Why did Voldemort go bad?

[kamion53]

No: HPFGUIDX 184142

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lesley" <hutchingslesley at ...>
wrote:
>
> I have never understood this, i apologize if this has
> been addressed before but why was he bad?
>
> Ok so he was an orphan, the childrens home (from the
> little we saw of it) seemed like a nice place, at least
> it wasn't a bad one anyway!
>
> I don't believe in blood will out personally and there
> isn't a lot of evidence as to the nature of his parents,
> <snip>
>
> By the sound of things Harry's upbringing was a lot worse
> than LV could ever have imagined so why wasn't he evil?
> Why didn't he let all the fame go to his head?
>
> LV seemed to be evil from an early age, it was never
> explained why, and even when he entered Hogwarts things
> could have been different for him, he could have changed
> if given support. DD at least knew of some of his
> problems and perhaps should have helped him early. Maybe
> he was power hungry but you can be good and perhaps have
> just as much power, look at DD!
> <snip>


kamion writing:
I think that although neither Harry nor Riddle got much love
and kindness during the early years, Harry at least saw it
given in front of him by the cuddling Petunia did to Dudley.
And I also don't think that the feeling in a child that mumsy
loves baby brother or sister better is that alien to a normal
childhood and most children learn to overcome that, so why
not Harry.

Riddle however never experienced any love in the orphanage,
even if it was a place where he children were well cared for
it was an unpersonal rather cold place. Besides that, Tom
Riddle was isolated among the isolated ones, in the
'20/'30-ties orphans were not held in high regard and his
unchecked magic kept him in even less regard then the rest.
Competition and pecking order must also have taken it's toll
on the development of Riddles character, when never to be
loved, then better be feared and being feared payed off.
Harry was in no situation of better be feared then never
loved, and when he came in the situation that his relatives
feared him there were much higher stakes to exploit it;
having the Dudleys tremble wasn't worth being expelled from
Hogwarts.

But most of all what makes the difference between Harry and
Riddle is genetics: Harry comes from a rather sane family;
on the wizard side hardly corrupted by Pure Blood Superiority,
on the Muggle side also rather openminded upon the unexpected.
Riddle however is the scion of a long line of inbred insanity,
all kinds of hereditairy mental diseases are more or less
accumulated in his Grandfather and Uncle and from the Muggle
side there are not much niceties to counteract it. The Riddle
family is probably also an old line and dady Riddle is even
more arrogant as Grandpa Riddle.

JKR clearly choose for genetics in this: did Hermione not
tell Harry that his flying and Quidditch skills were in his
blood?

If Riddle was capable of love because he loved Hogwarts I
doubt, if it's love it's a very selfish kind of love, more
a playground for using and learning new skills to gain power.
He uses the only nice aspect heritated from his father, his
good looks, to charm and deceive teachers and his skills to
impress others.  When he loves Hogwarts it is as something
he is entitled to and considers his right to rule it... I
would not call that love, love in JKR's work is altruistic
and Voldemort is as far away from altruism as we are from
the lesser moons of Pluto.  I would say; he did not love
Hogwarts for what it was, he loved the situation in which
he became strong.

I neither think that the way of conception has any influence
on the character of the offspring, but nevertheless it is a
known motive in litature and myth; take for instance Sir
Modred in the Arthur romans, who is the product of incest
and deceit, sired by the good King Arthur on his halfsister
Morgana or Morgause. JKR obvious choose to follow this
concept too.

In general, Riddle had with his inheritance very little
chance to end up good even in the best and warm of
upbringing.  Harry with his heritage and his upbringing
had every chance of ended wrong and badly, but sooner as a
patient in an asylum, then as a tyrant.
In the end it's blood that rules.