[HPforGrownups] Re: Forgiveness

[k12listmomma]

No: HPFGUIDX 188725

> Nikkalmati
>
> I believe that Bart is correct when he says (more or less paraphrased) 
> that in a work of fiction we have to look at the resources of the author 
> and her POV.  I do not believe that JKR intended us to consult the medical 
> criteria for LV.  She strives to show us from the beginning that LV-TR is 
> abnormal, cruel and without conscience.  He kills the rabbit (someone's 
> pet presumably) and irrepribly damages two children while at the 
> orphanage.  The director seems glad to be rid of him, not because she does 
> not like him, but because she is a bit afraid of him.  He conceals his 
> magic, not so he will fit in, but so he can use it against people.  Unlike 
> Harry and Hermione, he does not feel wierd for having magic; rather he 
> feels superior.
>
> The story emphasizes his antecedents at length and shows his uncle and 
> grandfather as antisocial and degenerate.  I believe she wants us to 
> believe that LV is a product of his bloodline.  His genetic line is not 
> superior, but inferior, and he has inherited his base nature.  Does this 
> line in the story go against the "choices" theme?  It sure does, but it is 
> not the only contradiction I see in the story.

Shelley:
Not necessarily does the ancestry go against the choices theme. There are 
two types of choices presented in the book: the immediate, and the long 
term. Harry's choice of a House in his conversation with the Hat was an 
immediate choice. The Guant's long term pureblood attitude that bred in 
instability from close inbreeding of family lines for generation after 
generation is an example of the long term choice. Both types of choices have 
consequences. Riddle did indeed suffer from a bit of that instability from 
the inbreeding family line, but he also benefitted from the fresh infusion 
of the Muggle his mother chose for his father. Clearly, he was not as stupid 
or as short sighted as his uncle and grandfather had been. None of that 
instability "makes" or "forces" him to rip his soul by creating a Horcrux, 
for that we can only blame his immediate, short term decision to do so. I 
believe it was the stability of his father's blood that contributes to his 
intelligence and good looks, and those further him down the road to 
connections he could make to do research that eventually led him to 
discovering the Horcruxes.

We see a lot of suffering from long term choices in the series: the WW's 
treatment of the Goblins and other magical creatures such as the Centaurs, 
for example. The treatment of the House Elves, the rules about wands, the 
pureblood attitudes, etc. All of those go into the world that Harry Potter 
is introduced to, and he has to work with the consequences of all the 
wizards before him who mistreated the other magical folk. Harry proves that 
he is different; he doesn't follow precedent in the mistreatment of his 
fellow magical creatures, and by his immediate choices to be different, 
changes the course of history for all of the wizards.