Despite the words having taken on similar meaning due to misuse, it irks me to see jealousy and envy used interchangeably after having Homer teach me otherwise.

 

Rolls eyes I at least can have my opinions thanks on differnt pairings since that was a typo and it's Fleur. I mildly prefer it only after his "oh my god my life sucks" stage and never in cannon. Honestly, though Ron would end up alone as he seemed to never grow out of being jealous of folks or his insecurities in some of the books. I actually like Ron to some extent as he is a complex character and very hard to write.

Harry also could be a asshole at times in the books as well mostly in HBP with the emotional outburst. Etc

 

Until the moment you stand on a broken leg in front of a mass-murderer and say: "You have to go through me first.", you have no right to call Ron a bad friend.

Anyone still doing so is just an entitled asshole who wants sycophants, not friends.

 

Right, kiddo.

You're allowed to have opinions, but similarly I'm allowed to have the opinion (and express it!) that the reasons you claim to have for them are bullshit.

The problem is that you think that Ron expects Hermione to worship the ground he walks on. You also seem to think that Ron never grows out of his jealousy or his insecurities. Leaving aside the facts that we barely see anything of Ron in the epilogue (and that the canon status of Cursed Child is an ongoing debate) and that insecure and/or jealous people manage to have relationships just fine, one wonders where exactly you get these assumptions.

 

I'm not sure about your point? The Opening post isn't calling him a bad friend he's asking if he could be seen as a asshole. Yes he could be seen as one in some of the books so could Harry in fact.

 

Ron clearly does grow to regret his jealous outbursts and is apologetic for them. I think the selfless things he does, the jokes he makes and his inner strength of character far outweigh the negative moments that he always seems to regret.

Besides all that, saying that you think Ron would end up alone is just frankly a bit weird. When I was a teenager I had my dickish moments, I could be a bit of a moody bellend and often snapped at people but thank god life doesn't stop when you're sixteen. I grew up, met new people, experienced new things, learned new topics and travelled to and lived in new places. Ron's a pretty decent guy and I'm certain that, if he didn't end up marrying Hermione, he would have found someone else and been equally as happy together.

 

I agree it's a on going debate but still J.K Rowling says it is so their is that little tidbit. I read Curse Child and from the bits we saw I stand by my comment about him never really growing up. He still acts like a elven year near Malfoy for god sakes and he has already taken on several Death Eaters and became a Auror by that point.

Yes but with a lot of work put into it and J.K Rowling even admitted this in a interview.

 

I think Ron's jealousy is very overpowering. His jealousy and the need to distinguish himself from his brothers is what drives him. Despite this, i do not think he is an asshole; he is average.

 

Alright...Ron doesn't get jealous most of the time. But truly the fact that he gets jealous of an ORPHAN WHO HAS SUFFERED ABUSE is ridiculous.

 

Is Ron an asshole?

If I may answer your question with a question: Is Ron a ginger?

Spoiler

Juuuussst kidding.

The two biggest reasons people think Ron is an asshole are the movies and fan fiction. For once, JKR can't really be blamed for the character assassination of one of her own characters.

Book Ron is a pretty stand-up guy who goes to some fairly great lengths to stand by his friends, in spite of some issues caused by neither being his accomplished older brothers nor the rare female baby of the family. His most egregious action in the books can mostly be blamed on proximity to a horcrux.

Though I still insist on pointing out that Harry had a horcrux in his own head for over a decade and a half at that point, compared to Ron sharing one third of the time with the necklace for a little while. But whatevs...

 

To be fair, Harry's Horcrux didn't really have any influence on him for most of that time, and once it did expose him to Voldemort's mind, he got real moody. Of course, Harry had a lot of other stressful things going on simultaneously, but so did Ron in DH.

 

Like every other well-written character Ron has his asshole moments. Having said that, he stood on a broken leg to put himself between his friend and a man he thought was a mass murder, so he gets a pass for everything else he's ever done. Friendship is a matter of ups and downs and Ron has some pretty damn big ups to go with some pretty tiny, in the grand scheme of things, downs.

I mean, the guy jumps in front of a bullet for Harry, what? Four, five times?

