LV showing mercy to Lily?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 93579

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at y...>
wrote:
> > greatelderone: 
> > why does a ruthless Dark Lord actually show an ounce
> > of mercy to Lily 
 

> > Tyler:
> > I don't think it was about mercy.  IMO,  LV gets off
> > on the idea of having people cower before him;  he
> > enjoys seeing fear in his victims.  He enjoys the
> > feeling of dominance.  I think he warned Lily to stand
> > aside because he expected her to comply out of fear. 


bboy_mn:

Sorry, GreatElderOne, but I'm with Tyler and Carol on this one. RE:
Tyler's comment; I think you are right, Voldemort, in a sense, is
supreme in his own arrogance. In his mind the whole world bows before
his mighty power. So wrapped up in his own self-indulgance that he
fails to see the most common and obvious aspects of Human psychology.
No mother is likely to calmly step aside and allow someone to kill
their child unless that mother is also as hopelessly self-indulgant
and deluded as Voldemort.



> Carol: 
> 
> Lily was screaming at him to kill her, not Harry. I think he 
> realized that he had to kill her because she wasn't going to move 
> otherwise. Or he chose to kill her out of annoyance rather than 
> elbowing her aside.
> ...edited...
> 
> Carol

bboy_mn:

My position has always been that Voldemort really had no interest in
Lily one way or the other. He was in the room with his objective
(Harry) that was his one and only primary interest, anything else was
just an annoying obstical between him and his objective. So, he told
Lily to step aside; he had better things to do than to listen to her
whine and cry.

So, 'step aside' was an act of annoyance and priorities, and not an
indication of mercy. It's quite possible, and very likely, Voldemort
would have casually killed Lily anyway as he left the room. 

Although, I do personally think Voldemort has a policy of always
leaving one man/woman standing after a raid. Always leave one person
to tell the tale of what a mighty and powerful wizard Voldemort is,
and spreading the fear. Again, feeding his own arrogance. However, I
suspect the tale that people tell after the fact is not the 'great and
mighty' wizard story that Voldemort assumes. I think it's more likely
to be the story of what a totally mad, ruthless, nut case that
Voldemort is.

One last thought, do you think an arrogant nut case like Voldemort has
even given a seconds thought to what it takes to rule a county?
...even one thought to the day to day administration necessary to keep
a country running functionally. I don't think so. 

Like all evil arrogant dictators and would be kings, Voldemort see
himself standing on a balcony looking out over a wizard world that is
bowing at this feet. Since these evil overlord idiots are so engulfed
in their own grandeur and irrational thinking, the are able to conqure
worlds, but they are hopelessly incapable of ruling them. Consequently
the world gradually slide deeper and deeper into chaos and disfunction.

Remember, Tyranny is the architect of it's own doom, and you heard it
here first.

bboy_mn