Sharing names - Heritage

[Wanda Sherratt]

No: HPFGUIDX 98653

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboy_mn at y...> wrote:
> I think the reason is obvious, when young Tom Jr was born his 
mother
> was estranged from his father; more accurately, Tom Sr. had abondon
> them. I think to make sure that the father couldn't later deny the
> connection, Tom Jr's mother named him after both his father and his
> grandfather, and to some extent, that insured that his heritage
> couldn't be lost. Tom Jr. was the first born son to Tom Sr. and 
would
> therefore be the rightful heir to the Riddle Estate. 

Unless his parents weren't married, which I don't believe they were, 
which would be yet another bitter pill for Tom Jr.  Just giving the 
boy the same name as her lover would be of no use at all in trying 
stake a claim.  And the fact that Tom was brought up in an orphanage 
would argue that Tom Sr. had no legal obligation to him.  This would 
not be the case if he'd married his mother; parents can't just 
refuse to acknowledge legitimate children, they're legally 
responsible for them.  If she'd had a marriage certificate, she 
could not have been cast off so easily, and her son would have had 
legal protection.  Even if he'd divorced her (which is not stated - 
the word is "abandoned") he'd have had to provide for their son.

Anyway, this keeps bringing the question back to the logical 
workings of the fictional world of the book, when I think that it 
really originates in the real world of JKR.  We are concocting 
backstories to explain something that she does not explain herself.  
As I said before, she invented the names for these characters, and 
has broken her pattern by giving two characters the same name.  The 
only other time this happened, it was not because Barty Crouch's 
mother was so much in love with her husband that she gave their son 
the same name.  Nor was it because there was some doubt that Barty 
Sr. was really the father of Barty Jr., and this was intended to put 
all doubt to rest (hey, I can create backgrounds too!).  It was 
because Rowling had a use for two characters with the same name.  I 
think that the same thing is happening here, and I guess only time 
will tell if I'm right.

Wanda