LV never loved anyone

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 110467

Pam wrote :
> "Back to canon: Voldemort had a choice, somewhere along the line, to
> progress in his evil ways rather than do battle with his lower
> nature. We all do."
 
Del asks :
> How is that canon ? We do NOT know that Tom had such a choice. As 
> you say later :
> "We shape our choices, and our choices shape us."
> Tom grew up in an orphanage, he learned there that power, not
> morality, is what matters in order to live in relative peace. 


SSSusan:
I think that's a stretch.  Do we know what he did or didn't learn 
about morality in the orphanage?  In what way does power provide a 
life of relative *peace* within an orphanage?


Del:
> He also grew up without a sense of identity. Those were *not* 
> choices on his part, they were imposed on him.

SSSusan:
I'm pretty much with you on this part.  I'd say Harry had a similarly 
difficult time of it, given his knowledge of how much the Dursleys 
detested & resented him and his lack of any information on his own 
parentage & past.


Del:
> Then he went to Hogwarts. The WW values power at least as much as 
> the Muggle world : be the best at jinxes and charms and people will
> instantly admire and respect you. So Tom sure didn't unlearn the
> importance of power there. Nor did he learn much about the 
> importance of morality, especially in Slytherin House.


SSSusan:
On the other hand, Hogwarts is a lot about comradeship, as well.  
Kids working together on projects, studying together in their common 
rooms, forming Quidditch teams & clubs.  I think Hogwarts DID afford 
Tom a chance to reach out to others, had he chosen to do so.  He 
managed to become a house & school leader, so I doubt he was totally 
isolated or not respected.


Del:
> And most important of all, Tom discovered his identity there : he 
> was the Heir of Slytherin, no less ! He was no more than 12 or 13 
> then, and here he was, discovering that he was the Heir of one of 
> the greatest wizards of all time : how could he *not* fully embrace 
> that new-found identity ?  So embrace it he did. Slytherin valued 
> power and cunning ? Happy coincidence, Tom already valued those 
> traits anyway. Slytherin hated the Muggle-borns ? Well he had it 
> right, after all : if Tom's pureblood mother had not meddled with 
> Muggles, she would not have been deserted, she would probably still 
> be alive, and Tom would not have had a nightmarish childhood. It 
> was all the fault of that horrible Muggle man. He deserved to die, 
> just like Tom's mother had. They *all* deserved to die, all those 
> treacherous, horrible, worthless Muggles, and their freakish kids. 
> Just look at them, strutting around the school as though they 
> belonged here, as though they were a part of the WW, when in fact 
> it was just an accident of nature if they had any magic in them at 
> all. And to think they were given the same education, the same 
> privileges as the *real* wizard kids. They should all be expelled, 
> someone should rid the school of them. Slytherin was right.
> 
> So much hate, so much resentment, and all of it *reinforced* by the
> discovery that Tom was the Heir of Slytherin. How could Tom *not* 
> have fallen ? Did anything happen to make him change his mind, did 
> anyone see what was happening and try to stop it ? We don't know. 
> But if nothing of the sort happened, then I don't see *why* Tom 
> should have acted any differently than he did : he had not been 
> taught morality, and he was being *encouraged* on his war path by 
> the teachings of Slytherin, the only *family* he ever had.

SSSusan:
What about HARRY, then?  Some of these same feelings factor in for 
him, too.  Hate of the Dursleys, resentment over his parents' murder 
and all the information that's been withheld from him over the 
years.  Frustration and anger that Snape seems to hate him from the 
get-go when he doesn't even know the man.  An orphan who's been 
raised with hand-me-down, baggy clothes, bossed around like a 
servant, and forced to sleep in a cupboard!  Why doesn't HARRY go 
right along with the nasty kids?  Alternately, why doesn't Harry 
strut about as "Savior of the Wizarding World", being an arrogant 
berk?  Because he chose not to.  

Yes, Tom & Harry had a different first 15 months of their lives, but 
after that, I'm guessing their respective orphanhoods weren't that 
different.  I do think that 15 months counts for something--as well 
as the fact that he's told his parents died fighting courageously 
against evil.  But if we see Harry choosing to fight the impulses for 
revenge, hate & cruelty, why CAN'T we expect Tom to choose to fight 
them, too, once he's at Hogwarts?  

I doubt Tom found out about the Heir of Slytherin thing right away--
you've suggested a year or two into his time there.  I do believe he 
had opportunities during this time to reach out to others, to choose 
differently than he did.  Harry chose how to act after a horrible 
childhood & facing all kinds of temptations; Tom did, too--they were 
just different choices than Harry's.

I'm with Pam on this one, that even with a loveless childhood, there 
are moments of choice we all face.  The loveless childhood makes 
the "bad" choice much more understandable, but it doesn't make it 
predetermined.

Siriusly Snapey Susan