DH reread CH 4-5

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 186271

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "sartoris22" <sartoris22 at ...> wrote:
>
> 
> > >
> > Carol responds:
> > What annoyed me in the books was that Ron, who had been hailed as a Quidditch champion in OoP ("Weasley is our king") was back to the same old insecurities in HBP with the Felix Felicis episode. 
> 
> Sartoris22:
> 
> You do a great job explaining the development of Ron and Hermione. Still, I'm troubled that Ron has such an inconsistent developmental pattern. It really doesn't make sense that he can be a Quidditch star in OOTP, then completely doubt his abilities in HBP. Some of that experience should have rubbed off. And Ron can be quite courageous at times, as he is in the Shreiking Shack when he is ready to die to protect Harry from Sirius. However,this confidence and courage doesn't transfer to other situations. I can't help thinking, and I know this smacks of the auteur theory, that Rowling is somehow taking revenge on Sean (the boy on whom Ron is modeled) because Sean never returned her affection. If Hermione is an idealized version of Rowling , then through Ron, Rowling finally gets Sean, but, boy, does she make him suffer for it.
>

Montavilla47:

I'm not so sure that it's about the author's desire to take revenge as it may be about 
the author's desire to build up to that Horcrux scene.  The problem is, it wasn't really 
very well done.  

Let's compare what she does with Ron and Ron/Hermione with what she does with 
Neville.    JKR builds up the story of Ron through showing him in various situations 
where he fails through insecurity.  Each time he eventually triumphs over those insecurities.  But then he gets a reset in the next book.  The one between OotP and 
HBP is absurd.  Maybe that's realistic (since few people really do get over insecurity 
just because of a single event), but it doesn't really work in a story.  

And, while I can see the narrative Carol presents, I don't see why I should believe 
that Ron "triumphed" over his insecurities when he destroyed the Horcrux when he 
didn't after winning the Quidditch cup in OotP and realizing he didn't need 
good-luck potion to win in HBP.  

With Neville, on the other hand, we see a consistent growth.  He starts out timid 
and insecure and overcomes one fear in PoA with the boggart.  In GoF, we begin 
to see that he's dealing with a lot more than mean teachers.  We see that he does 
deal with his parents, and we hear hints that he's good with plants.  In OotP, he's 
better with plants and he's becoming more skillful in his wand work.  In HBP, he 
finally has his "own" wand (rather than his father's), and he's starting to get out 
of the shadow of his grandmother with McGonagall's help and his own skills.  

So, it's a pleasant and not completely surprising development when we discover 
that he's leading the troops in DH and when he pulls out the sword and kills the 
snake, we *love* it.   The groundwork on that character was done, the character 
developed from timid and ineffective to heroic, and it's completely satisfying.

But, with Ron, it was as though the character kept trying to develop, only to be 
pulled back two steps every time he did.  Consequently, it's impossible (for me, at 
least) to believe that Ron will ever get over being insecure or that Hermione is ever 
going to be anything but undermining, even if she does occasionally kiss him on 
the lips.  And honestly, maybe I'm not supposed to, since in the epilogue, he's still 
failing his driving test and scared to let Hermione know about it.