After years of analyzing Harry Potter and understanding the dynamics between the characters, what is your final opinion about Ron?
My final opinion on Ron is that he is a complicated character for just being an average Joe, so the best I can give you is that I feel indifferent towards him.
He does things I like and he does things I don’t like. And his fans are pretty annoying, glorifying him in anything he does, which makes me like him less
And then there’s the complaint that even Ron fans admit: JKR didn’t write Ron to his fullest potential. If you actually think about it, Ron actually does very little in terms of the plot moving along, especially through books 3-6. His supposed chess master skills were never used in the series.
Next, compare how useful he was in books 2-6 and book 7. Because of how useful he is in deathly Hallows is astronomical despite his temporary leave. Being “great” in the horrid 7 potters plan, fighting off snatchers by himself and being able to steal one of their wands, saving a dumbed down Harry in the frozen pond, destroying a horcrux, fixing the radio, mimicking Wormtail, him having the idea going down in the chamber of secrets for the basilisk fangs, being able to speak/mimick Parseltongue when even Harry couldn’t understand him, breaking Voldemort’s silencing charm. I can’t ignore how forced Ron’s usefulness is in DH.
Ron’s good qualities only come in times when he’s a good friend to Harry. Sacrificing himself in PS, saving Harry from the Dursleys in CoS, standing up on a broken leg against Sirius, standing up for Harry in OOTP when Harry was terrible towards both him and Hermione, and giving Harry the push the use the Felix Felicis in HBP.
Ron has his fair share of bad qualities too. The more I think about it, the more I think Ron and Harry’s first fallout in GoF is worse than Ron leaving in DH. In DH, you can at least use the Horcrux to try and justify why he left. But I can’t wrap my head around that Ron, who’s been in the Wizarding world longer than Harry and Hermione, how impossible it was for an underaged individual to have their name called out in the Goblet of Fire and/or that Harry would want to be put in this dangerous death game. And people defend it by saying that Ron’s insecure and jealous that Harry always gets the “spotlight”. Does Ron not know all the spotlight Harry got was super shitty?
But most of his bad qualities are shown with Hermione. I can give him a pass on calling Hermione a “nightmare” behind her back because he’s only 11 then. But still making Hermione cry at the age 16-17? Hell nah. Making fun of SPEW (which he did a 180 on to push the Romione romance forward), giving her the silent treatment in POA for both the Scabbers and Firebolt incidents, the Yule ball fight. And lastly, using a book to come up with compliments to say to her that’ll make her swoon no matter what it is. And I got dogged on for twitter for mentioning it a couple years ago for calling it an equivalent to a pickup artist’s book. The book is called “12 Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches”. How does that not give PUA vibes. And also the main problem with using a book like this, the compliments Ron gives Hermione feel forced, not natural. He’s only doing what the book is telling him to do. He’s not being who he truly is, and he’s saying this to supposedly his best (girl) friend.
A few other things that Ron did that I didn’t like:
-bullying 1st years with his prefect status in OOTP
-punching a girl in the face during quidditch practice
-weird comment respecting Voldemort’s name
-“maybe [Voldemort] murdered Myrtle, that would’ve done everyone a favor”. Myrtle was a muggleborn witch that was bullied and ended up being murdered by Voldemort.
-and slut shaming his own sister
And people say that Ron is the most relatable character in the series. I don’t find him relatable at all after everything he has done. Neville’s more relatable to me.
Ron fans bring up that Ron hate comes from people that hate poor people and find rich people attractive. This is one of the stupidest takes of all time. By the end of the series, the Weasleys are one of the most prosperous families with all of their successes. Ron’s a co-owner of a successful business while his wife is the minister of Magic. Secondly, even before then, I wouldn’t necessarily call the Weasley a “poor” family, especially compared to a poor muggle family. Bridge to Terribithia is an excellent comparison for what an actual poor family looks like as well as the MC feeling neglected by his family. Having to share a room with his little sister and getting hand-me-down pink sneakers from one of his older sisters because his old pair were ruined. That’s real, poor people experience. People with the gift of magic will never be poor like poor people in real life
Now, in Harmione fanfic, I think it’s best to have him as a side character or not in it all rather than bash him as bashing cheapens the romance, but who knows, Ron fans might think Ron not being in the story is also bashing him. There are a couple reasons why I don’t really like Ron as a main character in Harmione fanfic: he creates unnecessary drama and there was one fic I read long ago where Harry learns how to hold hands with Hermione by watching Ron do it with his girlfriend, and that’s just weird af. If Ron’s a main character in a fanfic that doesn’t do anything like those 2, then I wouldn’t mind of Ron’s a main character.
