Ok, I know this was brought up some time ago, and some of you may not care. However if you clicked your way to here odds are you have some curiosity so I hope you enjoy my thoughts on the issue about the romantic interaction between ron and hermione.
First, let's talk about why it seems like kind of a mismatched relationship. Well, Hermione is basically mega awesome. Where as Ron is... well, to call him average is generous. In fact, Ron is rather dwarfed by Hermione in comparison. Ron isn't super social or attractive, where as Hermione becomes a total babe (she dates Victor Crumb who is the best athlete in the wizarding word...not bad Hermione). Ron is only able to get a date to the Yule Ball thanks to Harry's help. Hermione becomes knowledgable about basically everything under the sun and is more prepared than marine corp snipers that I know. Meanwhile, Ron struggles in most classes and isn't that grand athletically (he only gets on the Gryffindor Quidditch team because Hermione cheats for him). I mean, we can see why Ron would fall for Hermione, but from Hermione's perspective what does Ron have to offer? He isn't that handsome, he isn't that smart, he isn't that athletic, and he doesn't treat her that well sooooo....what? Heck, Harry is better than Ron in almost every way, so why doesn't she give scarface a ring? Well, Ron is funny, but hell, there are lots of funny guys in the world. Why go with the below average ginger?
I could go on and give more in-depth examples about why Ron and Hermione don't work, but that isn't the point I'm going for. I'm not trying to list the symptoms. I'm hunting for the disease.
In my opinion the disease is character management.
What do I mean by character management? I mean keeping your characters acting in a way that is both consistent with your characters while also allowing them to grow as the story unfolds. It is my opinion that this is where things started to fall apart for Romione or whatever you may call the couple.
However before I do anything productive like, let's talk about some of the core types of groups you find in story telling. This list is not comprehensive, but a lot fits into these categories so just go with it.
1. The Loner
-ex: James Bond, Spiderman
2. The Duo
-ex: Shaun of the Dead, every buddy cop movie ever
3. The Trio.
-ex: Star Trek (the original series), Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. The Four Humors
- The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Scooby Doo, The Three Musketeers (ironically)
Most of these groups, excluding the 'loner,' are about radically different perspectives coming together to find the best solution for a problem (the loner does this too but in a weird way that I'm not going into).
In the Duo you have two people who are very different come together to solve a problem. The problem would most likely defeat each member of the duo if they were to go at it alone, but each member of the duo is complemented by the other. Together the two are able to reach a solution that fits somewhere in between how each would normally solve a problem. ex: Scully thinks this is all rubbish. Mulder thinks this is legit. Scully and Mulder keep an open mind about the case.
In the Trio you have the Duo simply expanded. One person is one extreme, one person is the other extreme, and the third person (normally the protagonist) is somewhere in the middle. The middle man's job is to find a plan between the two extremes that provides the best solution. ex: Sam wants to call the cops, Fiona wants to blow stuff up, Michael decides to blow stuff up then call the cops.
The Four humors is a further expansion where you have 4 people with radically different viewpoints and talents that work together (depending on the strengths of the others in the group to achieve a goal). ex: House wants to do something logical but kind of crazy. Cameron is morally outraged. Foreman thinks it's lupus. Chase thinks.... that maybe House is right....I know that example sucked but this one isn't Harry Potter and I feel like you get the picture
So, obviously Harry Potter is the trio.
Why did I just go into this whole song and dance? Well, I likely have mild attention problems, but also because this lays out why Ron and Hermione fail by showing what they were suppose to be.
This is a direct quote from the interview with JK Rowling where she expressed that Ron and Hermione should not have ended up together.
"For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron."
So she liked the couple at first. Well, what happened?
Basically, Hermione becomes too good at everything and Ron becomes too bad at everything.
