Being (Re: What's in the locked room?)

[iris_ft]

No: HPFGUIDX 89139



Kneasy, so many thanks for message 89108! Thanks for your open mind
 
I also like your idea of Life being what hides behind the locked 
door in the MoM.
You are right when you say:
 "When apparently conflicting ideas claim the same bits of evidence
as proof you begin to wonder. Are they different entities after all?
Some of them are quite difficult to separate with overlapping causes,
effects and appearances. Or could it be that they are all parts of 
the
same thing? It seems to me that these are all evidence of a living
being - they're by-products of human existence. No life and there's 
no
love, nor staunchness, nor intelligence nor any of them.
Life is the root of all.

What more fascinating subject to study? What is it? How did it start?
Can we recreate it?
Questions to keep the Natural Philosophers going for centuries. Even
the Alchemists are in on the act - can we prolong it indefinitely?"

Ah, yes, the Alchemists. We mustn't forget them, for after all, it 
all begins with "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone"

 But I'm not here this evening to speculate about Alchemy in the 
books, though it is my favourite topic. I'm here to answer the 
question you ask at the en of you last post, when you write (message 
89120):
 " Anne asks a cogent question arising from my argument - what  
would happen to Voldy if it is life in the room and he were exposed 
to it? Being alive includes accepting all the pain, regrets, remorse 
and responsibilities that arise from your own actions.
 Could Voldy face those?"
Answering the very last question, I would say "NO".
You use the word "Life", and you are right. I agree with you, it's a 
fascinating subject to study. But it's not only a physical 
phenomenon; it's also a philosophic matter. JKR suggests that all 
along the series. Life is not only a conjunction of chemical, 
physiological,etc, functions. It's also BEING, and it implies 
consciousness. A heart beat is not merely a heart beat if we take it 
from a metaphysical point of view. It means that your body "works", 
but it also means that you have a soul, a spirit. What we 
call "Anima" in Latin. Life is Being, it's facing consciousness.
Now, how does Voldemort deal with his own consciousness? Well, he 
doesn't deal with it. Voldemort? I'd better say : Tom Marvolo 
Riddle. Tom didn't manage to deal with his consciousness, and that's 
why he created Lord Voldemort.
Consciousness is something burning, and because it was burning him 
too much, Tom tried to escape from it. The solution he found was to 
fashion himself a new identity.
At the beginning ( if things are like I'm suspecting they are) there 
was a miserable boy who suffered from being what he was: an orphan, 
a half-blood wizard boy living amongst Muggles. He and his mother 
had been rejected by their father and husband; it was an infamy 
according to the social ethic of that time. Tom was also 
responsible, in a certain way, for the death of his mother. Well, 
there were too many things that he couldn't bear concerning himself. 
He didn't like what he was seeing every time he was facing himself.
Being Tom Marvolo Riddle was unbearable, so he decided to be someone 
else, and he created Lord Voldemort. What an easy solution
 he would 
cancel poor Tom and create another Being. Instead of the son 
rejected by his father, he would become the heir of Slytherin. 
Instead of the son of a dead mother, he would become the vanquisher 
of death, and the death maker. Instead of suffering, he would make 
suffer

The problem was that Voldemort wasn't an improvement. The evidence? 
He looks like a serpent, i.e., like an animal. Could JKR have found 
a better image to tell us that this guy doesn't want to face what 
makes a human be a human? He hides himself behind an animal aspect. 
Actually, Tom didn't create but a mask. It wasn't another Being. You 
can change your name, you can change your behaviour, you can change 
your aspect. You can't change what makes you be what you are: your 
consciousness. And Tom can't bear his own consciousness.
Look what he says at the end of GoF, when he tells the Death Eaters 
what he felt when his "Voldemort's body" vanished after his attempt 
against Harry. He says that he felt "Pain beyond pain". I would bet 
that when he says that, he's not referring to physical pain. He 
didn't become what he is without suffering physically, I suppose. He 
might have past through so many transformations and spells that he 
probably learned to deal with physical pain. No, I'd rather say that 
the loss of his body put him face to face with what he couldn't 
bear: his naked consciousness, his naked Being.  After all those 
years trying to convince the others, but more especially himself, 
that he was not what he was, he suddenly had to face his true Being. 
Pain beyond pain. All his unsolved problems came back. He had to 
face plainly his consciousness. 
Doesn't sound familiar? That's what Harry has to do all along OotP, 
and more especially at the end. Harry's burning scar is a metaphor 
of his burning consciousness. 
Dear Harry
 I would say that he is another mask Tom invented in 
order to fool himself and to hide from his own consciousness.  If we 
read the prophecy, we can understand that Harry is Tom's creation. 
Tom created Voldemort first, and then Voldemort created a 
foe, "another one" who would keep Tom so busy that he wouldn't have 
to face the only thing that really bothered him: his Being. The fact 
Voldemort wanted to destroy Harry in order to protect himself is not 
just a narrative figure; it's also a psychological metaphor.
All the things Tom does tend to one goal: silencing his own human 
consciousness. He says that his goal is to vanquish death, but it's 
actually a very long suicide. Not from a physical point of view, but 
from a psychological, a spiritual point of view. Tom can fool the 
others with the Voldemort's disguise; he can even fool Harry 
manipulating his dreams. But he can't fool himself, he can't fool 
his own consciousness.
So, probably, he won't be able to face what is locked behind the 
mysterious door, if it is indeed Life, especially in its 
metaphysical manifestation, i.e; Being. But Harry will be able to do 
it. Simply because he's able to face a mirror, and because he 
is "just Harry".
Pfff
 End of that post. Hope I didn't bother you (HPfGU members) too 
much.

Amicalement,

Iris 

Post Scriptum: Kneasy, don't worry when you have the feeling that 
you are "ploughing a lonely furrow". As Voltaire said: "Il faut 
cultiver notre jardin". No matter if  you are alone while you do it. 
You do it, that's the more important.