|
I haven't jumped in here for a while, but I thought I'd weigh in again.
There were a lot of times Ron really pissed me off, and he's my favorite character, so I can see his flaws. Did he behave like an idiot in GoF? Certainly. Was I upset with him over his insecurities about Hermione in HBP? Indeed. Was I absolutely shattered when he walked out in DH? Hell, yes. However, the one thing Ron has consistently done after he's massively screwed up, and which redeems him in my book, is his ability to apologize and learn from his mistakes. That shows growth and maturity in my book. A lot of adults never apologize for what they've done, or take responsibility for their actions. Ron does. I'm not saying that excuses his initial behavior, but if Ron never apologized or learned from his mistakes I could understand the vitriol some people have for him. However, that's not the case.
To me, his best action which showed how much Ron had matured and was trying to overcome his insecurities was not when he destroyed the locket (although that was a close second), but when he returned to begin with in DH. For all Ron knew, Harry and Hermione would never want to see him again and would throw him out, but he still went back anyway to face the consequences because he knew that going back to the hunt, and accepting whatever Harry and Hermione threw at him was the right thing to do. That takes a huge amount of courage, maturity, and selflessness to do. Then, to top it off with saving Harry's life, pulling the sword out of the lake, and destroying the locket. All pretty redeeming actions, in my book. That's when Ron stopped being a boy and became a man.
I don't excuse Ron for his behavior due to his insecurities, but his insecurities are certainly an explanation for his behavior. Maybe those of you criticizing him for acting like an idiot because of his insecurites have never done anything stupid as a result of your own insecurities. If so, that's great, and I congratulate you, but it's certainly not the case for most people, including myself. I'm not proud of it, but as you get older you try to get over those insecurities and act like a mature adult. But Ron's not an adult, he's a teenager. And I know I stated this back a long time ago, but teenagers aren't exactly the most reasonable/logical people around. They're still figuring out who they are and what their place is in the world (heck, it can take some people well into their 30s to figure that out), so it's not surprising to me when they behave in an immature way.
All of this is to say that I have empathy for Ron, as I have for Harry and Hermione, neither of whom are close to perfect either, and have their own issues to overcome. Hermione certainly was insecure as well, she just dealt with her insecurities by being an insufferable, insensitive swot. But I forgive her for it, because she is a good person who is trying to do the right thing, and her behavior makes her real. I could name just as many incidences where Hermione was being as awful as Ron, just in a different way, but it wouldn't change how I feel about her - she's my second favorite character after Ron.
I have a soft spot in literature for deeply flawed people who do their best to overcome their issues. That's why I've enjoyed the HP books so much, because the good characters aren't perfect - they're just like real people, who have real fears and insecurities, but are trying to do the right thing overall. If they were perfect, the books would be cliched and boring.
This post has been edited by Quotidias: Nov 19 2009, 12:37 PM
|
Feb 10 2008, 09:34 AM
