Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows discussion

I have never particularly cared for Ron as a character or as a friend to Harry. This may be because I have read so many other novels where friends are very important and very trusting and usually very awesome. Ron . . . bugged me. He usually copped out when Harry needed him. Now, I don't hate Ron, in fact I think he has many redeeming qualities, such as wonderful character growth and a sensitive side. But something about him gets on my nerves. Does anyone else agree with me?

Eh... he grew up under the shadow of not one, not two, but five older brothers, and he always harbored the want to be in the spotlight, like everyone has. Being best friends with Harry was the opposite of what he needed, adding yet another person to live up to. When Harry got attention, naturally Ron would feel unappreciated, but he came around every time, and that's what counts, I feel.

He was always there when Harry needed him, even when he was being shunted out of the spotlight... at least until fourth year. But that was one time, and he learned a valuable lesson from it-- that Harry didn't necessarily want the attention he got. I think Ron was a great friend.

It is a bit of a difficult question. Ron was not my favourite character I found him rather annoying. To me, if someone is a true friend they will stand beside you even if they are jealous and Ron did not really do this.

As Avani says though, Ron did always come back to Harry... it just took some prompting. I guess the best way to describe my viewpoint of him is that I am rather ambivalent when it comes to him. I didn't love his character like I did that of Snape and I did not loathe him Umbridge.

See, the illusion about friendship is that it comes with no difficulties. Every friendship needs to be worked through- has it's own issues! I agree with Avani... for Ron, who grew up under the shadow of brilliant older brothers, it must have been disheartening to have a best friend who was so famous, and to be regarded as his 'comic sidekick'. He just needed to feel a little better about himself. However,you can feel his awkwardness when he's chosen Prefect instead of Harry, and his happiness at finally excelling at something.

He's always there when harry needs him, (though he could have ditched him anytime through the series) and that's what makes them best friends- not the fact that they have issues sometimes, but the fact that they're always there for each other when it counts. Bottomline.

Hated him. He was always jealous and that jealousy blinded him. I understand he was young the first time he did it, but more than once he abandoned harry because of his issues, and when it finally seemed like he changed once again he left in the 7th book.

I don't know what you mean by "copped out" could you give some examples?

I feel sorry for Ron. He had never been in the spotlight, since he was part of such a large family, then he became friends with Harry.

Sure, he was a little....frightened, of lots of things, but Ron is one of my favourite characters.

Jey wrote: "See, the illusion about friendship is that it comes with no difficulties. Every friendship needs to be worked through- has it's own issues! I agree with Avani... for Ron, who grew up under the shad..."

I totally agree

I never really liked Ron as a character, though I can't honestly say why - it's just a gut reaction. My dislike intensified considerably in Deathly Hallows, when Ron does nothing but whine and complain about being forced to be on the run. As Harry says, what did Ron think he was signing up for? A luxury vacation?

From an objective point of view, I can see that he has merits: he is friendly, jovial, brave and loyal (most of the time). But subjectively, he grates on my nerves so badly, that I was hoping he would die in Deathly Hallows. No such luck, unfortunately ...

I thought Ron was the most "normal" of the three friends and liked him for all his flaws. He's pampered at home and hasn't had a tough life and he really needed to grow up into that understanding.

He's overshadowed by five brothers, his best friend, and his only sister. He has known for his entire life about "The Boy Who Lived," and is a bit relieved Harry seems normal and down-to-earth.

Then, things start happening and Ron doesn't deal well with it, to say the least, but he always is there. Faithful to his friends, no matter his misgivings.

He's not a perfect friend, and that's why I like him. He's always there imperfectly, but always there.

I liked Ron! He's funny and I love reading about him.

In other novels, friends become sidekicks or are may-sues/gary-stues.
Ron is natural and, like many people,.has run-ins with people.

