Merope and Tom Sr.

[puduhepa98 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 152487

 
> 
> > Julie:
> Tom perhaps had no legal 
> >  responsibility to do so, given that the marriage and the child's 
> >  conception were founded on deceit, but morally it would have been 
> the  
> > right thing to do. 
> 
> Magpie:
> Yes, morally  it would have been right for him to provide for the 
> child.   Morally it would also have been right for her to care for 
> the  child.  Neither of them seemed to care much about the child.
>  
> -m

>Pippin

>Many modern jurisdictions allow annulment if it can be proved that  one of 
the 
>parties was mentally incompetent at the time of the marriage  for example
>as a result of drugs or alcohol. I am not sure what  the  law in England is 
or 
>was in the 1920's but  unless and until the  marriage was legally annulled 
>Tom would be obliged to support his wife  and child. Claiming that he
>was hoodwinked would not be enough -- he  would have had to *prove*
>it. In any case he would be responsible for  supporting the child -- 
>>annulment does not make a child  illegitimate.
 
Nikkalmati:
I am certain TomSr. would have been legally responsible for the care and  
upbringing of his child.  I would assume Merope in an attempt to keep him  with 
her would have told him she was pregnant.  In that case, he has a  moral 
obligation to care for the child at least financially.  He apparently  did not make 
any effort to ensure the safety of the innocent baby.  (He  presumably did not 
even tell his parents they had a grandchild). She could have  sued for 
support, but she died and no one knew who the father was.
JKR must  want us to see that LV was let down by his father as well as his 
mother.  I  cannot conceive that Merope was in any way at fault for dying.  I am 
sure  that she did not want to do it, but, like Tonks, she was harmed by  
rejection.  I don't think she had any magic left and tried to do the best  for 
Tom Jr. by finding the orphanage.
Nikkalmati ( who won't touch the rest of the discussion with a 10 foot  pole)



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