Da Spamfest thread

Subject: Da Spamfest thread Wed Apr 20, 2011 12:12 am

> Okay, maybe I just look at things different, because I don't see a flawed character, just an average one, which seems to be a theme to Rowling's characters, at least to me.
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> So far people have said his temper, ego, and being a fair weather friend. I just don't see it.
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> Remeber, we are dealing with children in the books. Meaningless fights and jealosy are expected from children. Can you all remeber all the stupid little things you used to argue about when you were young? Can any of you really say you haven't been jealous of a friend for something they've gotten before? Or gotten in a fight about something stupid, like which Pokemon is the best or whatever was the phase at the time?
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> For me, Ron's jealousy in 4th year is fair. This is after three years of Harry's fame. Harry has sweets sent to him when he's in the hospital in first year, is a star player on their house team, is always the center of attention good or bad, has a nice looking pair of dress robes while Ron is stuck with something that looks like a dress, and Harry is now competing in a contest against one of Ron's favorite Quidditch players. I can esily understand why Ron might act the way he did, but the key thing in my eyes, is that he came back. He apologized in a way, and came back to be Harry's friend at a point when Harry's fame was at one of its highest points with beating the first task.
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Right there, ron mysteriously returns when harry's fame is at it's highest and *everyone* is cheering him on again! But when the school was against harry, ron was too, and ron called harry a liar! A short term fight, a couple days, before ron cools off and makes up with him is one thing. But this was what, a month long fight or so and then suddenly when harry's popular again, ron decides to be his friend once more. Sounds like ron's only with him due to his fame.

> As for leaving during the hunt, wasn't it after the news about Ginny and being influenced by the Horcrux. Additionally, didnt he say he wanted to come back almost right away, only he couldn't find them again. I know I've had fights with friends I've had since preschool, said some pretty nasty things that had us both storming out. Once again, the key thing is that I regretted it almost immediantly once I got some space and cooled down. I knew how to reach him again, but Ron couldn't find them again thanks to the wards. He never had his chance to make up until later.
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Cliff and I just went over this bit. Ron was bitching, complaining and plotting a long time before he heard about ginny. He wasn't wearing the horcrux the entire time, and the others wore it just as much without going all asshole. If he left fearing for ginny, why did he *never* try to find out about ginny's condition? He went to bill's place, hid out and got fed.

And I don't buy his being unable to find the tent again, he had until the next day to come back but didn't do so. Harry went off following the patronus, got the sword and found his way back to the tent, so it's not just ron leaving the wards. H/Hr didn't pack up and leave until the following day. So frankly I don't buy ron's 'I tried to come right back' tale, it's BS as it's written. But that's JKR's fault for not thinking it through.

> Anyway, I still just don't get the Ron hate. The books aren't about an idealized band of heroes heroically fighting evil, but average chacacters, children, thrown into a war started before they were born. To me, the fact that while Ron might have his flaws, the fact he always came back in the end makes him a good friend.
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I don't think we're looing for idealized anything. We all tend to realize harry and hermione are flawed. We know that all the other 'light side' characters are flawed, but don't hate most of them. I think what bugs me the most about Ron is he's incredibly, deeply flawed, but *never* seems to learn from his mistakes and is *never* taken to task for those mistakes by anyone in JKR's books. Ron gets off so incredibly lightly while he fucks up numerous times.

Meanwhile Harry gets trashed in the press, tortured, beaten, starved, ignored, then stuck with the fangirl as his 'reward'. How exactly is it that Ron fucks up constantly but gets barely touched all through the war, gets to marry the heroine, and is still a lazy ass 19 years later, while the hero gets royally fucked?