It must be hard being him. He, ans his family, are poor and teased, and Ron himself has grown up in the shadow of five brothers. If that's not bad enough, he has been publicly humiliated and has also been in the shadow of the Boy who Lived himself. He also has a popular sister
So, I think Ron is normal and even though he has had arguements with Harry, he makes him laugh, invites him into his home, and helped him on many journeys.

I think, like Avani, that Ron felt jealous and unappreciated. I think that Hogwarts was what he was thinking to be an escape from being overshadowed by 5 older brothers. But then Harry came along, and Ron was once again kind of an after thought. That said, Ron was truly a good friend, I mean, no friendship is perfect! In fact I think the fighting is what made their relationship so great! The thing is, it doesn't matter if you fight, it matters if you come back and have the maturity to apologize and forgive, and both of them do. That's why I never disliked Ron. Ron also offered his family's home to Harry multiple times for shelter. I mean, if that's not a true friend then I don't know what is!

I've always loved Ron as a character and I love the actor that plays him, Rupert Grint! I think that Ron is absolutely hysterical and he would be an awesome best friend to have!

I love Ron!! I believe he was a great friend (not always, but who is). I agree totally with Abby and Jeni.

Ron Sucks!!!! Okay, he just never should have been there. I like the Weasleys except for him. Hermione + Harry= perfect.
Did you know: J.K Rowling thought about killing Ron off mid-series? i wish she would have!!!

i like ron,.. he's funny :)

I love Ron! The only thing I think there is not to like about Ron is that he can be negative sometimes but he is soooooooooo funny and a great and supportive friend to Harry and Hermione's perfect match!

i cant agree anymore with jeni .i don't think it's jealousy . Ron is the most normal and natural person perhaps in the whole novel.Ron is areal character who doesn't have many skills .However , he wants to make difference.

The Harry and Ron paring reminds me a lot of Frodo and Sam from the Lord of The Rings. Frodo and Harry each have similar missions to thwart evil. Sam and Ron are both a bit of a reluctant hero. Each who are very loyal although a bit bumbling in their exposition.
As far as liking him or not, doesn't matter, he is who he is. He is not my favorite but neither do i dislike him. I think though it is fair to excuse him of leaving in book 7 because he was very much under the influence of the locket.

I think that Ron as a character is likeable throughout, and I liked him even in the last book. I enjoy the idea that people can be heroes and still make mistakes, still do some unheroic things. That said, (and please don't hate me for saying this) I think that the writing for Ron becomes much worse near the end of the series. In my opinion, somewhere around book 5 or so, he becomes less of "Ron" and more just a token sidekick. It isn't that he becomes unlikeable; it's more that there's just less for him to do. In book 6 he seemed more like comic relief than anything, particularly with Lavender. It's like he lost some personality and IQ points.

On a slightly strange note, Ron Weasley is the biggest reason why I object to Rowling's comment on Dumbledore's homosexuality. If I recall correctly, she made some comment that Dumbledore was gay and in love with Grindelwald, and that only this love was strong enough to blind him to his faults. And yes, of course, love can do that, but friendship can too, and by presenting romantic love as the only force powerful enough, she seemed to be undercutting the strengths of platonic friendships. In book 1, Harry lives in the cupboard under the stairs and has no friends. When he befriends Ron, it's powerful and beautiful. Later in the same book, when Harry loses 50 house points and the other Gryffindors all hate him, "Only Ron stood by him." And now what, at the end of the series? Platonic friendship can't affect judgment or change lives, so that's why Dumbledore had to be gay? I think that the middle of the series was a turning point at which Ron began to diminish, and I think that the Dumbledore-outing was the last bit of backlash, maybe even the final nail in the coffin (at the risk of overstating it). Ron is important as a friend, and I think that eventually that friendship, and even Ron himself, were de-emphasized.

The first time Ron abandoned Harry I was willing to let it go as Ron was young and immature. I can't forgive him for abandoning Harry and Hermione in DH. Granted he may have had help feeling the way he did because of the Horcrux but the feelings were there to begin with. Hermione felt just as frustrated but she didn't leave. I hate the fact that JKR made Ron's patronus a dog.

