Thanks for watching! Check out my last 3 vids as well! Why Does the Sorting Hat Choose Half-Bloods for Slytherin?: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fR24pNHwmZ0.html Top 10 Darkest Moments LEFT OUT of the Films: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IA_W2k6NUF0.html Why Don't MORE Wizards Become Animagi?: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-q7mQJVU_FT0.html
That’s always pissed me off. I’m aromantic asexual. I CAN FEEL LOVE. It’s just NOT SEXUAL. I’m the OG Voldy, Ace and no eyebrows. I was also abused in an orphanage. Idk mb they are linked mb not. But I have kids and I love them. It’s just an active choice to have sex it’s not fueled by “love”.
I think you misinterpreted the statement from J.K. He would have been able if he was raised by his mother but after he wasn't he still wasn't able to feel love.
could a muggle (or a squib) become an animagus given the right conditions? alot of the steps needed to become an animagus don't seem to require the use of magic (such as keeping the leaf in your mouth. what would happen if a muggle took a wizard's wand by force (they should then be the wand's master) and did all the steps correctly? the whole process doesn't seem to require casting a spell as far as i remember so could a muggle use the magic of the wand alone without needing to have magic themselves?
I don't think this really hurts his character or the story in any sense. In my opinion, it fits quite well with Dumbledore's line "Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love." Voldemort had nothing stopping him from feeling love. He was perfectly capable of it, and he shows small signs of something similar to it at some points (calling Nagini "dear", getting angry when his mother is called a thief, quietly reminiscing over the family he never had after his resurrection, trying to justify using the magical cage to Nagini, making that cage a beautiful one which glimmers with stars to presumably make Nagini more comfortable, etcetera). However, he didn't care for love; he saw it as nothing special, something insignificant. He acknowledged Lily's sacrifice as a powerful counter charm made of love, one he should have expected, but he dismissed it as the act of a "foolish girl" and proceeded to gloat about how his magic was able to overcome it. Furthermore, he seems to be of the opinion that his parents' love was not one-sided, that his father merely "abandoned her when she told him what she was" out of a simple dislike for magic. Word of the author tells us that this was a false assumption, but Voldemort is certain enough of this course of events, perhaps due to prejudice or because he knows something Dumbledore didn't, that he feels confident in saying that the only reasons his father left were that he "he found out his wife was a witch" and "He didn't like magic, my father..." To Voldemort, this would be a sign that love is something fragile, something fleeting which falls apart when simple prejudice becomes involved. And since this abandonment killed his mother and left him to grow up in a loveless environment, why would he ever care for love or see it as meaningful? Honestly, I think this fits better into the message of the story. Voldemort's childhood was miserable, and he grew into an awful person because he only ever had reason to see love as worthless and so lived without it. If his mother had survived, he may have had a better life, and he himself seems to realize this given that he seemingly mourns the fact that he grew up without a family. As a child, perhaps he could have been redeemed, but he didn't want to be. He made choices that furthered his own goals to everyone else's detriment, committing atrocities which could never be undone. By the time of his death, there was no saving Voldemort; he was happy with his life, he enjoyed hurting people and gaining power, and he had long since crossed the "moral event horizon" which prevents redemption. As for the fact that this humanizes him, I think that was the point of his story. Despite everything he did, despite transforming himself into a monstrous abomination, he was still perfectly human. This is cemented when he falls to the ground, "shrunken and feeble," and dies the human death that had always terrified him.
@@Entity_67 I had free time and found a video about my favorite HP character, so I wrote my thoughts on the topic, and those thoughts happened to be extensive. Honestly, I probably could have written more.
Completely agree. I think the characterization of Voldemort as irredeemable is an oversimplification, as the video suggests. But I think you’re right - the point of his character is that he is a willingly unredeemed human, not an irredeemable monster. Anyone could go down the path that he did, even Harry, and that’s the point. Harry knew this in his first year when he asked Dumbledore about their similarities.