To keep this from getting way to long let's distill the problem by talking about the intellectual qualities of Ron and Hermione, keeping in mind that the structure is a trio where in Ron and Hermione are suppose to be opposites that Harry is the middle ground for. At first Hermione is a type A personality who is filling in Harry on the empirical info, and Ron is the fun friend showing Harry the ropes of the world from a practical level. In this scenario it is important to remember that Ron and Hermione are BOTH intelligent. *record scratch* What? Ron intelligent on the level of Hermione? MADNESS. Let's think about it. In the first book Hermione constantly is bringing up the book "Hogwarts: A History." She does this because she is NOT a mega genius. She constantly quotes this same bloody book over and over again because it is where she gets a huge amount of her knowledge about the school. She is what we might call "book smart." She is clever, but only in that she is strong with memorization and algorithms. When it comes to creatively applying her knowledge, she would struggle. Ron on the other hand is clever in the opposite fashion. Remember how Ron is good at chess? Well chess is an intellectual exercise, especially in books. Ron is not great in school, but on the chess board the only time he ever loses is on the day he realizes that he is in love with Hermione.
Let's look at an example early on that provides the perfect comparison between the two's intellects.
Swish and flick.
In the first book, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are learning a levitation spell, wingardium leviosa. Hermione is all over it. In one try she nails it like a stone pro. Ron sucks and is not able to get it right away. He only is able to do something even passable because Hermione helps him. Later on, Hermione is crying in the bathroom when a troll busts in. Hermione, for all her wit, does not know what to do. She can quote you the book, but that is not going to help right now. Now we need a problem solver. Enter Ron. Ron comes in and uses the levitation spell to knock out the troll and save the day. Why doesn't Hermione do this? She knows the spell. Hell, she is probably better with the spell than Ron. She doesn't use it, because this is not her thing. It would never even occur to her to do such a thing. She is all about book knowledge where as Ron is more about application and creative thinking. Both are important. Without Ron's "street smarts," if you will, the troll would have killed Hermione, and without Hermione's "book smarts" Ron would have never learned how to perform the spell in the first place.
Think about it. Why is Ron funny? It's not just to have a funny character who provides comic relief, we do have Neville after all, it is because Ron is sharp. Ron is smart just not in an easily testable way, Hermione is much more scholastic, and Harry is suppose to be the perfect medium.
This difference but EQUALITY is all over the series, even if it sometimes gets messed up:
Ron is bold and values honor: Malfoy wants a duel? I'll totally be your second Harry. You know I got your back homie.
Hermione is cautious and values the rules: Malfoy wants a duel? Harry don't go you'll get in trouble!
Hermione knows about the origins of the four houses of Hogwarts, but Ron has to explain to her why he went ham on Malfoy for calling her a "mud blood."
Hermione becomes beautiful and starts dating wizard David Beckham.
Ron becomes athletic and becomes the hero of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Ever notice that in the first few books Hermione doesn't seem to hang out with Harry as much? Ron is definitely more of a constant fixture. When Christmas time hits in the first book Hermione goes home. However, Ron, the "friendlier" guy...if you will... stays with Harry at Hogwarts even though he has a huge family back at home that would probably like to see him. This is likely because Ron is suppose to seem a bit more social and a closer initial friend than Hermione.
This sets up a great relationship between Hermione and Ron. They are different, but equal. In the same way that men and women are fundamentally different, but equal. They aren't constantly fighting each other. They are constantly challenging each other. Their differences push each other, bring out the best in each other, and complement each other. Their arguments become almost fun in this way. I may be wrong, but I'm fairly certain that at one point in the books it is suggested that Ron does not need Hermione to tutor him so much he just enjoys the company.
What happened then?
Well, as I said...towards the end of the series, Ron generally exists to show that Harry is not a wierdo with only a girl for a friend and to provide comic relief. Meanwhile, Hermione becomes the super hot, super smart, the wonder girl we tend to remember her as.
How did this happen?
Well, in my opinion JK Rowling got too attached to Hermione. I suspect she saw a bit of herself in the character and did a little wish fulfillment making Hermione into a bit of a "Mary Sue." I think JK got a little excited about her female character and made her much more powerful than the story needed her to be. In doing so Hermione began to consume the elements of Ron that made him a good Ying to her Yang. Ron became someone who didn't actually need to be around. Later in the books, Ron is regularly incapacitated (like in the ministry of magic at the end of book 4 or in book 7 when he literally just walks off). Why? because he isn't needed. Anything that Ron can do Hermione can do better. The trio gets reduced to a quasi duo with an awkward ginger third wheel.
Overall, I think that Ron and Hermione aren't the best couple ever, but I think it could have been worse. All I'm really saying is that it could have been better. I hope this shed some light on the issue or at least made you think about the couple in a different way.