Neville was more loyal to Harry than Ron. Neville would have made a great friend to Harry.

Elizabeth wrote: "I think that Ron as a character is likeable throughout, and I liked him even in the last book. I enjoy the idea that people can be heroes and still make mistakes, still do some unheroic things. T..."

Um, did you miss the part in Deathly Hallows where it's Hermione's friendship that helps Harry track down the Hallows and escape Death Eaters and Voldemort multiple times? Doesn't her friendship count for something? Not to mention, all those other dozens of friends who risked their lives - and gave their lives - to help out Harry? Harry didn't defeat Voldemort through the power of romantic love (in fact, Ginny is barely present in the whole book, and has no major role to play). He did it through the power of friendship.

Elizabeth wrote: "I think that Ron as a character is likeable throughout, and I liked him even in the last book. I enjoy the idea that people can be heroes and still make mistakes, still do some unheroic things. T..."

When did Rowling ever present romantic love as the most powerful force? Actually family was the most powerful force presented throughout the HP books. It is why Harry had to stay with the Dursleys to stay safe. It is why Ron's friendship as flawed as it was was so important to Harry, Molly counted Harry as one of her own.
The strength of family both born into and created (i.e Harry and Ron were family, Hermione and Harry, Sirius and Harry, Dumbeldore and Harry) was the most powerful force in Harry Potter.

Family is love. Friendship is Love.It all comes back to love is everything.

Ron's not my favorite character, but I think he is well-rounded and believable. I liked him just fine. I didn't really find he annoyed me that much, though I can see why he would annoy some, for sure!

Mitali, thanks so much for agreeing with me. :) I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that Rowling's comment about why Dumbledore HAD to be gay is unsupported by the power of friendship in the canonical text. And I have nothing against him being gay -- I just didn't like the way that it was done. Also, I said before that Ron's friendship was de-emphasized as the series progressed, and your comment about Hermione's larger role shows an interesting reason why. It was more about the other characters, and Ron, as I said, did less.

Gretchen wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "I think that Ron as a character is likeable throughout, and I liked him even in the last book. I enjoy the idea that people can be heroes and still make mistakes, still do some u..."

Gretchen, you're exactly right, and I absolutely agree with you. Maybe my post wasn't clear enough? I was referring to what Rowling said outside the books: "Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald…. Don’t forget, falling in love can blind us. [He] was very drawn to this brilliant person. This was Dumbledore’s tragedy." (from Entertainment Weekly)

I was slightly bothered that Rowling implied that romantic love must be present for blindness and tragedy. You said in your post that Harry and Ron are family, and that's a nice way of looking at it. All I meant by my earlier statement was that Rowling's comment misses the point of how powerful Harry and Ron's relationship was. And it seems, even from this thread, that Ron IS kind of overlooked. And for clarity's sake, I'm fine with Dumbledore's sexuality; I just felt that the way it was presented underestimated the power of friends and, by extension, of Ron.

Elizabeth wrote: "Gretchen wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "I think that Ron as a character is likeable throughout, and I liked him even in the last book. I enjoy the idea that people can be heroes and still make mistakes..."

Okay, I understand a bit better now what you meant.

HOW DARE YOU???? I <3 Ron Weasley! He pulled the whole series together! Without him it would just be Harry and Hermione and there would be NO romance at all within the group/clique (whatever you want to call it). Sorry, if I'm appearing rude, stuck-up, snobby, etc, but Ron was like my favorite character so you'll understand if I'm mad. I liked almost all of the Weasleys. The one I didn't like was Ginny. She wasn't funny or anything! Fred and George were my favorite, but they barely appeared in the movies, which made me angry and a little sad. :( So I'm just stating my opinion on Ron. :)

I luv Ron..

He always gives me a lot of laughs...haha.. XD

Harry Potter is not complete without him...

First of all, I'd like to say to each his or her own. Whether you loved or hated him, I respect your opinion. If you're someone who shares my views, yay! If you're someone who doesn't share my views, then let's just agree to disagree ok?

