[HPforGrownups] Not One-sided (was: Voldemort - Jafar?)

[Barb]

No: HPFGUIDX 47949


 Maria Kirilenko <maria_kirilenko at yahoo.com> wrote:
In GoF Voldemort is described as tall, thin, with abnormally long fingers, white skin, with slits for nostrils and red eyes. Doesn't that kind of resemble Jafar in "Aladdin?" I think that the only 2 differences are that Jafar does not have red eyes but instead has a really big nose. 

This bothers me for this reason: Jafar is a classic, even fairy-tale villain, he doesn't have *any* positive traits (well, he is rather smart, but he's still very unappealing). JKR doesn't strike me as the type of writer who would have such one-sided characters. So why the resemblance? Maybe it's just an accident?

Me:
I think it's a coincidence.  Both JKR and the artist who designed Jafar seem to think this general appearance is somewhat sinister and forboding.  As you note, they aren't identical in every respect.  
 
As to the part about the character being one-sided, Voldemort is actually the one villain in the series (the Malfoys being especially notable for this) who is NOT one sided.  While we don't know everything about his motivation for trying to kill Harry (whether it was the Heir of Gryffindor thing, a prophecy or whatever) we do have some insight into his life before he became Voldemort.  In CoS we get a picture of a boy relegated to living in an orphanage, a boy who found out he was a wizard, that he could talk to snakes, and that he was the descendant of one of the founders of Hogwarts, the founder who hated Muggles (like his father) and Muggle-borns.  We find out that he was in an orphanage not because he was actually an orphan, but because his father walked out on his mother upon finding out she was a witch.  We also learn, early in GoF, that he killed his own father and paternal grandparents, which probably gave him a taste for first-hand murder (as opposed to his murder of Myrtle, which was not technicaly by his hand, although he was to blame for setting the basilisk loose).
 
This actually gives us a pretty good portrait of Tom Riddle as a young man.  We  see that as early as sixteen he was ruthless enough to kill (perhaps because he thought it was his legacy, as the Heir of Slytherin?) and to frame others (Hagrid).  We see that he was also clever enough to create that diary, that he was a Head Boy, and that he had the ability to see the Big Picture and knew that "Tom Riddle" would not inspire legions of followers, whereas "Lord Voldemort" just might.  Frankly, I wish the motivation of those who follow him (Barty Crouch, Jr., the Malfoys, the Lestranges) was as clear as the motivation of Voldemort himself.
 
--Barb
 


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