Draco's nature, LV's abiliity to love, Dudders and Harry, etc. (long)

[slgazit]

No: HPFGUIDX 110642

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "tylerswaxlion" <ctcasares at s...>
wrote:

> But I'm not talking about all orphanages or all orphans.  I'm 
> talking about a specific instance--we've been told Tom was raised in 
> an orphanage, and he would rather have stayed at Hogwarts than to 
> return to the orphanage--my inference is that he didn't like it 
> there.

True. Likewise, Harry has always preferred to stay at Hogwarts than go
to Privet Drive.

>  His mother died after naming him--he never experienced her 
> love.  Most importantly, JKR just said that LV has never loved 
> anyone--which leads to my assumption that he was raised 
> *indifferently*.

We have no knowledge of the quality of care offered at that orphanage.
It could have been really bad, indifferent, abusive, or that Voldemort
had attachment problems unrelated to the environment. I am however
sure that the other orphans have not all turned into megalomanian mass
murderers. This means that how he turned out must have been primarily
due to inherent personality flaws.

As another example, take Hitler. While he had an abusive father, it is
well known that he had a mother who loved him and he her. There are
thousands or more children in the world growing up in similar
circumstances, but only one turned out to be Hitler. You simply can't
blame it all on environment.

> They *didn't* care, and that 
> early indifference caused the damage, namely Riddle's inability to 
> love.

Perhaps. I am not denying that the orphanage must have contributed to
his disfunctionality. Only that it is not the real cause. Hitler was
able to love (his mother, Eva Brown, perhaps others), but he still
turned out to be a dictator responsible for tens of millions of
deaths. Ditto for Stalin - and you could find several more examples.

There were studies showing that serious criminals or insane people
sometimes have brain scans that differ than normal people's brains. I
personally know of a woman who became paranoid and delusional after
the birth of her first child and is so to this day (though has never
commited violence or tried to). Her ex husband thought it may have
been due to chemical changes in the brain due to pregnancy hormones.
Our brains are biological and are affected by the chemistry of the
body, and many other factors. The factors that cause one to be a
genius (as Riddle was) can also create an inherent instability that
under the right conditions (and maybe always) may produce madness.

> Again, Harry's relatives did and do care--they dislike him and 
> resent him.  Plus, Harry could see his aunt and uncle's love (such 
> as it is) for Duddykins.  It makes a difference in that Harry is 
> exposed to emotional attachments, both positive and negative.  He 
> understands "caring."

As a child I was fascinated with books about kids growing up in
orphanages, especially abusive ones. In every such story, the kids
ended up forming relationships and friendships with each other as a
way to counter the hostile environment. The younger kids would turn to
the older ones for protection and mothering for example. The
environment was never uniform. There was usually at least one positive
person among the staff, even if it were the gardener. Most kids are
resilent enough to find some solutions to missing adult care, so long
as they are not in complete isolation or some nightmarish conditions
(as described about some of the orphanages in Romania under Choucesco
(sp?), e.g. chained to bed, severe overcrowding, etc.) and even there
the kids did not all or most turned out to be criminals.

Voldemort was a special case.

> I believe Baby Tom had the capacity to love.  YMMV.

Certainly he had, but being able to love does not prevent one from
becoming a killer. Plenty of historical examples for that.

Salit
(who believes that so long as they can distinguish right from wrong,
an adult should always be held responsible for their actions, even if
they had a miserable childhood...)