Levels and contradictions in JKR's writing - Twisted Irony

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 138578

Jen wrote:
"*However* given the context of the story and the choice theme, we
have to believe Riddle was given the opportunity to change when he
went to Hogwarts, and he continued to see the power of dark magic over
Dumbledore's assertions that love is more powerful. If nothing else,
Riddle had the chance to notice other kinds of magic and have role
models who weren't using magic to hurt others. He didn't get sent to
Durmstrang, after all!"

Del replies:
The problem, I think, is that Riddle looked at all those different
kinds of magic through the lens of what he was *already* looking for.
He already had a pretty clear idea of what he wanted to be (a leader)
and to achieve (immortality) when he was 11 and arrived at Hogwarts.
He already had found patterns of behaviour and social interaction that
gave him satisfaction (terrorising those below him, and charming those
above him). So when all those different kinds of magic were presented
to him, he sorted through them according to what he wanted to do and
be, and how those different kinds of magic could help him achieve
that. Consequently, he very logically rejected the power of love (that
he never saw a reason to believe in, as he tells DD during the job
interview), and he also quickly refused to limit himself to "good
magic", because he could see that it couldn't serve him anywhere as
well as Dark Magic could. The biggest example of that is the
Horcruxes, I think. I doubt there's any "good magic" device that is
anywhere as powerful to grant a kind of immortality as the Horcruxes are. 

As for role models, I'm afraid Tom *very quickly* found his at
Hogwarts: Slytherin...

Jen wrote:
"Harry just needs to be in the right place at the right time, which
seems to be his *own* gift, not a result of Lily's sacrifice or
Voldemort's power transfer or anything else. He asks for help, and
help is given. "

Del replies:
Agreed. Personally, I believe that Harry will vanquish LV almost by
accident, while trying to do something else, like saving someone's
life, or protecting a place, or something like that. As you said, it
is his very own gift, to be in the right place at the right time, and
to almost miraculously do the right thing to get the help he needs.

Jen wrote:
"I was trying to put the puzzle pieces together in the context of what
JKR's intent seems to be: Riddle was not born evil, we don't have a
context for a neutral category, the choice theme is at the core of the
book; therefore, the logical syllogism is Riddle had a choice<g>. "

Del replies:
Nah :-) 

First, if there is indeed no neutral category, then I'll take the
books over the interview and conclude that Tom was born evil. There's
no way to reconcile the books with a *normal* baby!Tom, both genetics
and psychology point to a deep personality flaw that is very clearly
expanded on in the books (a baby that almost didn't cry, a boy
described as strange from the beginning, etc...), and there is
absolutely NO sign in the books that kid!Tom ever made a choice to be
evil.

Second, the choice theme is still pretty unclear. I'm with Pippin on
this one, in believing that JKR indeed meant to say that choices
*show* what people are, not that they determine what they become. So
logically all the choices that Tom made from early in his life point
to a deeply flawed nature, that's coherent with the choice theme.

Jen wrote:
"I doubt he did see it that way. By the time DD got to him, it may
have been too late for any real change. Yet he's a main character in a
story chock-full of redemption, with characters evaluating and
changing their strategies in response to new information."

Del replies:
I personally don't see the story as being "chock-full" of redemption,
especially not after what Snape did at the end of HBP, if we are to
take his act at face value. But that's another matter anyway.

As for evaluating and changing his strategies in response to new
information, I think Tom has constantly been doing just that. He did
it when he got to Hogwarts, he did it anytime something new happened.
For example, he canceled the whole "monster of Slytherin" plan when
the threat of being sent back to the orphanage loomed in. He changed
his mind about which parent must have been magical when confronted
with the fact that there was no magical Riddle family. He consecrated
his life to creating Horcruxes once he learned about them. And so on.
The main problem, IMO, is that he NEVER received the kind of
information that would make him reassess his opinion that only Dark
Magic could give him what he truly wanted. Had he found a proof that
Love, for example, could grant him immortality, I'm sure he would have
considered giving up the whole Dark Lord project (I'm not saying he
would have given it up for sure, just that he would have considered
changing tracks). But I don't think that ever happened, because such
proof apparently never surfaced (judging from the way he talks about
love magic).

Jen wrote:
"JKR implies through Dumbledore's words that Hogwarts can be a chance
to learn something new about magic: "At Hogwarts...we teach you not
only to use magic but to control it. You have--inadvertently, I am
sure--been using your powers in a way that is neither taught not
tolerated at our school." (chap. 13, p. 273, US).

So Riddle is exposed to a different kind of magic at Hogwarts, the
kind Dumbledore professes to be more important and powerful than dark
magic. Maybe DD hoped the idea of a powerful magic might catch Tom's
attention. But Riddle doesn't learn what's offered at Hogwarts,
instead he searches out the COS and dark magic banned from the school."

Del replies:
Yes Tom discovered the powerful magic that DD was talking about. But
he also discovered that there was an even *more* powerful kind of
magic: Dark Magic. So logically he discarded DD's petty (for Tom)
moral reasons for not going after Dark Magic, and immediately set out
to search the *most* powerful magic he had found.

As for saying that he searched a magic that was not taught at
Hogwarts... Well, the CoS *is* an integral part of Hogwarts, and it
*is* a Hogwarts teacher who told him what he needed to know about
Horcruxes. And DD says that Tom probably found out more about
Hogwarts's magical secrets than any other student ever, and that
looking for yet more of them was probably a reason he wanted to teach
there. So I'd say that Tom made *more* use of Hogwarts's teaching
opportunities than any other student... unfortunately.

Del