Tom Riddle's Birth (Re: JKR Chat "The Crucial ...")

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 92737

> Naama wrote: 
> > JKR is clearly portraying Harry and Tom as very similar in their 
> > basic nature and temperament (outward appearance, talented, 
brave, 
> > ambitious, charismatic). However, who they become is (or will 
be) 
> the 
> > opposite poles of good and evil. I'm wondering whether we 
> shouldn't 
> > apply this basic opposition to their very beginning as babies. 
If 
> > Harry received the gift of love from his mother, maybe Tom 
> received a 
> > gift of hate? 
> > What if his mother, before she died, did indeed cast some kind 
of 
> > protective charm on him, but it was based not on her love for 
him, 
> > but on her hatred of his father? 


David:
> I have some difficulty with this, because it doesn't in my opinion 
> fit very well with the theme of choice.  If Riddle was cursed at 
> birth then, technically he may not have been born evil, but in the 
> wider context, it's as good as.  In the HP-verse, if Riddle 
followed 
> the path from good (or at least not-evil) to evil, then I think 
the 
> dominant influence would have been his own choices, not the 
actions 
> of others.


Jen: I think a curse of hate (or whatever would be the opposite of 
Lily's love sacrifice) doesn't have to negate the choice theory. 

Harry could easily have turned into a different person despite the 
circumstances of his birth. The ground was certainly fertile for him 
to become a spiteful, hateful person after so little nurturing and 
support. That was one of the risks DD must have considered in 
leaving Harry with the Dursleys. 

TR on the other hand, certainly had many natural strengths and had 
the opportunity to escape his past 'imprisonment' when he received 
the letter to Hogwarts. He chose the path of revenge and hate when 
offered the opportunity for a different life. 

It just seems like if a curse on TR negates choice, then the love 
sacrifice on Harry would do the same.

OTOH, while I like the parallels Naama draws above I'm not certain 
it would make the point about choices as well as other 
possibilities. More effective would be if TR had a similar love 
sacrifice at birth, then spiraled off into the direction of evil by 
his own choices. Then LV and Harry would truly be in opposition.

Jen Reese