The only thing that stopped him from feeling love , was that he was a psychopath, born as it . From a young age he started bullying kids , killing animals etc . Psychopaths don't feel love, empathy or remorse , they can learn right from wrong... He never did . Psychopaths can have pets too , but they don't love their pets . If raised under proper care , he might've become a better psychopath who didn't revel in torture and killing, but here we are .
Voldemort destroyed his ability to love when he began making horcruxes. He chose that path. That is what makes him truly evil. He had the ability. He had the potential. He deliberately chose to destroy his ability to love in order to gain power. Never forget there is just as much to do with the choices people make in the series, than with fate. Harry had a similar upbringing to Voldemort. He grew up without love. He could have easily chose to hate the Dursleys. He chose to love them. Lily chose to give her life to save her boy. In the final battle, everyone chose what side they were throwing in for. Love is powerful, but just as powerful are the choices you make. I'm fairly certain that was made clear when it was revealed that the sorting hat didn't actually sort Harry into Gryffindor. Harry chose not to be in Slytherin.
@@Plan3tMist You have literally posted this in reply to several people. I'm going to disregard anything you have to say because you are just spamming at this point. You clearly didn't watch the video. You also clearly did not read the books BECAUSE DUMBLEDORE LITERALLY TELLS HARRY IT'S HIS CHOICES THAT MAKE HIM DIFFERENT FROM VOLDEMORT.
I think a distinction that Tom Riddle could have loved but the diminished soul that is Voldemort can no longer do so might be a more nuanced way to look at this.
I’ve always believed the Voldemort was a product of Merope Gaunt suppressing her magic. Basically creating an obscures. The obscurus absorbed her life completely and the darkness transferred to Voldemort.
It does explain why he thought to give Lily the choice to surrender Harry, seeing as his own mother gave up on him. That must have been very unpleasant to witness what actual motherly love looked like.
Well I think that Voldemort was complex and that it was difficult for him to understand love but not impossible. The reason I think it’s not impossible is Harry final choice that he gave Voldemort. He gave Voldemort the chance to regret his choices. To feel remorse. This means. There was a chance. Even if very small that even at the very end. Voldemort could have chosen to feel sympathy. Even if it was for himself. I think his inability to understand love was a progress of bad choices and terrible things that happened to him. Love potion-his mom was depressed while he was in the womb- she abandoned him. At the orphanage he was ignored and feared. Then the rest were his choices to not accept love from others but to take advantage of them. Then finally the damage done by his horcruxes. But Even after all of that. I think he had the hidden potential to love. But he saw it as a weakness and dogmatically refused
Dude was a sociopath, He probably understood the concept, but he never understood the feeling and why everyone else clinged to it. But he obviously had love for the dark arts. More so than any Dark Wizard before him.
It's a classic example of "use it or lose it". If you have perfectly functional legs, but you spend your life in a wheelchair anyway, you won't be able to use your legs after a while. If you have perfectly functional eyes, but you spend your life blindfolded, you won't have good vision when you finally take off your blindfold. Tom never practiced love, never exercised his capacity to love, never really tried to love. But he could have learned, if he had put the effort in.
Or..Or. he is just a psychopath, they just like this cant love or feel empathy , its as simple is that, some people born this way, but they are not always bad people
Could it be possible that Merope started forming an obscurial while pregnant with Tom? It did say she refused to use magic anymore and ive never heard that only children can become one
Another little known misconception about Voldemort is that almost everybody pronounces his name wrong. Rowling says the T is supposed to be silent but gave up on trying to correct that misconception it was so prevalent
"love" can have multiple definitions. Voldemort loved power, the dark arts, and snakes. Supposedly he couldn't "love" a person, because his mother used a love potion on his father. So he had no parents, and was alone most of his life. maybe it's not that he can't love, but he didn't want to attempt it. Because no one gave it to him. They say no one is born evil. It's how we react to life.
