A Dark Glamour - Voldemort's Appeal

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 179018


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mcrudele78 at ...> wrote:

>

> > "They were a motely collection;

> >  a mixture of the weak seeking protection,

> >  the ambitious seeking some shared glory,

> >  and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader... "

> >   (from HBP, Ch 17)

> >

> > Pick one of Dumbledore's categories (or your own theory) and

> > explain how that applies to Snape, Malfoy, or any other DE, and

> > therefore why they were attracted to Riddle/Voldemort?



lizzyben:



For Snape, I think it was mostly category number 1 - "the weak

seeking protection." Snape seemed to ricochet like a pinball from

one authority figure to another in his youth, arguably up to his

death. Voldemort offered protection to his subjects (at the time),

as did Dumbledore. I think Snape even saw Lily as a kind of

protector - in almost all his memories, she is trying to save him

from something. When he lost one source of protection, he turned to

another. And even more than protection, I think he was seeking

affirmation. Young Snape strikes me as someone who was positively

desperate for approval & love, & didn't really care where that

approval came from. If the Death Eaters told him he was worthy and

valuable, he'd join them. If SPEW told him he was a talented wizard,

he'd join them. I don't think he really ever cared that much about

the underlying ideology. IMO, he joined for attention, affirmation &

protection - the same reason teenagers join gangs in the Muggle

world.



Mike:

> Last clues: DE1 said, "Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater....

He

> is now no more a Death Eater than I am." (^5) But, Severus Snape

was

> always a Death Eater because "you don't just hand in your

resignation

> to Voldemort. It's a lifetime of service or death." (^6) And we

know

> that it was both for Snape.

>

> OK, I cheated a little with the misleading and selective quotes. I

> admit, I just wanted to beat lizzyben to the punch! :D)

>

> Mike



lizzyben:



I've taught you well, grasshopper. :) Of course, DD wasn't a Death

Eater, but those quotes do reveal a great deal about his real self-

image. I think DD knows, deep down, that he could've easily become a

DE as well if Voldemort were around in his day. And he knows that

his feelings about Muggles once matched GG & LV, & perhaps still do

in some ways. I love that quote: "He is now no more a Death Eater

than I am." It has some extra resonance now, post-DH. He's saying "I

am as much a Death Eater as Severus Snape." Which is really quite a

statement, considering DD's other statements that seek to emphasize

how completely *different* he is from Snape. While talking to Snape,

DD constantly adopts a pose of, "I - righteous and noble epitome of
goodness, You - inferior reprobate sinner." Sort of speaking down to him
from a tower of righteousness. IMO, people who are really secure in
themselves don't need to make other people feel inferior that way. DD
isn't secure in his goodness, & constantly needs to remind Snape of how
much better he is in order to hide how much he feels that they are
really the same. It's a good microcosm of the Gryf/Slyth split in
general - where you can't help noticing that these opposing Houses of
Good and Evil actually have a great deal in common.





lizzyben





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