J. K. Rowling Wanted to Kill Ron Weasley

[rattlesnakeroot]

This is eye-opening: J. K. Rowling considered killing off Ron Weasley in Deathly Hallows!

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*hears boom as collective heads of Ron Fandom literally asplode*

So much for the theory that Ron was essential to Harry's victory, LOL.

ETA: I've always said that Ron reminded me of James ~ holy snitch-nicker Batman!

Considering the

Comments

[merrylore]

I definitely agree that authors often don't have the depth of feelings for their characters that many of the readers have. I'm on book 5 of George RR Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, he has two more novels to go and a new HBO series, but he's all but admitted he's bored with it and wished he'd written about 5 kingdoms instead of 7 so he could skip the last two novels completely.

I like Ron -I think he's the most humorous character, and I think he's an excellent match for Hermione. I think she enjoys spice and a little drama, and he keeps her from being too bookish. That being said, I wouldn't have cried if JRK killed him off. I wasn't all that attached to him, either. Besides, she killed all of MY faves - Snape, Dumbledore, Hedwig, Dobby, Lupin (the only Marauder I actually liked).

[rattlesnakeroot]

One time JKR said in an interview (I think in the A&E Harry and Me biography) that she had "dated a couple of Rons." Of course, her best friend from school was a tall red-haired boy - Sean Harris - and the one who had the Ford Anglia that could get her out of the house. So I think she was emotionally attached to someone like Ron, but not as husband material

[rattlesnakeroot]

Pearlette: I certainly don’t see him at all the same as James. James was a glamour boy and knew it and milked it (certainly when he was younger).

Yes, but . . . there are some parallels drawn in the text. There's a scene in which Ron is playing with the snitch to show off. Then there's the fact that Ron never really knows what is going on, which I think is similar to James being naive. He is attached to Scabbers and sees him as a victim, much as James viewed Peter as almost as a pet. And in the Epilogue, Ginny says her son James is very much like Uncle Ron.

Not to mention that James attacked Snape many times because of Lily, the same way Ron dislikes Krum in GoF because of Hermione. And Ron is a thoughtless bully boy too who says whatever mean thing comes into his head - we see that with Luna.

So I wasn't thinking of James the glamour-boy, but more James the Quidditch fanatic, the rat lover, the bully, and the somewhat clueless boyfriend/husband.

Ron's comparison to James Potter

[sethisuwan]

You know I've been reading your site for two days non-stop now, and totally respect 100% all your views regarding Snape. You're fair and spot-on