LV's Obsession (Was Re: Chap DH 16, Godric's Hollow

[Lenore]

No: HPFGUIDX 182151


 > "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." ­ Harry's initial
 > reaction is that this is a Death Eater slogan.  How does this
 > statement differ from the Death Eater philosophy?

Lenore:
I would like to approach the question by examing what we can infer
about LV's belief system, leaving aside, for this topic, whatever
beliefs/philosophy brought the DEs together as a militant force.
I am focusing on one particular aspect of it for now.

LV was absolutely obsessed with the idea of evading death while
maintaining his vulnerable body vehicle. An immortality of sorts,
if one uses the term loosely.  LV was, you might say, mentally
impoverished-- or, as Dhyani Ywahoo (Voices of our Ancestors)
would say, he suffered from an impaired memory with respect
to the memory of divine Life and Love (my paraphrase).

He had no concept of life beyond the transient vulnerable life of
a body form, and therefore, there was the overwhelming need to
hang onto it, through any measure, no matter how drastic.

We've encountered fairly similar attitudes about the body through
history. The relationship between the soul, the mind, and the body
are by no means clear in modern times.

FYI:  Assuredly, the following is not meant as a judgment of anyone
on this list who may be interested or involved in such research. I am
not comparing anyone with LV; I am just exploring trends which, more
than a little, remind me of LV's quest to overcome death.

We have medical technology replacing body organs to maintain the life
of the body.  But there's always the problem of where to get the organs
and how to keep them viable.  There's also the stem cell research and
experiments, and theoretical ideas about cryogenics-- all for just that
one purpose, to preserve the body life.  All have the aim of hanging
on to the body in a desperate search for a way to overcome death.

Perhaps it isn't death which is the problem, but fear of death.

Theoretically, there are those who see cloning as a useful way of
replacing body parts. A person might have several copies of his body,
and when one organ wears out, he'd just "harvest" the organ from one
of his living clones.  Does JKR see the practice of cloning for human
body parts as being like Dark Magic horcruxes?  I have no idea.  But
it did strike me that LV has a similar obsession to preserve his mortal
body as some who are absorbed in the more radical medical experiments.

Lenore, still in the process of gathering a few more thoughts on the topic.