If enough people enjoyed this I may do a post about who Harry should have ended up with. If people care about the rumblings of a madman like me.
S-<
First, let's talk about why it seems like kind of a mismatched relationship. Well, Hermione is basically mega awesome. Where as Ron is... well, to call him average is generous. In fact, Ron is rather dwarfed by Hermione in comparison. Ron isn't super social or attractive, where as Hermione becomes a total babe (she dates Victor Crumb who is the best athlete in the wizarding word...not bad Hermione). Ron is only able to get a date to the Yule Ball thanks to Harry's help. Hermione becomes knowledgable about basically everything under the sun and is more prepared than marine corp snipers that I know. Meanwhile, Ron struggles in most classes and isn't that grand athletically (he only gets on the Gryffindor Quidditch team because Hermione cheats for him). I mean, we can see why Ron would fall for Hermione, but from Hermione's perspective what does Ron have to offer? He isn't that handsome, he isn't that smart, he isn't that athletic, and he doesn't treat her that well sooooo....what? Heck, Harry is better than Ron in almost every way, so why doesn't she give scarface a ring? Well, Ron is funny, but hell, there are lots of funny guys in the world. Why go with the below average ginger?
I could go on and give more in-depth examples about why Ron and Hermione don't work, but that isn't the point I'm going for. I'm not trying to list the symptoms. I'm hunting for the disease.
In my opinion the disease is character management.
What do I mean by character management? I mean keeping your characters acting in a way that is both consistent with your characters while also allowing them to grow as the story unfolds. It is my opinion that this is where things started to fall apart for Romione or whatever you may call the couple.
However before I do anything productive like, let's talk about some of the core types of groups you find in story telling. This list is not comprehensive, but a lot fits into these categories so just go with it.
1. The Loner
-ex: James Bond, Spiderman
2. The Duo
-ex: Shaun of the Dead, every buddy cop movie ever
3. The Trio.
-ex: Star Trek (the original series), Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4. The Four Humors
- The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Scooby Doo, The Three Musketeers (ironically)
Most of these groups, excluding the 'loner,' are about radically different perspectives coming together to find the best solution for a problem (the loner does this too but in a weird way that I'm not going into).
In the Duo you have two people who are very different come together to solve a problem. The problem would most likely defeat each member of the duo if they were to go at it alone, but each member of the duo is complemented by the other. Together the two are able to reach a solution that fits somewhere in between how each would normally solve a problem. ex: Scully thinks this is all rubbish. Mulder thinks this is legit. Scully and Mulder keep an open mind about the case.
In the Trio you have the Duo simply expanded. One person is one extreme, one person is the other extreme, and the third person (normally the protagonist) is somewhere in the middle. The middle man's job is to find a plan between the two extremes that provides the best solution. ex: Sam wants to call the cops, Fiona wants to blow stuff up, Michael decides to blow stuff up then call the cops.
The Four humors is a further expansion where you have 4 people with radically different viewpoints and talents that work together (depending on the strengths of the others in the group to achieve a goal). ex: House wants to do something logical but kind of crazy. Cameron is morally outraged. Foreman thinks it's lupus. Chase thinks.... that maybe House is right....I know that example sucked but this one isn't Harry Potter and I feel like you get the picture
So, obviously Harry Potter is the trio.
Why did I just go into this whole song and dance? Well, I likely have mild attention problems, but also because this lays out why Ron and Hermione fail by showing what they were suppose to be.
This is a direct quote from the interview with JK Rowling where she expressed that Ron and Hermione should not have ended up together.
"For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron."
So she liked the couple at first. Well, what happened?
Basically, Hermione becomes too good at everything and Ron becomes too bad at everything.
To keep this from getting way to long let's distill the problem by talking about the intellectual qualities of Ron and Hermione, keeping in mind that the structure is a trio where in Ron and Hermione are suppose to be opposites that Harry is the middle ground for. At first Hermione is a type A personality who is filling in Harry on the empirical info, and Ron is the fun friend showing Harry the ropes of the world from a practical level. In this scenario it is important to remember that Ron and Hermione are BOTH intelligent. *record scratch* What? Ron intelligent on the level of Hermione? MADNESS. Let's think about it. In the first book Hermione constantly is bringing up the book "Hogwarts: A History." She does this because she is NOT a mega genius. She constantly quotes this same bloody book over and over again because it is where she gets a huge amount of her knowledge about the school. She is what we might call "book smart." She is clever, but only in that she is strong with memorization and algorithms. When it comes to creatively applying her knowledge, she would struggle. Ron on the other hand is clever in the opposite fashion. Remember how Ron is good at chess? Well chess is an intellectual exercise, especially in books. Ron is not great in school, but on the chess board the only time he ever loses is on the day he realizes that he is in love with Hermione.
