Arthur and Molly WAS: Re: CHAPTER DISCUSSION Chamber of Secrets Ch. 5.

[SteveE]

No: HPFGUIDX 188814



> Geoff:
> <SNIP>
> I fear that I am not a great Molly fan. I believe her to be always
> wanting to be the final arbiter in matters. Looking forward into
> OOTP, I disliked her attempts to prevent Harry from finding out
> more about the Order because he was too young and needed to
> be protected when he, of all people. had a right to know. I see her
> as wanting to guard her family from "the slings and arrows of
> outrageous fortune" but that does not excuse her being a control
> freak.
> 
> Alla:
> 
> I am afraid I am not a great Molly fan either and yes, I will never forgive her conduct towards Sirius in OOP. Yes, I know she loves Harry a great deal, but to me here her love becomes extremely selfish, she should have realized that Sirius was Harry's only chance at having a father figure IMO and be more merciful to him. That is just my opinion of course and opinion of somebody who loves Sirius' and Harry's characters the most in the series, however this is also my honest interpretation of canon, even if I was not the fan of Sirius and Harry.
> 
> However, having said that, to go back to Molly and her family, more and more I came to think that Molly's family DOES consist of her fans. See above why I cannot buy anymore that Arthur is afraid of Molly.

Steve replies...I liked Molly's character much of the time, but I did get annoyed by many things she did. I think Harry loved her as well, and while upset w/ how she treated Sirius and w/ her behavior at times, still cherished her as a mother figure.  What irked me the most was her insistence in DH to know what HRH's mission was and her insistance on keeping them separated at the burrough.  I see why she did it, and sympathized w/ her motives I guess, but wished she would have trusted in Harry a lot more than she did. And like Alla, I too think she was a bit selfish in her actions. I basically thought she should have stopped hassling Harry once she found out he was on a mission for DD. I think Molly should have acted more like Minerva, who was immediately on Harry's side once she heard he was still doing something important on DD's orders/instructions.

I saw Molly's and Arthur's relationship as a close one, with Arthur like a big boy at times and Molly acting as the responsible scolding adult or parental figure when Arthur acted childishly.  But at other times, wasn't she more of an equal partner? Wasn't there times when Arthur was there for her to lean on as well?