Tom, evil, choices, and CapsLock!Harry in OoP

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 134523

 
Del wrote:

This is  something that bothers me much. Before HBP, I had lots of
questions about  what kind of kid Tom was, and how he came to be what
he became. I was  hoping that HBP would show us that he indeed *chose*
to become weird. But  that's pointedly NOT what JKR tells us.
Completely the opposite in fact:  she openly tells us that Tom was
NEVER normal.

But if he was never  normal, then how could he be expected to make
normal choices? See, that's  the thing that bothers me. JKR says that
she doesn't believe that anyone is  born evil, but on the other hand,
she gives us that kid who was never  normal to start with, and who grew
up in circumstances that sure didn't  help (mainly, no magical parents
to identify his bad acts and deal with  them). 


Julie says:
You know what bothers me? Here's this kid with problems from 
birth, not normal, no love, no positive role models, magical and
already using it for dark purposes, and what happens when he
gets to Hogwarts? He's sorted into SLYTHERIN. The house 
full of ambitious, sly students generally out for themselves, 
who are only going to reinforce Tom's negative and self-
serving behavior. Dumbledore knows all this, as we saw
in the pensieve scene, he can already see what Tom could
one day be capable of, but following Hogwarts traditions has
no problem letting Tom reside in Slytherin house.
 
Could Tom have turned out differently if he'd been sorted into
Hufflepuff, where loyalty and just motives are most valued, or
even into Gryffindor, where bravery of heart and chivalry  are 
encouraged? Maybe not, but certainly for a child who is a
loner entranced by power, and already using it for selfish
gain, the only hope to help him become a valuable and
well-adjusted member of society would be to influence him 
against those values that bring out the worst in him, not to 
plop him right down in the middle of them. 
 
Luckily Harry Potter is only fantasy, because for all the
arguing about how abusive Snape is or isn't, he can't come
close to the abuse perpetrated by the Sorting Hat and 
Hogwarts School administration in taking 11 year old children 
and basically abandoning them to their worst impulses. And
they wonder why the Grindenwalds/Voldemorts/Malfoys
keep popping up in the Wizarding World?
 
 
Adair wrote:

I don't think the Hat takes physical characterizations into account  
when Sorting.  Because believe me, if anyone has belonged in  
Slytherin it was Tom Riddle as Slytherin's last heir, even though he 
was  a half-blood.  And Harry is considered a half-blood by Wizarding  
standards, we've been told that by JKR.  I believe Sorting relies  
entirely upon a person's personality, abilities, proclivities, and 
above  all, choices.

Julie says:
But they aren't people. They're children. How many choices have
they been able to make thus far in their lives, let alone fully
informed choices that require experience and maturity?
 
 
Julie 
(who in the real world would have serious issues with the 
Hogwarts philosophy of sorting children by their temperaments,
encouraging division between them, and with Slytherin
House's very existence)



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