I just assumed he was a clinical psychopath, made worse by his creation of Horcrux's which destroyed any semblance of his essential biological goodness. I'm a teacher of young children. I've worked with kids for 18 years. I've known many many troubled kids, who lacked love and structure in their lives. It was clear to see they had a very narrow prospect for a happy future, but also clear that all it might take is a lot of love and a new environment to help them. Kids are, very broadly, good little people, capable of love no matter what. I always consider how all murderers or criminals were once in kindergarten and needed help. But I did have one kid who had zero moral compass, zilch none. Liked to hurt the other kids with no remorse. He really was different. But still I'd like to think there might have been hope for even him. So...what if Voldemort had been adopted by the Weasleys? As a baby? I do think everything would have been different. Nature vs Nurture I guess.
@Tony Tucker well a lot of people, muggles clearly, ha, do grow up and commit heinous acts. I felt like this video was ultimately asking why Voldelort was evil. I was commenting based on my life experiences because even little children show signs of anxiety, aggression, trauma, and daily exist in troubled home lives more horrible than any fiction. So yes. I am. I do think even Voldemort could have been saved when he was three. Because even clinical psychopaths can be treated.
@@harvestmoon_autumnsky they have been trying to treat me since I was as young as 3 or 4 from what I remember and no treatment has been effective, I’ve punched up so many doctors now they don’t even want to work with me anymore , I’m on my own
The entire story just works better if Voldemort is incapable of love. It's stated repeatedly that he just cant understand it and is frequently thwarted because he didn't plan for an emotional reaction from his enemies and allies. Dumbledore says Voldemort doesn't value anything he doesn't understand. The concept of love is somewhat complex and a little different for everyone, but not difficult to understand unless you're incapable of feeling it. He is meant to be the ultimate antithesis in a story who's theme is "love and unity always triumph". Him being redeemable ruins the lesson we're meant to learn at the end and breaks the dichotomy that had been building from the beginning. Voldemort is filled with hate and anger, enjoys cruelty, causing suffering and destruction, is as selfish as one can possibly be, and is completely obsessed with preserving himself even if it means disrupting the natural order. He never does a single positive thing throughout the entire series. He serves as a warning of what living without love can do to a person and how that can cause them to hurt and destroy everything around them, which is taken to the extreme because magic. Rowling trying to reinvent her story after the fact should be ignored, it doesn't fit anymore than Dumbledore all of a sudden being gay and his friendship with Grindelwald now being a love affair that is not implied in the text.
In OotP when V "posesses" Harry, he couldn’t bare the emotions Harry felt for his friends. So if he is indeed capable of love, wouldn’t that suggest it would cause him agony?
That's just some BS Dumbledore told Harry at the time before revealing the horcruxes. Voldemort couldn't stand it because it was too close to trying to mend his shreds of soul together in one body.
I'm a fan of the theory that Voldemort is the human personification of an obscurus. Not an obscurial, but rather the form that the obscurus inside of his mother took as it developed alongside and as a part of the child growing inside of her. It's why Voldemort was so abnormally powerful and why he seemed to be inherently evil.
like the saying goes, A mother's is so unique that nothing is near comparable to it, since Tom didnt have a mother and his father didnt true love him, also he grew in the orph, its safe to say, he has no understanding of what true love is
If Voldemort WAS capable of feeling love, then that makes him even more evil - because of the hundreds of murders he committed - he destroyed families. A human who is capable of loving other humans understands the far-reaching effects of killing others.