 

I was going to reply with something along the lines of, "He's 14, so yes." That would be doing this post a disservice though as it thoroughly explains every single point flying through my head.

This post should be pinned under a, "Reasons why your exaggerated fanon interpretation of Ron is Bullshit" PSA.


Also, Rep's moment of being savage brightened my morning.

 

Ah, shucks. You're making me blush.

I'm just so sick and tired of Ron-Bashing, which over the years has become one of my single biggest Pet Peeves out there. How people could reduce Ron, one of my personal favorite characters from the Books, to the mockery FanFics usually portray him as, is maddening to me.

Is it because he isn't an Uber-Wizard? Because he's in the way of The One True Pairing? Because of Grint's version of him in the Movies? Because he happens to have red hair? Or is it even because some authors just view a little too much of Ron and his flaws in themselves, so they have to double down on how they're nothing like him?

 

Have a Ron-centric fic, haters:

Red Hair, Green Tie
A Ron in Slytherin story.

 

I dont think Ron has enough as a character to be a strong lead in a story. As for the Horcrux being to blame, what about 4th year when he was jealous of Harry being the triwizard champion...... I just dont think his character is properly balanced between good qualities and bad

 

fire: That was abandoned a while back, infortunately.

Legend3381: Get your head out of your ass. Ron is arguably the most complete character in the series, because he's not WizardJesus and not a SelfInsert. He doesn't have Neville kind-of flaws, which just go away as he grows up. He has persistent flaws that he works to overcome in plain sight, and if anything, I cannot believe there are people who think Hermione is even close to a complete character. JKR can fuck right off with the movie and Cursed Child Rons.

He shows plenty of character development, and to put it in perspective, HERMIONE gets jealous of Harry "doing better than her in class".

Ron is jealous of "my friend is actually an important person in the world and I'll forever be a sidekick", "women love him, I'm just another ginger".
She's way more petty.
If anything, JKR barely highlights Ron's good features after the first 3 books.

 

TallDarkStranger Reread the Books and lay of the ff. In the series, Neville works hard to over come his flaws and grows as a character; him from book 1 to book 7. In comparison, what growth does Ron undergo?

If you ready you argument about who is petty you can see the flaw in your logic. Hermione has never abandoned Harry or her friends. She as stuck by harry and the mission through out the entire series.

 

Here's the thing though: while Hermione doesn't sway as much, look at where she's coming from. Hermione for the most part is that kid who kinda found her niche - the musician/the star athlete, and when that's not questioned, it's EASY to stick up for someone else. She's not been average her entire life - in fact, she's barely ever been competed with in her field of choice, academics. If my best friend was a star musician and I was an athlete, it's significantly easier to not begrudge them their success than when they are better at everything I love.
It's easier to do that, than to forever be overshadowed by almost everyone.

Ron's devils are ones that don't go away because throughout the series, he barely gets any experience that shows him that he's not worthless/that he's not insignificant/that he's valued and not justAnotherMaleWeasley. When does he show anyone else up at anything? When do things actually happen to him? When do girls show an interest in him?
And honestly, is it for lack of effort (outside of academics)?

He does everything Neville does, from a younger age.

Neville's moments - book 1, standing up to friends.
Book 3 - snape boggart.
Book 4 - gillyweed, and not suspecting Harry.
Book 5 - big role, yes. But does Ron do less?
Book 6 - what did Neville do in this one?
Book 7 - major role, yes.

But in a way, Neville and Harry are different - their lives are touched by fate, and not by proxy. Ron and Hermione are...more average in that sense.

 

In regards to Ron getting girls, Ron does get Lavender in book six. She comes on to him there, it seems like. He does tend to put his foot in his mouth a lot when it comes to other girls, though.

Other than that, I really do think Ron gets the short end of the stick a lot, and I've liked him as a character ever since I outgrew my infantile phase where I thought the average hero's friends had to be saints or angels, rather than normal, fallible humans. A lot of his failings to do with schoolwork seemed more for the comedic effect than anything else, or to add additional dialogue to either flesh out a scene or simply provide a scene change.