Foil

Character Role Analysis

Harry/Ron

Harry and Ron's differences loom large in this particular installment of the franchise. Sure, there have always been obvious differences: Harry is "The Boy Who Lived," the only child of Lily and James Potter, and an orphan, and Ron is a regular kid (er, wizard) with a large, loving family.

Those differences have largely been strengths, up to this point. Ron and his family have welcomed Harry and helped keep him grounded, and Harry, probably because he's had a sometimes rough and lonely life, is a particularly strong, brave, and loyal friend.

However, in this film, we see the boys' differences kind of wearing on them. Harry is just kind of plugging ahead with Dumbledore's mission, without really knowing exactly what he should be doing or how to get to the next step—you know, like the brave kid that he is. And Ron is getting tired of just kind of being along for the ride, in large part because it means being far from his family and having zero idea how they're doing.

So, with/through this tension between the characters, we really get to see how Ron and Harry's motivations, background, and core qualities are pretty different.