Or..Or. he is just a psychopath, they just like this cant love or feel empathy , its as simple is that, some people born this way, but they are not always bad people
I have a head canon that Voldemort was at one time capable of love and had love for someone very unexpected... Myrtle Warren aka Moaning Myrtle. Myrtle was teased a bullied because of her appearance while in school. If you think about it, Tom Riddle was probably bullied by his own house in at least his first three years. When Riddle started at Hogwarts, as far as anyone knew, including Tom himself, Riddle was a Muggleborn. Yet he was sorted into Slytherin house which had to be unheard of at that point in time. I can easily see Tom being bullied unmercilessly by older Slytherin students. It's probably what fueled his obsession with his parentage. He probably thought that if he could find some magical blood in his family line the bullying might stop. Then Myrtle comes along and he sees her being bullied constantly. Maybe she witnessed some of his bullying too. I can see a secret relationship/friendship developing between the two. Not unlike the relationship/friendship that developed between Moaning Myrtle and Draco Malfoy in Halfblood Prince. I can see Tom covertly jinxing and hexing people picking on Myrtle. Though he probably wouldn't retaliate against any Slytherin picking on her. I can see him going too far at times which wouldn't sit well with Myrtle. Over time they drift apart. Myrtle isn't happy that Tom still wants to keep their friendship a secret. They get into a fight and he calls her a mudblood. Myrtle is hurt and confused as why he would call her such a disgusting slur when he is muggle born too. But by that time Tom already knows that he is half blood and the heir of Slytherin. Tom continues to protect Myrtle covertly which Myrtle tells him not to do any more. Then one day Tom sees Olive Hornby bully Myrtle to tears. Myrtle runs off crying and Tom is furious. Tom remembers that Myrtle doesn't want him protecting her any more and refrains from cursing Olive. Later at lunch Tom sees that Myrtle isn't at her house table. He is seething with anger because he knows she is off somewhere crying. Tom decides to go look for Myrtle but as he passes by Olive Hornby whispering to her friends. He overhears her plotting her next plan to humiliate Myrtle. This sends Tom's fury beyond on reasoning. Olive Hornby must die. Tom storms out of the great Hall and heads for the chamber of secrets. Tom enters the girls bath room but in his anger, he forgot to check that the bath room was empty. Tom summons the Basilisk with the intention of ordering it to kill Olive Hornby. Myrtle hears Tom speaking parseltongue but doesn't recognize that it's Tom's voice and bursts out of the bathroom stall to tell whoever is there to go away. Tom looks on in horror as Myrtle crumples to the floor dead after looking into the eyes of the Basilisk. Tom orders the Basilisk back into the chamber closing it up and drops to his knees beside Myrtle and cries. Tears pour down his face as he looks down at the vacant stare of the only person he ever cared about. The only person who ever truly cared about him. But it it isn't just tears pouring from Tom. Its every bit of love he was ever capable of pouring out of him all for her. He would never again be able to love anyone or anything. After several minutes Tom stops crying. He stands up and dries his eyes on his sleeve. He looks down at the body once more. Only now his gaze is cold as ice. He decides it was for the best as Myrtle would have been a weakness for him. He decides to make her death mean something and uses it to create his first horcrux. Tom then turns and walks out of the bathroom leaving Myrtle's body to be found hours later..
Voldemort isn’t meant to be irredeemable (as you put it). Harry presents him with a final chance to think about what he has done and try for some remorse. It is our choices that define us, Voldemort ultimately chooses not to be redeemed.
Remember that here in the real world, no one is born evil. They become evil after years of systematic abuse. The real problem is that they feel too much and those unfortunate enough to be around them or in their path suffer for them. Their lives are often empty, forsaken, and truly pitiful.
Voldemort's mother dying after he was born definitely affected his ability to feel love, because she couldn't raise him and love him. That would make it harder for him to feel love but may not make him incapable of it. Further, Voldemort did feel some form of love for Nagini and possibly Bellatrix. It doesn't hurt his character but adds a layer of complexity to it.
I’m pretty sure it is known how Merope gave him the potion, it’s part of the memory of the ministry worker that Harry and Dumbledore entered together. If I’m not mistaken, it was just a hot day and she offered the Riddles something to drink.
The potion also didnt just stop, but she thought it was cruel to continue giving him the potion, and hoped that he would love her because she was his son's mother
I read that chapter yesterday and it actually isn't know if it was a love potion at all. It was a guess by Dumbledore, but he also said that we can be fairly sure about it. Harry suggested she made Tom Riddle senior runaway with her by using imperio but Dumbledore said he thought love potion was used because it would have made it feel more romantic for her. So it's probably what happened, but it's not more than a qualified guess.
The two ideas are very conflicting. It’s strange that JK Rowling has canon suggesting that Voldemort is incapable of love, but later stated that it’s just very difficult for him to love. This is an area where the lore becomes almost useless and I’m not a big fan of that.
Love to hear your theories and in such a soothing voice! This got me thinking, love potion can have a side effect sort of curse, maybe can be broken by true love. Also, this 'curse' coupled with the not so magical mental illnesses he no doubt incurred, seems like he certainly could have overcome them but the odds were stacked against him and ultimately he did choose his path.