I liked him earlier in the series. He was a great comedic foil for Harry and Hermione's more serious characters (not to say that they didn't have funny moments too).

Unlike how some people excuse Ron's lapses of friendship and loyalty because of circumstances in his upbringing and the difficulties of keeping up with a friend whose constantly in the limelight, I thought that the moments when he turned his back on Harry and Hermione respectively was a look into a part of his character that I found unappealing.

Perhaps if I had not read "A Child Called It," I might think differently, but this book highlights that how we choose to react to a circumstance or situation (good, bad of awful) is a test of character and defines what type of person we choose to become.

It might be difficult to continuously live in the shadows (Goblet of Fire) but is that an excuse to turn your back on your friend for a moment in the light? And in a time where everybody is at the precipice of a nervous and intellectual breakdown (Deathly Hallows) is that really the time to walk out on your friend and girlfriend due to jealousy and insecurities?

I know he's a major character and that Harry and Hermione might not have evolved as they had in the series without him, but I guess I was just disappointed in what he became.

Kyle wrote: "I have never particularly cared for Ron as a character or as a friend to Harry. This may be because I have read so many other novels where friends are very important and very trusting and usually v..."

Yes, yes, yes! I totally agree

Ron wasn't my favorite character but he was essential to the books.

I love Ron. He is always overshadowed by Harry's presence, and by his older siblings' (which is why his becoming prefect makes him so happy), but he's awesome and he has his own merits. I want to slap him in the third book though, and I don't think he and Hermione are a good match, but overall I adore him.

I feel like a lot of people misunderstand the character, maybe they dislike a normal, relatable character in comparison to other quirky, fantastical ones.
Ron is a great brother, friend, and wizward, though of course, like everyone else, he has his shortcomings. But isn't that what makes us human?

This is what I wrote about Ron in the 7th book in my review and I feel it applies to this discussion:

Ron's leaving Harry and Hermione did upset me, not because it made me furious at Ron but rather because I felt J.K. had discarded his previous trait of deep loyalty in favor of focusing on his weakness of jealousy. It was Ron who sacrificed himself on the chess board in the first novel in order for Harry to go fight the fight that would earn the glory in the end; Ron who fired the slug charm at Malfoy after he'd insulted Hermione in the second book; Ron who stood, swaying on a broken leg, in front of Harry shouting at Sirius that he would have to kill him to get to Harry; Ron who admits that in his deepest heart of hearts he believed Harry would be made prefect in their fifth year and not himself; Ron who will not allow anyone to deprecate any member of his family in his hearing without losing it.

Ron is an intensely loyal friend and sibling even when he is teased and sometimes undervalued by all around him (the Weasley twins' constant mockery of him, Ginny's cruelty to him in the Half Blood Prince, Hermione and Harry's frequent assumptions that Ron won't understand things as well as they do). For him to turn and run at the first sign of difficulty in the Deathly Hallows focused too much on only the bad side of Ron and not the good; this combined with the fact that Dumbledore's gift to him demonstrated his knowing that Ron's loyalty would waver and he would need a way back to Harry and Hermione hurt me as a reader who knows there is much more to Ron than jealous, overshadowed friend of Harry Potter.

So, yeah, I think Ron is a great friend to Harry and that the same cannot always be said in reverse. Just because Harry secretly believes he's better than Ron in every way, and doesn't say it out loud, doesn't make it okay. Ron, with all his flaws, is real and I think he grows a lot over the course of the series.

Anna, I totally agree! If any of the 3 main characters got on my nerves, it was Harry!

Me too, Kelly. I never disliked Harry, well except for his super angsty phase in The Order of the Phoenix, but he definitely annoyed me more often than Ron did.

