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[skull_bearer]

I wrote this for Fictionalley (can't let those canon whores get too uppity), and just wondered what you thought of it.

The main character I though JKR did a number on, and the reason I no longer write HP fanfiction, is Lord Voldemort.

I've always been a Death Eater fangirl, and while I know perfectly well that Voldemort'll die at the end of the

Comments

[everenthralledx]

"The Broken Victory" by Kate Lynn blows "I Am Lord Voldemort" out of the water, IMO.

[skull_bearer]

I respectfully disagree, I've read both, and 'I am Lord Voldemort' is superior. 'Broken Victory' is still great though.

[avidbeader]

That's one of a number of messages that Rowling appears to have erased from her previous books with HBP, and it's the biggest one of all.

[publius_ishmael]

It seemed to me that in HBP, JKR identified tom riddle as a sociopath (ie a mad, choiceless, barely human villain), but then turned Snape into the more human villain (who has made choices and who has human strengths and flaws, but ultimately seems to be evil). Voldemort is more the traditional villain of children's stories (like a dragon or an evil witch, who just exists to be evil), but Snape is a very satisfying real-world-type bady guy.

[skull_bearer]

Now, this may be because I was never a big fan of Snape, but to be honest this is no real excuse. Voldemort is the main bad guy of the series and that makes it more important for him to have a deep past. More than that, I wouldn't be so annoyed if the series didn't try to be more than a kid's novel. It no longer is, and this is one of greatest holes left behind.

[newslayer]

Sorry to meddle. I suppose I see things the way I do because I like Snape and I still believe he *is* good (you know what I'm talking about, him killing Dumbledore as part of a master plan to defeat Voldemort and stuff), and, if you will, Draco or Peter Pettigrew can be the more human villains (and yes, I also believe Draco is good. Sort of. Despicable but good at heart. Deep down. Deep, deep down). But I totally agree with you, making Snape the one who chose to be evil is no excuse to butcher Tom Riddle the way JKR did. She did a great job at turning him into a stereotyped, useless character; she wasted all his potential as an engaging character (oh, the angst!), and the opportunity to write a complex and mature story. Now he's just the bad guy, waiting to be offed by the hero. tsk, tsk.

[skull_bearer]

Precisely.

[pepperjackcandy]

I sincerely hope that there will turn out to be some method behind her madness re: who's "good" and who's "bad."

And frankly, I've never been so sure we could trust Dumbledore. He always kinda reminds me of Saruman from LOTR.

[skull_bearer]

I once compared Dumbledore with the other 'mentor archetypes' (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gandalf, Merriman, etc), Dumbledore was different in several different respects.

Firstly, if the mentors cannot help the hero, this is because of mitigrating circumstances (eg, Gandalf held prisioner by Saruman, Obi-Wan being killed by Darth Vader, and so on), Dumbledore is the only one who happily sits around and lets his protege fight off the trouble which being prefectly capable of stepping in himself.

Also, most of the others urge compassion in the hero, most notably when Gandalf tells Frodo that he should pity Gollum, in contrast, Dumbledore seems bewildered as to why Harry should pity Voldemort. For all that Dumbledore admires love, loving your enemy is out of the question. For that matter, no matter how much it's shoved into us that Harry's greatest weapon is love (since when was love a weapon?) Harry himself doesn't strike me as very 'loving'.

Sorry, got OT.

[pepperjackcandy]

No problem.

Actually, I believe that HP is about a very specific kind of love -- parental love for a child.

Which is why I think that Harry's choice couldn't be Hermione (or Ron, for that matter), since Harry really cannot function without either of them. And the appearance of Harry's HBP girlfriend with Harry's baby in her arms at/near the end of Book 7 has to be a surprise.

For Harry at least. I'll be expecting it.

[neytaritook]

Did you write a whole essay on the comparisons? I would like to read it if you have.

[valeriehall343]

You know, I heartily agree with your assesment that the treatment of Voldemort's character in HBP completely derails her "point" about choice. I have never thought that she made her point very well in the first place, but that is another topic all together

[pepperjackcandy]

Remember that Voldie felt abandoned by his mother because she died in childbirth. This is not an uncommon reaction, but given the fact that Merope was a witch, Voldie screwed it around so that she intentionally left him, because he thinks that she should've been immortal.

This has led to the search for immortality becoming his whole reason for being (even if he has to kill all of humanity in the process), because if he ever considers himself dead (or about to die, really, I guess), then he'd have to forgive his mother for dying.

[skull_bearer]

Actually, with regards to the orphanage, it seemed as though it wasn't too bad at all. In comparison to thje Dursleys, Tom Riddle had it easy. It was only because of his inherent problems that he became what he was. Had Harry been in that situation, he would have coped very well.