I think Voldemort is not capable of love because of his own misconsceptions. He like many veiwers believes he cant feel love so he dosn't reconize it when he does.
Whilst I agree that he loved Naggini I'd guess this is because he had placed part of his soul in her. Albeit I'd argue that Voldermort's inability to feel love extended to self-love as well.
I think that she was saying he "could have" had the ability to love, but because he didn't he didn't. Doesn't really change anything for me. And people like Dumbledore and Harry gave him all the chances he needed. He still turned away because, as he was, he could not feel what they felt. He couldn't even stand to be in Harry's body when Harry was feeling the love. If things had been different for Moldy Voldy then he would have been different for sure, but because they weren't then he is not. lol
I always thought since in the books he screamed when Bellatrix died he did felt some kind of love or affection for her. And to me that ment he was capable of feeling love but just that its very difficult for him. Or something he ignores as he doesnt understand it.
Voldemort being incapable of love was Dumbledore's interpretation and Dumbledore sometimes underestimated people. That was exemplified in Snape's "Always." Dumbledore also got into Tom's pysche since Day 1 by keeping a watchful eye on him. Was Voldemort Dumbledore's making in a way?
Love is not a benevolent force. It is a complicated emotion. It brings just as much pain and selfishness as selflessness. Hatred is not the opposite of love, just loce on the opposite polarity. If Voldemort could feel hatred, he could feel love. Evil is nothing but a human perception, as Voldemort says. There is only power, and those too scared to use it. He just never learned some power, is too costly to be used.
One thing I would really like to learn about is how dumbledore came across voldemort in the first place I meant how he learnt of toms excistance because as the orphanage said he never had a visitor or any family so not like someone called tell dumbledore about Tom
Never though Voldemort was incapable of love. I just thought he saw love as a weakness, and therefore couldn't be bothered with it. How many times does he mock Dumbledore about love, and him thinking that love is a powerful force. He sees Lily's loving sacrifice as "foolish". He uses Harry's love for his Godfather as a tactic to lure him into the Department of Mysteries. He sees Lucius's love for Draco as pathetic. I think maybe he even blames love for his mother's death. If she hadn't "loved" his father, she wouldn't have used a love potion on him, got rejected, and then die from a broken heart. I can see Voldemort thinking love left his mother weak, and because of that she gave up and died. In Voldemort's mind maybe love = death.
Yes I agree with you or that love = pain and betrayal. After Voldemort never found women of his style. I see him with a pure-blood witch of captivating charm, seductive and refined. For example Katherine Piece from Vampire Diaries.
I think its possible to explore a different type of love here. In voldermorts case, it wasnt so much a love of people - but a love of power. He loved being the 2nd most powerful wizard of his age (coming 2nd to dumbledore). He loved lording himself over others & he loved that other people fawned over him (death eaters etc) its not a wholesome, warm kind of love that lilly had for harry or what the weasleys have for each other. In voldermorts case, its a narcissistic kind of love. He loves hismelf so much, that he creates horcruxes so he doesnt die. He loves himself so much, that he has built an entire cult around himself & has studied a lot to protect himself. In terms of bellatrix, its 100% possible he could have loved her and just had no idea how to show it. But i think he also really respected her for her natural power & her need to inflict pain on others.
then so sad about it she allows it to consume her and show her son he was never as important to her as someone who she S assaulted. She is meant to get sympathy because she's incredibly dumb, that's the impression I got.
The part you’re supposed to sympathize with is the abuse she sustained at the hands of her family. That abuse led her to then use the power she wielded to abuse someone weaker than her. It’s a cycle of abuse that is sad but that doesn’t mean it justifies her actions.
@@hey_mickey1981 I pretty much got the same impression. While by any means it doesn't happen always, there is a noticable number of abusers who themselves were abused in the past. They repeat the cycle, for many different reasons. It still doesn't excuse what they're doing by any means...it's just a pattern in human behaviour.
