Molly and Arthur Was Re: Mother Molly /Nice people get a pass

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 125258


>>Betsy:  
>The way she treats Arthur is atrocious...<
 
>>Alla:
<snip>
>Sure, I immensely dislike Molly's attempts to "handle' Arthur or 
lecture him, BUT I think that Arthur really does not care and hides 
from Molly the stuff, which is not really important on the grand 
scheme of things... <snip> ...and when it comes to important stuff 
Arthur is very capable of standing his ground.
<snip of good canon>
>So, when it comes to what Arthur believes is needed to be done, he 
is pretty persuasive, even though they are having a heated argument.
<snip of more good canon>
>It seems to me that in the important matters Molly and Arthur ARE 
equal partners, even though from the first sight it may seems that 
the exact opposite is true.
<snip of even more good canon>
>So, in short I do think that Molly respects Arthur, although we 
should look carefully to notice it. :o)<

Betsy:
Really good post, Alla. :)  And I agree that Arthur isn't completely 
trampled by Molly.  Otherwise I think he'd give up on his Muggle 
things, and I also think the Weasley kids would be a *little* bit 
less open-minded when it came to Muggle-borns. I just really detest 
that Molly scolds Arthur like he's one of her children, in front of 
the children (and a house guest, no less). It's highly 
*dis*respectful behavior, IMO.

Though I also think the reason Molly is such a scold, and seems to be 
under so much stress it that Arthur has taken a bit of a pass on 
being a father towards the younger generation of Weasleys.  He really 
should have said something to the twins about their treatment of 
Percy, but I think he was so busy in his shed, mucking about with his 
Muggle things, he misses how badly behaved his children can be.  And 
to my mind, that means Arthur is *not* taking a stand on some 
important things. (Not that he's *completely* out of the picture - 
just not as present as he should be, IMO.) 

Maybe he started to give up because Molly wore him down, or maybe 
Molly's become such a shrew because Arthur has given up.  (It's a bit 
chicken and egg with that one. <g>) But, though I'm not sure we're 
going to see a massive Weasley family explosion in the next few 
books, there is definitely some problems in the Weasley household.

>>Alla:
>Jane Austeen is one JKR's favourite writers, no? I think Molly's 
negative qualities to some extent are similar to bad qualities of 
mothers in Jane Austeen novelas.<

Betsy:
Ah, but Jane Austen was all about unhealthy family relationships.  
They were her bread and butter, as it were.  And some of Austen's 
mothers were downright villainous.  But I don't think JKR is taking 
Molly *that* far.  I'm not prepared to say that Molly will turn evil, 
or that she'll somehow damage the Order's work.  I'm leaning towards 
JKR creating Molly and Arthur with such flaws because she didn't want 
to have a "perfect" family in her books.  It adds a nice nuance to 
the story, and gives us some interesting peeks into the WW, IMO.

Betsy