[HPforGrownups] Tom, evil, choices

[Juli]

No: HPFGUIDX 134448

Del wrote:
...edited...

>> No matter how much we are supposed to make our own
choices, I just don't see how Tom could have chosen
another path. He was born with a psychopathic
disposition, he never received any structuring love,
he had the power to make his cruel fantasies come
true, and nobody could control him. Being just a kid,
neither born nor raised with a strong moral compass,
he made the only choice that any kid in his situation
would have made: he did NOT choose, he stayed on the
easy path, he did NOTHING to fight his natural
disposition, he gave in to his nature.

Juli: 

Actually, current psychiatric theories, say you are
not born with any "disease" or personality. Your genes
may pre-dispose you to a certain type of personality,
but in no way is it definitive. Psychiatric diseases
are multi-factorials, they result from the combination
of genetics, up-raising, culture, choices, and
experiences. Say both your parents have OCD (obsessive
- compulsive disorder), then you have the OCD genes,
but it does not mean you will have OCD. The same goes
with any psychopathic personality.

Tom obviously had some weird genes on the Gaunt side:
lots of inbreeding cause genetic alterations, and
Merole wasn't what you'd call a normal person. He was
raised in an orphanage, a place without much love, but
still, an OK environment, AFAIK he wasn't molested,
abused, or mistreated. He did all the mistreating, he
bullied kids, he enjoyed making them hurt. It is not
normal, he was told (by Mrs Cole) that it was wrong,
then by Dumbledore. When he started at Hogwarts he had
a fresh start, but he chose the path he had already
taken. The path of evil.

Remember Harry was raised in much worse conditions
than Tom (IMO), and he's not a psychotic killer, with
delusions to rule the world. He's an OK kid.

Tom, from a young age started making his own choices,
he was very independent, he trusted no-one, he was
pretty self-sufficient. He chose to take those two
kids to the cave, he chose to kill a rabbit... He made
many choices that eventually led him to the evil
person he's become. Could he have changed? Yes,
definitively. Think of Draco: he was born in a
pure-blooded family, very racist, feeling superior,
he's father's a bad guy, his mother's no angel either,
still, he's not evil. He has made his choices: he
chose to lower his wand and not to kill Dumbledore. He
chose. He chose to do whatever it took  to protect his
family.

So, yes Tom chose to become evil, every step he took
took him deeper into the darkness, he knew what he was
doing, but it didnt stop him, he became what he
wanted.


Juli
Aol: jlnbtr
Yahoo: jlnbtr
MSN: julibotero at msn.com


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