I came this way via the daily_snitch; hope you don't mind me putting in my two knuts. I actually posted this in a comment a while back on sneaky_rhea's journal in reply to her comments on JKR and feminism (http://sneaky-rhae.livejournal.com/25801.html):
Oddly enough, though she's often villified, I really like and respect Molly Weasley. Yeah, I know she makes mistakes, as she did in book 4 with thinking Hermione broke Harry's heart, but she usually acts out of concern for her family (in book 4, that would be Harry). And if you think about it, her actions toward Hermione weren't completely awful. She didn't simply blow Hermione off at Easter, for example; she merely sent her a smaller egg to show her displeasure. Nor did Molly refuse to talk to Hermione when the former came to visit Harry during the tournament; she was simply reserved, a reservation she immediately abandoned when Harry let her know that Hermione was innocent of playing with his heart.
While I'm at it, I should probably address the other complaint people have about Mrs. Weasley: that she's shrewish. Heck yeah she's a screamer. You try keeping seven kids in check with a pat on the cheek and a whisper. And from the look of it, she doesn't get a whole heck of a lot of backup from Arthur. His mind's drifting in space somewhere as he dreams about cool Muggle gadgets. No, Molly's got her hands full, and she's got to make herself heard if the kids are to have any hope of surviving their siblings or (in the twins' case) themselves!
So why do I admire Molly? She loves her children and her husband more than life itself. She wants them to succeed. Sure, she discourages Fred and George from the joke shop idea, but she's just trying to steer them on the right path, which for most of us means finishing school and getting a sensible, safe job. Now that the boys have proved that their dreams are not all that farfetched after all, she seems to have no problem with it (aside from fearing that they may bring unwanted, dangerous attention to themselves with their irreverance).
I'm also quite taken with her for the way she treats Harry and usually Hermione as her own children. She seems to have so much love in her. Look at her Boggart if you don't believe me. Her greatest fear is for something to happen NOT to herself, but to a member--any member--of her family.
And, God, that woman works for her family. Can you imagine how difficult it must be to take care of all those kids, a husband, any Order members who happen to show up, all the extra kids who probably come around to spend time with her own popular brood? And that's another thing: her children, with perhaps the sole exception of Percy (and I'm hoping he'll come through in the end), are all nice, decent people.
Anyway, despite her fears, however, she's right in the thick of things and knows that her children must be as well. She doesn't want it to happen, but when it comes right down to it, she stands with her family in danger rather than insisting (hopelessly) that they distance themselves from the battle. She doesn't come off as the kickbutt kind of woman (though you never know; I think she does a pretty good job keeping those kids in line most of the time), but I think in a pinch I wouldn't mind at all having her by my side.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-04-27 01:20 am (UTC)Oddly enough, though she's often villified, I really like and respect Molly Weasley. Yeah, I know she makes mistakes, as she did in book 4 with thinking Hermione broke Harry's heart, but she usually acts out of concern for her family (in book 4, that would be Harry). And if you think about it, her actions toward Hermione weren't completely awful. She didn't simply blow Hermione off at Easter, for example; she merely sent her a smaller egg to show her displeasure. Nor did Molly refuse to talk to Hermione when the former came to visit Harry during the tournament; she was simply reserved, a reservation she immediately abandoned when Harry let her know that Hermione was innocent of playing with his heart.
While I'm at it, I should probably address the other complaint people have about Mrs. Weasley: that she's shrewish. Heck yeah she's a screamer. You try keeping seven kids in check with a pat on the cheek and a whisper. And from the look of it, she doesn't get a whole heck of a lot of backup from Arthur. His mind's drifting in space somewhere as he dreams about cool Muggle gadgets. No, Molly's got her hands full, and she's got to make herself heard if the kids are to have any hope of surviving their siblings or (in the twins' case) themselves!
So why do I admire Molly? She loves her children and her husband more than life itself. She wants them to succeed. Sure, she discourages Fred and George from the joke shop idea, but she's just trying to steer them on the right path, which for most of us means finishing school and getting a sensible, safe job. Now that the boys have proved that their dreams are not all that farfetched after all, she seems to have no problem with it (aside from fearing that they may bring unwanted, dangerous attention to themselves with their irreverance).
I'm also quite taken with her for the way she treats Harry and usually Hermione as her own children. She seems to have so much love in her. Look at her Boggart if you don't believe me. Her greatest fear is for something to happen NOT to herself, but to a member--any member--of her family.
And, God, that woman works for her family. Can you imagine how difficult it must be to take care of all those kids, a husband, any Order members who happen to show up, all the extra kids who probably come around to spend time with her own popular brood? And that's another thing: her children, with perhaps the sole exception of Percy (and I'm hoping he'll come through in the end), are all nice, decent people.
Anyway, despite her fears, however, she's right in the thick of things and knows that her children must be as well. She doesn't want it to happen, but when it comes right down to it, she stands with her family in danger rather than insisting (hopelessly) that they distance themselves from the battle. She doesn't come off as the kickbutt kind of woman (though you never know; I think she does a pretty good job keeping those kids in line most of the time), but I think in a pinch I wouldn't mind at all having her by my side.