Good moral core (Re: Dirty Harry/Clean Harry)

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 117072


> Alla:
> 
> I agree very much, BUT Harry was so very young,when his parents 
died, 
> same with Tom Riddle when he was given to the orphanage. They must 
> have had some examples, I don't know some REASONS to become good or 
> evil. Am I being confusing?
> 
> Free will is wonderful, but how can two year old or three year old 
> decide something that big without outside examples or reasons?

Del asked in 117070:

1. Why and when did Harry decide to be good ?

2. Why and when did Tom decide to be evil ?


Neri:

A 3 yrs old perhaps doesn't have a free will, but JKR clearly thinks 
that a 11 yrs old has one.

At what age exactly free will kicks in doesn't really matters. ONCE 
it did, all your background doesn't count anymore, only your 
decision. The background might make your choise much more difficult, 
but it is not A REASON. Asking for background reasons for a free will 
decision is self-contradictory.

JKR also implies that this choice is not a one-shot thing. At 15 
James was a bully. He snapped out of it. At 11 Peter was sorted to 
Gryffindor, and at 18 he joined the Order to fight Voldemort. Then he 
made the choices to betray his friends, kill 12 innocent muggles and 
Cedric. These were all his choices, yet JKR seems to imply that he is 
not completely beyond redemption even now.

At 15, Tom Riddle was a talented student, a good-looking boy, a 
prefect, highly appreciated by both his teachers and his classmates. 
Yes, he didn't have parents and had to return to the hated muggle 
orphanage every summer, but he had friends at Hogwarts and many good 
things to look for in his future. He didn't have to open the Chamber 
and he didn't have to murder Myrtle. It was his choice. 

Neri