The Why Of Voldemort

Voldemort, whose real name was Tom Riddle, is the main antagonist of the Harry Potter saga , a perfect villain who sows terror and darkness wherever he goes. It is the antithesis of Harry in terms of roles, but if we delve into it, we will quickly realize that they are not so different. It is as if Voldemort could not exist without Harry and, at the same time, Harry does not exist without Voldemort; They are opposites, but like the poles of magnets, it is impossible to separate them, they are the two sides of a coin: there is no hero without a villain and there is no villain without a hero.

Furthermore, in this case, we are faced with certain peculiarities, with certain circumstances that make us wonder what would have happened if things had been different for both. What if Voldemort had grown up in a happy home? What if you had discovered what love is? Was evil born with him or is it the result of a series of circumstances?

Throughout the saga, we discover the past of the Dark Lord, of this character who is much more than “the bad guy.” In the movies, not much is revealed about his past, but it is in the books, where JK Rowling dedicates entire episodes to memories of her life before she became “the one who should not be named.”

This character has so aroused fascination among fans of Harry Potter who even has its own movie, an Italian production by fans under the title of Voldemort: the origin of the heir .

There are many things that the Harry Potter saga hides and there are many things that we could say about Voldemort. In this article, I will try to collect some important data to deepen his personality, the reason for this character and his evil.

Influences

JK Rowling studied French and Classical Philology, she did not have an easy life – neither financially nor personally – until she achieved success thanks to Harry Potter . In the saga, Rowling has captured her classic influences: names of spells and characters, mythological beings … Everything seems to be impregnated with the mark left by her knowledge of Greco-Roman culture, but also by her personal experiences. Thus, on more than one occasion, she has confessed that characters, like Hermione, are inspired by her.

It is also no coincidence that Harry’s birthday is the same day as his or that dementors absorb the soul just as his depression did. In the case of Voldemort, Rowling herself indicated that her name comes from the French: vol de mort (flight of death) and acknowledged having been inspired by the figure of Adolf Hitler.

If we stop to think, they both believed in the existence of a superior race. Voldemort wants to exterminate anyone who is not “pure blood”, that is, son of wizards. He argues that the “Mudbloods” ( Muggle – borns ) should disappear and not have access to Hogwarts. In other words, for both of them, purity is important and there is an inferior race that must be exterminated because it is the origin of the evils of the world.

It is striking that Voldemort, in reality, is not pureblood, as his father was Muggle ; like Hitler he was of Jewish descent. Perhaps an inferiority complex, fear of rejection, and lust for power led both of them to commit totally heinous and irrational acts. At the same time, Voldemort was a brilliant young man, who awaited a great future as a wizard; Hitler, for his part, had a great taste for painting.

Another of the similarities with our history is found in the existence of two magical wars : the first, in which Voldemort and his Death Eaters ended the lives of many people, including Harry’s parents, was a war that they lost and for the one that Voldemort had to disappear. In the second, the end of an era occurs, the end of Voldemort and his followers. Germany lost both world wars, just like the Death Eaters.

Voldermot’s rise occurs little by little and from the shadows, until, finally, he manages to control the entire Ministry of Magic (the equivalent of our political system).

Harry would come to end this time of terror and darkness, as if it were a Jesus Christ. The influence of the Bible is also present in the saga: the figure of the serpent as a symbol of evil and temptation is also linked to Voldemort, who would be the personification of evil, and Harry the savior, the chosen one (with prophecy included) capable to give his life to save us all.

Voldemort’s past

Voldemort was an orphan child, the result of a deceit by his mother towards his father. A child begotten without love, who grew up without the warmth of a home. His maternal family was descended from Salazar Slytherin (founder of the Slytherin house and faithful defender of the purity of blood). Like their ancestor, all members of the family were able to speak Parseltongue (the language of snakes).

This obsession with purity led the family to years and years of inbreeding, of marriages between relatives that caused Merope Gaunt (Voldemort’s mother) and her family to live in extreme poverty and suffer from some kind of intellectual disability. Merope was mistreated by her father and brother, they abused her psychologically and called her squib (a person who is the daughter of magicians and is incapable of practicing magic).

Merope’s father and brother were imprisoned in Azkaban and she, upon being freed, managed to finally allow her magic to begin to flourish. Merope fell in love with a wealthy Muggle named Tom Riddle Sr., and decided to cast a spell on him into marrying her and becoming pregnant.

Merope thought that perhaps Riddle had fallen in love with her and could end the spell. However, Riddle abandoned her. Merope gave birth in an orphanage and died after childbirth, little Tom Riddle grew up without knowing love or his family. It wasn’t until a few years later, when Dumbleodore went looking for him, that he found out he was a wizard and could develop his skills at Hogwarts.

At Hogwarts, he stood out as one of the greatest wizards of all time, but his lust for power and his passion for the dark arts made him the most feared dark wizard. Like Harry, Voldemort was an orphan, grew up alone and without the affection of his parents; Hogwarts was his salvation.

There is a strong connection between the two characters that goes beyond their antagonistic relationship, they are not so different, but the main difference is that Voldemort never managed to love, he never managed to have a true friendship, he was cruel even to his most loyal followers. Being so similar, it is worth wondering why each one chose to face life so differently, if Voldemort was bad by nature or the result of his experiences, if his hatred of Muggles was real or was motivated by the abandonment of his father and the ashamed of her past.

Both Harry and Voldemort had to deal with deep loneliness in their childhood, abandonment and lack of affection. However, faced with a very similar situation, each one decided to undertake it in their own way.

Rowling draws us a character loaded with trauma, with a feeling of abandonment, self-conscious and much deeper than it may seem at first. A complex character that reminds us of the importance of childhood and the consequences that abandonment can have on the person, something that does not justify his evil, but it does help us get a little closer to the reason for it.