Sammy Habbaz
January 30, 2013
Ms. Bloom
4-V
Being a decent author
is not an easy task. There are many different components that make up a piece
of literature. However, one of the first jobs an author has to do is make the
character relatable to its readers. By doing this the author makes the story
more likable because it seems more genuine. An author who has achieved this
goal is J.K. Rowling. By creating an interesting plot, with relatable
characters, Rowling has written one of the most famous young adult books in
history. The Harry Potter series was actually one of the first books I have
ever read and I enjoyed it immensely. For me, the character that I could most
relate to is Harry Potter’s best friend, Ron Weasley.
When we are first
introduced to Ron, we see that he is one of the youngest within a family of
nine. Nevertheless, being the youngest does not stop him from being one of the
tallest in his family. Not only that, but we are told that he has a father that
works for his interests rather than for the money. As a result, he lacks
certain comforts of a normal family. He gets his older brother’s old wand,
robes, and even his pet rat. Ron often feels neglected and overshadowed. We see
this on the train going to Hogwarts when his mom makes him a sandwich that he
does not like. As
he travels on the train he discusses these problems with Harry. He continues to
say that he is nervous about going to Hogwarts. Besides being a new atmosphere
that he is not used to, he is scared about not living up to his family name.
All of his older brothers made a name for themselves within Hogwarts. Whether
they were quidditch captain, a prefect, or just plain funny, they all made a
mark on the school. And even if Ron achieves the same thing it is not a big
deal because they all accomplished it first. Whatever he does within the school
he will be known as the younger brother. This bothers him because by going into
a new place he is already expected to be great and he does not think he could
live up to his brothers’ name. All he wanted was to be independent and have his
own name. However, we see as the series progresses that this is not true. Besides
being courageous and a good friend, Ron finds his talents in quidditch, a sport
already perfected by his older brother. It can be said, that this affected his
mind set while playing the game, resulting in an inconsistency in his
performance. On the other hand, when he actually believed he could do well and
practiced hard it led to outstanding games. Another
aspect that Ron showed expertise was in chess. It was known that Ron was the
best chess player within Hogwarts. This was important because he finally found
an area he was good in that was not previously mastered by someone in his
family. At last he had something that could be attributed to only him. He found
his place in Hogwarts and ended up doing well there.
It wasn’t until later
in my life that I realized how much my life ended up like Ron’s. First off,
just like Ron, I am tall, lanky, and have freckles. I too am the youngest
within my family. Although I am only a family of six, my parents often get
confused between each family member. I can sympathize with Ron because often
enough my mom has made me cream cheese sandwiches; which happens to be one of
the few things that I don’t like.
Another way Ron and I are
similar is that our fathers have the same mindset. They both have jobs that
pertain to their interests rather than have a job that pays a lot of money. One
of my father’s favorite thing to do is to take pictures, so he became a photographer.
As a result there are certain things that my friends have that I do not. Although
my dad chose to take this path, it seems to be that we are better off than the
Weasley family. Occasionally I would get my brothers old bike or even sometimes
share clothes. However, sometimes this was done for convenience rather than for
money. But nonetheless I know the feeling of not completely having something of
your own. This was one of the reasons why I wanted to get a job and start
feeling a little more independent.
When
choosing a high school I decided to go to a school that my brother already
attended. Just like Ron, I was walking into a new environment and into a school
that my brother already made a name for himself. He was known as being really
smart and as a good debater. When anyone found out who I was the first question
they asked was if I was as smart as my older brother. Not only that, but many
teachers and principals kept on comparing me to my brother. This turned out to
be really annoying. All I wanted to do is to be known for the accomplishments
of my own and not for being someone else’s brother. So I set out trying to make
my own name and started off with debate. Being that this was already my brother’s
expertise I often found myself doubting my skills as a debater. If I did well
in a debate it wouldn’t matter because my brother was already a skilled
debater. So I often didn’t do as well as I could have. But if I practiced
enough and concentrated on my own performance, I came out winning the debate.
Although this was an accomplishment, I still needed to find something of my own
like Ron; I needed to find my chess.
Finally, I found something that was of personal interest to me and put my
debate skills to good use; I wanted to become a lawyer. Testing out my new
found interest, I participated in a competitive competition known as moot
court. This was a successful experiment and I ended up winning the whole
tournament. This achievement was something I could be proud of and was
completely my own. As a senior I could honestly say that I ended up succeeding
in this new environment and made a name for myself.
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