I, for one, don't think that "friendship" was one of HP's strong suits. Many seem to think that this series shows that true friendship is powerful and can help us in the trials that we face. Although it's good insight, the series really didn't prove this for me. The way it handled the relationships between the main characters made it seem like friendship is a trial even of itself. Regardless of the truth behind this, it certainly rubbed me the wrong way to see the characters seemingly blow up in each other's faces at times. Ron, Hermione, Harry, they all annoyed me in different ways, which for me was the worst flaw that the series faced. If the reader starts to dislike the main characters of a book, the plot places itself in serious jeopardy because it becomes harder for the reader to care. I found myself losing patience with the series fast in the later books because they seemed to subtly discard what made me like the characters in the first place. It hardly matters to me if the author was trying to make a point or not about the idea that not everybody's perfect, because if that really was the point she was trying to make, she kind of failed in a way. You can prove that not everyone is perfect in a book series and still have the readers care about the characters. It's difficult, sure, but if you're that desperate to prove a point and to help other people see it, than it can be done. I've seen it work before.

No. I don't like him.

How did love all the books so much but dislike one of the characters? I don't get it. Yea Harry got on my nerves every now and then but I still loved him. Some of y'all act like the books would have been fine without Ron.

I meant how did y'all love the books

That's the reason I stopped reading the mortal instruments because I really didn't like clary or jace.

You do realize they're like 13 in that book. Raging hormones and all. But you have your opinion and I respect that! :)

Ron bugs me because I think he's only ftiends with Harry for the title of 'The-Boy-Who-Lived's friend' sincr he left when something bad happened to Harry that would've destroyed the reputation

I dislike every single character JK Rowling ever conceived.

Ron worries me. JKR goes out of her way to be indulgent to him, and to stress the many valid reasons why we should be understanding and forgiving of his faults and weaknesses,(I for one cringe physically each time Slughorn snubs him!) but I still can't like Ron. Even in one of the rare moments when he is allowed to shine I cannot bring myself to rejoice for him. Instead I sympathize with Harry as he struggles with his own jealousy & resentment, & wish on his behalf that the prefect's badge had come to him instead.(Not that Ron, in the event, proves a very worthy prefect!)
I'm not sure to what extent my negative feelings towards Ron are conditioned by my admitted Harry/Hermione shipping or vice-versa.
Does anyone know if JKR ever revealed how the rest of the story might have turned out had she gone through with her earlier intention of killing off Ron?

Ron is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ron has his good moments in the series, but I can't help but dislike him personally, his character in general really grates on me. I think it started with the fact that pretty much the first thing he asks Harry is to see the scar that his parent's murderer gave him (I would've socked him in the face if he asked me, or at least told him to leave the compartment). Also his treatment of others in the books is almost always negative, at least to begin with, I accept that he changes but first impressions count and I honestly think that he would've ended up completely friendless if he didn't stick to Harry.
I get that he grew up overshadowed by his brothers but they had to try hard to get to where they are, nobody is born with the ability to raise dragons, or be a cursebreaker, hell even the twins worked meticulously on their pranks, Ron never tries to improve himself like his siblings did (except for begging Harry to let him on the Quidditch team), constantly riding on Harry's coattails. He is too easily lead by public opinion as well, while Harry deals with at least 80% of Hogwarts hating him on a regular basis, Ron starts caving when a group of Slytherins make fun of his Quidditch abilities, the same Slytherins who have attempted to tear Harry down nearly constantly, what does that say about Ron's character?
I would've honestly preferred it if Ron had been killed off in the end, not to sound spiteful or anything, i just think that would've been more interesting, and then JKR wouldn't have had to hastily throw a character together for Ginny just so none of the major characters were left alone in the end.

Absolutely my favorite character in the series. He's normal. And male. Completely.

Harry Potter, because of his core identity and role, is not friend material, IMHO. Can a king or monarch have a friend in the Middle Ages? It is quite similar. Power and identity will also couple the love with fear. And the ego of identity and role- not a good recipe for friendship.

Snape is also a fabulous character. Like Hamlet, terribly conflicted in the end game.

ron is amazing. jk rowling made him as a character that was made up of our flaws. I love ron for that reason.