Voldemort's Intentions & Snape's Expectations

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 189835


> Shelley:
> Pippin, you and I must see Voldemort very differently. Yes, I fully 
> agree with you that Voldemort can see inside of people's head and name 
> what it is they desire (fame, power, victims) but that's all we agree 
> on. I think Voldemort uses those traits to get what he wants, he used 
> those desires to manipulate people to his end. It's never a carrot in 
> front of someone's face, it's more like the control of an abusive 
> boyfriend that has enough charisma to "always find your sore spots" so 
> he can keep manipulating you and making you feel guilty even though he's 
> the ass. <snip>When you use a carrot to lead an 
> animal, and then the job is done, you feed them for real. Voldemort 
> never feeds his people. 

Pippin:
That's a good description of the way Voldemort deals with some people, Ginny being an even better example than Wormtail, IMO. But it isn't the way he deals with everybody. "I'll give this to you and in return I expect your service" is exactly the deal he has with the dementors. They  can suck happiness and souls all they want, as long as they do his bidding.

Voldemort does not think any of his servants are truly loyal to him. But only some, like Pettigrew and Ginny,   have no desire of their own to perform the services he requires. Others, like the dementors,  or young Snape, are perfectly happy to do what is needed, not out of loyalty but out of their own desires, as long as they get what they want. Voldemort sees no reason not to take advantage of that. I agree that he does not care what they want, except as a means to get something he himself desires. But I don't agree that he perceives actually allowing them to get what they want as a kindness, even if we can see where snatching it away would be more cruel.

JKR gets a lot of plot mileage and a bit of humor out of the fact that Voldemort, even though he has no conscience to contend with, nonetheless has to juggle desires that are not exactly compatible with one another. His instincts for murder, cruelty and domination  get in each others' way. That's clearly seen in the Graveyard, when Voldemort must delay killing Harry so that he can torture and humiliate him. Voldemort has no philosophy of evil in order to help him decide among his warring instincts, he just does whatever seems most desirable at the moment. It's part of his pathology that no cognitive dissonance results. 

He keeps good track of what he gives and what he is promised  in return, and he's  harsh with servants who fail him. But the only measure of value he has is what is valuable to *him*. IOW, if  he does not need Lily, then he would not see himself as giving something of value to Snape, any more than he values the happiness and the souls consumed by the dementors. If Snape will feel rewarded by a gift of such trash, so much the better.

Pippin