Evil and Stuff (was: seeking...)

[clicketykeys <clicketykeys@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 48319

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Melody <Malady579 at h...>" <
Malady579 at h...> wrote:

> I wrote:
> >Voldemort is rotten to the core, I can't help but remember he *is*
> >human.  Well, a part of him I'm sure is somewhere in there.  While I
> >may kid around with Voldie becoming redeemed at the end, I do believe
> >it is a viable option because he is still human.
> 
> CK wrote:
> >>I'm not sure. First the wisp-o-mort, then the back of someone else's
> >>head and unicorn's blood, then the ugly baby, then Flatface... I
> >>think Rowling has done a pretty good job of dehumanizing Voldemort.
> >>I'm not saying that it's completely impossible to redeem him. In
> >>theory, it's still a possibility. I just wouldn't put too many eggs
> >>in that basket.
> 
> 
> Yes, JKR has painted a rather ugly picture.  A picture of a man that
> is barely seen as a man.  Seems that is what pure evil does to a
> person in fiction.  It consumes them first in the heart and bleeds out
> in appearance to the point that they are as ugly outside as in.  Well,
> that is what happens in cartoons anyway.  And like cartoons, the evil
> bad guy is just that.  Evil drawn ugly so that we are repulsed by it.

Also classic literature - "The Portrait of Dorian Grey," IIRC.

>  Is this what JKR wants?  Us to see Voldemort as this ugly shell of a
> person that is not really human so that we hate despise evil more and
> rejoin in its demise?  Seems that is a rather shallow way create a bad
> guy.

Why? Just because he's thoroughly evil doesn't make him one-
dimensional.

<sniping explanation, moving to the point:> 

> To dehumanized Voldemort would make killing him easier for all, but
> defeat the point of the lessons learned so far in the series.

Oh, I don't agree. I think that making him not-human makes the 
morality of killing him more questionable. Because if he IS human, 
then the choice is simple: Harry may not kill him. Period. As a 'human 
being,' yeah, he has the choice. But as the archetypal virtuous hero, 
he may not kill another human being.

However, if Voldemort isn't human, it removes that assurance. Maybe 
he's past redemption. Maybe there is no longer anything worth saving. 
And yet... and yet he USED to be human. Does that count for anything?

I think we'll find out if it means anything to Harry. ;)

CK