Similarities between Harry and Voldemort (was: Re: Voldemort & Lily)

[Devika]

No: HPFGUIDX 54825

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, iluvgahan <iluvgahan at y...> 
wrote:
<snip> 
> 
> I could be way off base and maybe there will be an
> explanation for the similarities between Harry and
> Voldemort in the future books, but I always interpreted it
> as a way to show that no matter how similar people are(ie:
> hair, complexion, parentage, whether magic or muggle)it is
> the choices you make that determines who you become.  Harry
> and Voldemort apparently have a few things in common, but
> Voldemort decided to use his power for evil, whereas Harry
> uses his for good.  JKR seems, IMHO, to want to make this
> point implicitly.  Dumbledore expressed these sentiments
> when Harry questioned whether he belonged in Slytherin, and
> I think this is just an extension of that thought.  Just my
> two Knuts, 
> 

I wrote the following post a long time ago (in 2001).  I don't think 
anyone replied to it then, but maybe it will be more interesting 
and/or relevant this time around:

I believe that all of the references to the physical similarities 
between Harry and Voldemort, as well as their similarities in 
upbringing only serve to strengthen JKR's (and Dumbledore's) point 
that it is our choices that shape who we are. Harry and Voldemort 
provide a perfect example of this. As Tom Riddle pointed out in CoS, 
there were likenesses in his and Harry's pasts. However, Tom chose 
one path and Harry quite clearly has chosen another for his future. 
Harry and Voldemort, so similar at first glance, even physically, are 
two very different people, and this is as a result of their choices 
and not their upbringings.  

The fact that Harry's and Voldemort's wands share cores seems to me 
to imply that there was a possibility that the two of them had 
similar potentials when they each began at Hogwarts. (I'm making the 
assumption that Voldemort's wand was the first one he bought before 
he went to Hogwarts for the first time.) Tom Riddle had just as great 
a potential for good as Harry had for evil (Gryffindor vs. 
Slytherin). They both had very powerful wands and the abilities to do 
great things. However, Tom's future was set by his decision to join 
the dark side and become Lord Voldemort, just as Harry's future will 
be influenced by his decision to fight against Voldemort.  I agree 
with you that the similarities between Harry and Voldemort, whether 
coincidence or results of the curse that failed, are superficial. 
These, IMO, only reinforce the idea that we all have the ability to 
overcome our pasts and control our own futures.


Devika :)