Was Tom Riddle, Sr. Selfish?

[ericoppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 148558

One of my learned colleagues *slamming my ears in the oven door for 
forgetting just who* mentioned above that Tom Riddle, Sr. 
was "selfish," apparently for his contemptuous dismissal of the 
Gaunts as an old tramp and his family.

I'd like to pick up the cudgel in his defense, since I do think that 
Tom Riddle, Sr. is one of the more tragic minor characters in the 
Saga. Let's face it---the Gaunts' residence was, from the 
description, a place that would make Tobacco Road look like 
Buckingham Palace.  Not to mention, I doubt that the (male) Gaunts 
would have reacted well to attempts to help them...can you imagine 
what would have happened to some well-meaning local Muggles who, 
say, tried to bring them some food, or carolled outside their house 
at Christmastime?  For some reason, the image of a Chas. Addams 
cartoon comes to mind...the one where the carollers are outside the 
creepy old house, and the Addamses are about to pour boiling oil on 
them from atop their tower.

So, you've got this weird old tramp and his two extremely weird 
kids, living in this shack that you can't get rid of, who won't 
accept help and act like they think everybody else around them is 
garbage.  I don't think I'd be terribly friendly to them myself, or 
(when speaking of them to a friend from a distance, as Riddle Sr. 
apparently did to whats-her-face) very respectful in the terms I 
used to describe them.  He's not selfish, or evil.  I imagine that 
if he _were_ evil, he'd have turned up his nose at Merope when she 
offered him That Drink...and we wouldn't have a story.  Kind of like 
Cedric Diggory, his downfall came through his virtues.