Why Ron Weasley Matter in Harry Potter Books?

I was browsing Quora, and someone has requested the answer to the Question – Is Ron Weasley really needed in Harry Potter Universe?

For a moment, I was confused about why anyone would ask this type of question. After reading some answers, I realize that the root of the problem is not Ron Weasley here.

The Journey of Harry Potter -

Harry Potter series is one of the most popular series of all time. Harry Potter's journey is interesting to people of every age and enjoyed by a whole generation of kids. I am one of them. When the series span for a long time and has many books, like Harry Potter or The Mortal Instrument, no single character readers follow. So, Harry Potter was not only the journey of Harry Potter. It was the journey of Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Draco, and many other characters.

Harry Potter’s story has two sides. One is from Hermione, the smart and intelligent girl. On the other side is Ron Weasley, the poor and loyal friend. Most of the readers find the help provided by Hermione more useful than Ron. They think Ron was just there to make people laugh or to make mistakes. And Rowling does not help.

Dilemma of Rowling

JK Rowling said in her interview that she regrets writing Ron and Hermione. She wanted to end Harry and Hermione together. But she was restricted by the arc she created in the previous book. It is a very terrible thing to say, and I know Rowling has a habit of saying the stupidest thing nowadays. But still, Ron and Hermione were a good couple.

The reason behind thinking that Ron does not deserve Hermione might be that Rowling has written herself as Hermione. And she thinks she can do better than Ron. When there is Harry Potter, who is available, Ron seems like a bad choice. But that is when you look at it from a biased point of view of self-importance. Ron may not be the protagonist, but he is too strong to be discarded like that.

Rowling also said that she wanted to kill off Ron in the middle of the series. It feels bad when the author who has written such a beloved character does not love him. There is a various reason why Rowling does not love Ron. One big reason is she does not like Hermione to end up with him. She sees Hermione as her, and she wants Hermione to ends with someone important, not with a poor and aloof guy.

Also, Rowling does not like Ron because she does not consider him a nice boy. For her, Ron is always a boy from a less prestigious family with lots of siblings and impoverished background. She does not want to give such a character to her heroine. But again, the reason is more rooted.

Attitude towards Side Character

It is the same as the avoiding attitude towards side character. We, as a reader, never want to think about the feeling of a side character. We think of him as a tool that should be used when the times come. We believe that this character is going to be sacrificed when the moment is right. So, we don’t care whatever happens to them. But she forgets the opposite attracts. And Hermione and Ron's arc are more believable than Hermione and Harry's. Ron developed into the finest character. Nearly like Samwise Gamgee.

The other problem here is too much oversaturation of the second main character as the story's Joker. There are lots and lots of side characters whose work is only to create comic relief in the book. These characters are there to make the situation light or make the stupid mistake so the villain can have some advantage over Hero.

The hero often makes a good plan, but at the last moment, the side character does something stupid, so the Hero has to protect the side character by fighting or good presence of mind. It is a good and very much overused way of creating a difficult situation for the protagonist. In a way, the side character becomes a tool that could be used to reflect the qualities of Hero or the values of Hero. Even Harry Potter is not saved from such a cliché.

In a Room of Requirement fight, Ron does not want to protect Draco, but Harry does. Hence establishing the fact that Harry has more patience and moral values than Ron.

But are side characters, or Ron only exist to make the Hero look good. Or do they have another purpose?

Now, one thing is Darkness.

As the story goes, on our Hero's journey, a moment came when he falls into hopelessness. He loses his motivation and does not want to continue his journey. He finds himself questioning everything about himself and start doubting his own abilities. A side character is precious at that moment.

They not only take care of the protagonist but also motivate him. Sometimes they become the reason for motivation. It happens when the side character dies, and the protagonist comes back to his senses.

Ron provides that angle to harry. Hermione does not do that; Ron does that. When Harry was drowning in the lake, or when Harry was fighting his own battle with Dark Lord. Ron was always there to support him. Despite the little feud, Ron was a good friend.

Supportive Friend

Ron is always like a guide for Harry. Both Harry and Hermione were new to the world. Ron was not. But the lack of money does restrict people from exploring much, so Ron has not involved in the wizarding world himself. That makes Harry and Ron's friendship that powerful.

Ron becomes the pillar at which Harry leans in the beginning. But as the story process, we start to avoid Ron standing on his ground and providing emotional and physical support to Harry, and we see Harry more than anyone. Harry and Hermione do great things that are of no doubt, but those great things cannot diminish what Ron has done.

Ron was the one who gave the house to both. In the second part, Ron abducted Harry, and that scene perfectly captures the extent to which Ron could protect Harry. At that time, there was no stake than the first part, where the Dark Lord was coming back.

Ron did all that because he misses Harry and he wanted to see if he was alright. Harry Potter is one of the series in which supporting characters grew up and develop beautifully. Rowling has done it smartly.

In the end, Harry trusts him for the task of destroying the Horcrux. Harry was chosen to do the job, which was done not with Ron's help but by Ron himself. In the end, after fighting so many obstacles, Ron does stand his ground against the Dark Lord. Ron does prove his friendship, and he also shows how nice a person he really is by saving all of the House-elves.

When people say why Ron Weasley matter or Ron Weasley was not important, I do not understand what to say to them. Because Ron does matter. Characters like Ron Weasley will always matter. They are the characters that make the story powerful. They are the characters that make the story believable. And they are the characters people mostly relate to.

Written by Faizan Fahim