I actually like the idea of him being somewhat more complex and even having a tiny potential for good in theory. But hes still very bad. You can be capable of feeling some emotions without letting it be a guiding force in your life and it may be less dominant than other feelings. Kind of like Claude Frollo from bells of notreadame, does show some capacity to feel guilt and question his action, but always ends up choosing against it, going into denial and let other desires rule (I have only watched the movie and heard he is not as evil in the book)
He may not of loved bellatrix but he did care for her i never read the last book but i was told when bellatrix got killed voldemort yelled in anger so he must of atleast cared about her and i do think he really cared about nagini too thats why i think he made her a horcrux.
I’ve never viewed Voldemort as incapable of love. Love is such a broad subject that what one might consider love others may not. After all love is such a powerful force in HP that’s it’s kept locked up in the Department of Mysteries for study. Love can be very dangerous and make people do things unimaginable to others who might not see love in the other. As for Voldemort I don’t think as an adult Dark Lord he is capable of love and understanding it the way we do. He very well may have loved Nagini but to him he wouldn’t recognize it for what it was and even if he did he wouldn’t admit it to himself. Of course it was his history and upbringing that shaped him to what he became. It’s not like he is incapable of love by nature. Had Merope lived we could only imagine what would become of her son. (Which would make an interesting video please and thank you). Its by chains of events in Voldemorts life that refrain him from love and understanding it. Not by nature or genetics but rather is childhood.
I think that until he created his first Horcrux while it was more than likely extremely difficult for him to express and even more for others to notice, he could and did feel love fully and he still could to some extent as we see him near the end because we know from Dumbledore that Tom loved Hogwarts and most of all he loved himself! but ripping apart his soul I believe twisted and killed any ability for him to love anything but himself! He didn't love Nagini so much as he just loved his soul, and we also see his inability to feel love for something we know he loved as a child with the destruction of Hogwarts!
Video Idea: Magic vs Technology, Idk if anyone else has ever suggested it but like could alohamora unlock a phone? Could technology ruin wizard secrecy? Would wizards abuse it or would it even the playing field? Thanks to anyone for reading!
1. Maybe he was capable of love but he was NEVER exposed to it therefor never knew it. 2. Just because he was capable of feeling it doesn't mean he's capable of understanding/dealing with it. 3. Given the way he was conceived and raised he would most likely not trust Love. 4. All of which would of been rendered moot when he split his soul making Horcruxes.
both his inherited mental weakness and the absence of love throughout his childhood , caused Voldemort to become a narc.. something that cannot be cured or put to one side … he displays this in everything he does.. if he had received love and nurture from babyhood and a stable supportive home life, even if in an orphanage, he may well have grown into a ‘normal’ man … except for whatever mental issues he may have inherited from either parent..
He probably was capable of love as a child but he began creating horcruxes at an early age. So he might have lost certain elements of his humanity as he lost portions of his soul.
I don't think it is that he incapable of love, he just disdains it and sees it as a weakness to be exploited. Thus, seeing himself as having no weakness, chooses not to feel love.
6:40 this is interesting on a personal level. I believed for decades that there was something wrong with me because I never felt empathy, and everyone around me seemed to either constantly feel it or at least say they did. I'm a diagnosed autistic as well. When I was 33 I met my husband(he was the first person that I've been able to really trust, he is always there for me and being around him is as comfortable as being alone which was a first!) and after a while something unfortunate happened that affected the both of us, and at that moment I had this "wow"-moment, I felt so much worse for his loss than mine. So I guess it took the right person and circumstances for me to realize that I can feel empathy after all.
I always thought that Notion of Voldemort being Incapable of Love was ridiculous....NO Human could be completely Incapable of Love! If he was Incapable of Love....then the whole premise of Voldemort Having multiple chances to change his destiny for the better is thrown out the window and he must be held Blameless for his crimes as he essentially had no power over his creation! I'm not surprised J.K. Rowling was essentially misquoted on the topic.
