place.)  Ron has resented 
Molly since we first meet him in PS/SS, and Ginny ignores any rules 
Molly sets down.

Strangely enough, I think the twins have the closest relationship 
with Molly.  They are in open war with each other, but it's one of 
the twins that goes to hug Molly when Arthur is hurt in OotP, and 
it's Percy's refusal to see his mother that seems to really upset the 
twins, IIRC.  There's a seriously unhealthy relationship going on 
there, and I wonder how it will affect the twins later on in life.  I 
think Bill and Charlie get on by shutting their mother out of their 
lives.  Walking away from his family may well do Percy worlds of 
good.  I don't know if the twins are capable of doing a similar 
thing.    

>>Vmonte:
>Molly is not a bad mother. She is tired and stressed out and has a 
large family to take care of. She cares about her children and is 
over protective because she is still traumatized by what happened the 
first time Voldemort was in power. 
>Remember that she lost both her brothers (along with their wives and 
children) in the first war.<    

Betsy:

I think Molly *does* love her children.  She's just... not very good 
for them.  She sets them against each other, makes sure the twins 
have someone in the family to terrorize, doesn't try and stop their 
rather vicious bulling, and tries to pound the other children into 
molds of her own making.  Yes, she lost her brothers, and yes she 
fears her children dying -- but encouraging the twins to attack Ron 
and Percy is not a healthy response to the stress.

It's also not the common activity of a large family.  It didn't 
happen in my family, thank goodness.  We are all proud of each 
other's achievments, and were allowed to grow in which ever direction 
we wished -- something Molly seems reluctant to give her children, 
unfortunately.

Betsy, who appreciates her mom even more now!