Let's look at an example early on that provides the perfect comparison between the two's intellects.
Swish and flick.
In the first book, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are learning a levitation spell, wingardium leviosa. Hermione is all over it. In one try she nails it like a stone pro. Ron sucks and is not able to get it right away. He only is able to do something even passable because Hermione helps him. Later on, Hermione is crying in the bathroom when a troll busts in. Hermione, for all her wit, does not know what to do. She can quote you the book, but that is not going to help right now. Now we need a problem solver. Enter Ron. Ron comes in and uses the levitation spell to knock out the troll and save the day. Why doesn't Hermione do this? She knows the spell. Hell, she is probably better with the spell than Ron. She doesn't use it, because this is not her thing. It would never even occur to her to do such a thing. She is all about book knowledge where as Ron is more about application and creative thinking. Both are important. Without Ron's "street smarts," if you will, the troll would have killed Hermione, and without Hermione's "book smarts" Ron would have never learned how to perform the spell in the first place.
Think about it. Why is Ron funny? It's not just to have a funny character who provides comic relief, we do have Neville after all, it is because Ron is sharp. Ron is smart just not in an easily testable way, Hermione is much more scholastic, and Harry is suppose to be the perfect medium.
This difference but EQUALITY is all over the series, even if it sometimes gets messed up:
Ron is bold and values honor: Malfoy wants a duel? I'll totally be your second Harry. You know I got your back homie.
Hermione is cautious and values the rules: Malfoy wants a duel? Harry don't go you'll get in trouble!
Hermione knows about the origins of the four houses of Hogwarts, but Ron has to explain to her why he went ham on Malfoy for calling her a "mud blood."
Hermione becomes beautiful and starts dating wizard David Beckham.
Ron becomes athletic and becomes the hero of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Ever notice that in the first few books Hermione doesn't seem to hang out with Harry as much? Ron is definitely more of a constant fixture. When Christmas time hits in the first book Hermione goes home. However, Ron, the "friendlier" guy...if you will... stays with Harry at Hogwarts even though he has a huge family back at home that would probably like to see him. This is likely because Ron is suppose to seem a bit more social and a closer initial friend than Hermione.
This sets up a great relationship between Hermione and Ron. They are different, but equal. In the same way that men and women are fundamentally different, but equal. They aren't constantly fighting each other. They are constantly challenging each other. Their differences push each other, bring out the best in each other, and complement each other. Their arguments become almost fun in this way. I may be wrong, but I'm fairly certain that at one point in the books it is suggested that Ron does not need Hermione to tutor him so much he just enjoys the company.
What happened then?
Well, as I said...towards the end of the series, Ron generally exists to show that Harry is not a wierdo with only a girl for a friend and to provide comic relief. Meanwhile, Hermione becomes the super hot, super smart, the wonder girl we tend to remember her as.
How did this happen?
Well, in my opinion JK Rowling got too attached to Hermione. I suspect she saw a bit of herself in the character and did a little wish fulfillment making Hermione into a bit of a "Mary Sue." I think JK got a little excited about her female character and made her much more powerful than the story needed her to be. In doing so Hermione began to consume the elements of Ron that made him a good Ying to her Yang. Ron became someone who didn't actually need to be around. Later in the books, Ron is regularly incapacitated (like in the ministry of magic at the end of book 4 or in book 7 when he literally just walks off). Why? because he isn't needed. Anything that Ron can do Hermione can do better. The trio gets reduced to a quasi duo with an awkward ginger third wheel.
Overall, I think that Ron and Hermione aren't the best couple ever, but I think it could have been worse. All I'm really saying is that it could have been better. I hope this shed some light on the issue or at least made you think about the couple in a different way.
If enough people enjoyed this I may do a post about who Harry should have ended up with. If people care about the rumblings of a madman like me.
S-<
