Orphans - Harry and Tom

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 150823

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Ceridwen" <ceridwennight at ...> 
wrote:
<SNIP>
> Harry, while fighting his situation, still remains within bounds 
and 
> when he crosses them, he expects to be punished.  He looks for 
better 
> without trying to undo everything around him.
> 
> Tom turns all that on its head.  And I find that curious.  At 
nearly 
> the same time as Shirley Temple was dancing down the tables of her 
> movie-set orphanage singing 'Animal Crackers', Tom was frightening 
> other students, stealing their toys, killing their pets, and doing 
> who-knows-what to them in seaside caves.  When he is offered 
guidance 
> in his first trip into the WW, he refuses it.
> 
> No one can constrain Tom.  He is more powerful than the matrons at 
> the home, he is more powerful than his mother who was weak enough 
to 
> die, he is more powerful than anyone, until he meets Dumbledore.  
And 
> by then, it seems that his lack of self-restraint has become a 
part 
> of him.
> 
> I understand that Tom is supposed to turn out bad.  But this 
changes 
> the whole orphan thing, at least for me.  He does not wish for 
> family, he wishes to be unique.  He does not honor the mother who 
> died giving birth to him and he kills the father who left him and 
his 
> mother.  He doesn't mention anything to Dumbledore about wishing 
for 
> his parents, and he doesn't show much feeling about the subject - 
all 
> he wants is revenge.  He seems to have nothing but contempt for 
his 
> mother's 'weakness'.  He doesn't want to belong, he wants to rule 
and 
> let others belong to him.
> 
> I was taken by the obvious differences between them.  Maybe it's 
just 
> JKR showing how bad Tom is.  But, I am getting something else 
thrown 
> in now, the dangers of liberation without constraint, and the huge 
> gulf between Tom and Harry.



Alla:

Lovely post, Ceridwen. I am not sure I agree with your ultimate 
conclusions though, if I understand them correctly. Are you saying 
that with Tom's story JKR basically changes the "orphan story set 
up" completely?

You see, if Tom was the only orphan in the story , I would probably 
agree with you, but as you said she contrasts Tom and Harry and 
between those two, her sympathies lie with Harry. SO, I am afraid 
that my answer will sound trivial and I indeed thought about it, 
because I wanted to do your post justice, but I could not change my 
answer.

Yes, I think she just wanted to show that Tom was inherently bad 
from the early childhood.

Oh, and are you sure that Tom (just as any oprhan in the stories you 
listed) is not searching for the family?

I mean, he is searching for the family with the evil purposes, but 
he still wants the family, no? He wants to know who his father and 
his mother were.

I mean, sure, I guess if we look only on Tom's character, it is a 
different "orphan" from what we know and from what we expect, but if 
we look at his place within the story, that he is  supposed to be 
the main Evil of the story, I guess I think that JKR brought him up 
( besides to be Harry's rival) to show Harry's likeability more.

Alla,

who is not sure who much sense she made and thinks that she has this 
feeling way too often lately.