[HPforGrownups] Voldemort/Re: Ending

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 176190

Jen:  
>This is the weakest part of the story for me as well.  Setting 
>aside the interview for a moment, in story terms it appears JKR is 
>going for the idea that Slytherin's line took themselves to the 
>logical end if they valued only pure blood - the Gaunts.  So Tom was 
>a result not only of the choices of his lineage with 'a vein of 
>instability and violence' (HBP, 'House of Gaunt'),  but also Merope's 
>choice to enter a loveless marriage that, upon failing, sapped her of 
>her will to live and she left behind an abandoned and unloved Tom 
>Jr.  From inside the story, a drop of new magical blood - presumably 
>Muggleborn blood to dilute the pure blood (?) - with love of the 
>mother could be enough to offer a chance for change.  Not sure I'm 
>buying it.

Bart:
Here's another way of looking at it. At one point, in HBP I believe, DD says that Morty is beyond hope. Having, specifically with Morty in mind, done some reading on psychopathy and sociopathy, it is clear that Morty WAS intended to be a psychopath, albeit an unusually effective one (and that's even considering the multiple "Let's see if AK works on Harry THIS time!" attempts). This means that Morty has an illness which can be described as lacking a connection to his own soul (which is why he has so little difficulty making horcruxes). So, even if the blood had an effect, there was pretty much no chance that Harry's offer would have worked. But Harry's offer wasn't about Morty; it was about HARRY. Morty is effectively reverted to a subhuman state, no longer able to make choices. Harry can. So, look what happens:

1) Harry confronts Morty.
2) Harry tells Morty what's going to happen.
3) Harry gives Morty a chance to fix things. 
4) Morty refuses the offer.
5) Morty tries to kill Harry, Harry tries to DISARM Morty.
6) The AK backfires. Again.

The point is not that Morty had any chance at changing. It's that Harry GAVE him the chance that makes a difference. It's a very Christian message, that even the very worst people have a chance to repent and receive forgiveness for their sins, even if it rarely happens. If even Morty has the chance, then the reader, who can generally be considered to be a better person than Morty, has a chance, too. 

There was a similar theme going on in the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER series, where, by the end, there were two vampires with souls, Angel and Spike. But, while Angel had a soul forced upon him, Spike, while still soulless, made the choice of getting a soul. The result was that Angel was in continual conflict with the demon within him, afraid it will take over, while Spike was able to turn his inner demon towards good. 

>Technically Harry could walk away, that's part of the narrative.  I 
>suppose Tom's choice was that with his smarts and Hogwarts education, 
>he could have made a pretty good living as a criminal instead of 
>seeking world domination and immortality!  

In a way, Tom's talent was his undoing. There was only one real choice he had; he COULD have seen that there was something wrong with himself, and tried to get it cured. However, he was so effective that he never saw any particular reason to do so. Note that the others in the orphanage received every bit as little love as Tom received, yet, as far as we know, none of the other kids from the orphanage became evil overlords. Also, lacking touch with his soul, Morty could not even envision anything worse than what death held for him. 

Morty was a catalyst. The change came in Harry, able to resist temptation when DD was not. 

Bart