Amortentia and re The morality of love potions/Merope and Tom Sr.

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 152408

> > SSSusan, who cannot BELIEVE she's entering into this thread, says:
 
> Steven1965aaa added: 
> I can't believe it either, but I just can't help myself...

SSSusan:
Heh.  It happens around here, doesn't it? ;-)


Steven1965aaa: 
> Yes, she was treated badly by her family, yes she was desperate due 
> to obsessive love, but that doesn't justify what she did.  Yes, Tom 
> Sr. was hoodwinked, bewitched, slipped a mickey, etc., and he 
> certainly had no obligation to the person that did that to him, but 
> he still abandoned his kid.  Neither of them come off as a 
> particularly good person.  Hence their evil spawn.

SSSusan:
Oh, absolutely!  When I wrote that post and discussed my belief that 
Tom Sr. had no legal or perhaps even moral obligation to Merope, I was 
speaking in terms of *spousal* obligations.  I do think his not 
arranging for SOME kind of life for his unborn child was despicable.  

The pregnancy couldn't be undone.  Merope admitted her ploy, stopped 
using the Love Potion, and Tom fled.  She didn't exactly "undo" what 
had been done, but Tom was able to get out of it.  The pregnancy, 
however, couldn't be undone or gotten out of.  So, especially since 
Tom Sr. apparently had the financial means, I do think he should have 
made sure the child didn't STARVE to death.  I'm glad you brought this 
up, because I did not address it earlier.


SSSusan previously:
> > I know people hate when this card is pulled, but... um... 
> > CHILDREN'S book, anyone?  Is JKR going to use the term "rape" in a 
> > series where the farthest she's gone is "snogging"?  (Nobody 
> > talking about getting to 3rd base; no pregnancies amongst the 
> > students.)  To me "hoodwinked" is a safer term, in that *kids* 
> > might focus on "trickery," whereas adults might take it much more 
> > as a euphemism for a forced relationship.

a_svirn:
> Well, actually "hoodwinked" in this instance is neither "children-
> proof" term, nor turn of phrase expressing being tricked into an
> unwonted marriage. What Dumbledore actually says is that *villagers*
> put such a construction on Tom Sr. words. He himself, however, –
> according to Dumbledore – meant something else entirely:
>
> "You see, within a few months of their runaway marriage, Tom Riddle
> reappeared at the manor house in Little Hangleton without his wife.
> The rumor flew around the neighborhood that he was talking of
> being 'hoodwinked' and 'taken in.' What *he* meant, I am sure, is
> that he had been *under an enchantment* that had now lifted, though
> I daresay he did not dare use those precise words for fear of being
> thought insane. When *they* heard what he was saying, however, the
> *villagers* guessed that Merope had lied to Tom Riddle, pretending
> that she was going to have his baby, and that he had married her for
> this reason" [emphasis mine a_svirn].

SSSusan:
Thank you for providing the canon on the use of the word "hoodwinked," 
a_svirn.  If Tom was saying "hoodwinked," and the villagers 
misunderstood it to mean Merope'd lied about having his baby, whereas 
he meant (but couldn't really say because he'd be considered nuts) 
that he'd been enchanted, it's still clear that the notions of sex & 
trickery have been introduced and brought together.  

And JKR penned "hoodwinked"; she elected to use that word.  I think it 
can still serve to imply a more sexual component to the trickery than 
kids would pick up from reading it.  Clearly the villagers assumed a 
sexual aspect to it, if DD's right.

And, really, you went on to say:

> So you see, it was his being "under an enchantment" that turned
> Tom's world upside-down, not his being married to a socially
> unacceptable girl. <snip>  And being "under an enchantment" in this 
> instance means being sexually violated. <snip> So, although Tom 
> probably wasn't "ravished", there is no question that he was 
> violated. Even if he himself wouldn't use the word *rape*.

SSSusan:
... which is really the issue.  Whether it's "rape" or "hoodwinked," 
it's trickery and it's a *violation.*  I totally agree with this!    

Siriusly Snapey Susan


Siriusly Snapey Susan