Personally I think Voldemort being capable of love yet it just being extremely hard for him. Fit better than being incapable of love in the first place. If he was incapable of love then why was he able to hate things. Hatred is the other side of the coin when it comes to love (I view the opposite of love as indifference or something similar to it). Voldemort's hardness in his ability to love could also be why the power of love was so effective on him. The more he rejected the more effective it was on him in the end. Also has the power of love been used on anyone other then Voldemort. Such is extremely hard to use properly but has the effects of it on someone, that can feel love without all the issues and problems Voldemort had, ever been shown or explained at some time.
I always thought that the source of his evil was his fear of death. If he just didn't feel love, why would death be repugnant? Often the reaction to lack of love is depression, despair, suicide. But Voldemort had a horror of dying, once he realized it claims muggles and magicals alike. Death is the final enemy, the ultimate weakness. Voldemort will do anything to live forever, forever strong. It's all he has or believes in.
I always wondered why Merope gave her baby the middle name Marvolo. Her father was so mean to her, so logically she wouldn’t give his name to her child
@@skindred1888 we are lead to believe that over centuries the Marvolo family would rather commit incest than breed with muggles.. But then she throws out that commitment to be with a Muggle.
Well after thinking about it, I would say that Merope giving her child the middle name Marvolo was just for plot convenience. Because without that, young Tom Riddle would not have been able to do his research and find out that he was part of the Gaunt family
When I read the 1st couple of books I thought, "Oh yeah, all this love stuff is just because it's aimed at kids. At the end, she'll flesh it out a bit more." (Like Harry was too young to understand what really happened with his mother when he was 11 or 12). But nope.
I mean, the fact that Voldemort was able to love doesn't change anything as most of the other dark wizards were able to love or weren't procreated under a love potion like Voldemort. Also, the idea that Voldemort was evil just because of that love potion weakens and simplifies his character and the story for me, as it removes every responsibility or agency he has over his wrong doings and choices (like a vampire sucking blood just because that's what vampires do). That also would diminish Harry's action of choosing love and friendship as his strength because he was able to do so (as he also was able to become a dark wizard) while Voldemort would never be capable of doing that because it simply wasn't in his nature. Voldemort finding his demize by choosing power over meaningful relationships only is a powerful message and ending to the story is he also was able to choose love and friendship.
Children that suffer abandonment, when growing up, often feel the need to demonstrate to others (and themselves) that they don't need anyone and are self-sufficient, and also feel the desperate need of self-fullfilment, to prove they are "worthy of love", that they are better than others (often themselves) think. They also grow up with a severe sense of inferiority and insecurity, that force them to constantly live in a defensive mechanism. Plus, discovering what his mother did was a punch to the gut for his ego, something that would definitely twist his sense of self, exponentially increasing his insecurity and inferiority complex. So, yea, Voldemort could definitely understand the concept of love, and could actually feel love, but for him, that was a sign of weakness, a debilitation, a distraction from his life goal of becoming "the greatest wizard in history".
I never believed that it was the love potion that prevented him from feeling love mostly because it would make no sense. Think about how common its use is, if it had that kind of effect there would be a lot more people unable to love... That said I also think Merope didn't just die of a broken heart, I think she wanted to die to protect her son. Think about it, her brother and father would have gotten out soon enough, do you think either one of them would have let her stay away? They would have forced her to return home and if they didn't kill her son outright they would have made his life as much a hell as they did hers living abused in squaller and likely never allowing him to go to Hogwarts. By her dying there was a better chance his father would have taken him and he would live the good life or at worst he'd live in the orphanage where at least he'd be clean, fed and able to go to Hogwarts. I think Voldemort realized that, the murder of the Riddles was way to personal. I'm sure he could already read minds when he met his uncle and he saw what they did to his mother and he was pissed! Then he walked into these rich peoples home and I'm sure it stung seeing the life he should have had... and what do you think they said to him? I think even if he hadn't ripped his soul making a Horcrux I think his soul would have been damaged after learning all that. He also got mad when he learned that Borgin & Burkes had basically ripped off his mother for her locket when she likely should have gotten enough money to come up with some kind of plan.
She also later said, that she imagined Hermoine as black, even though there is text evidence speaking of her white face (not that it would matter to me just want to point out that JKR likes to contradict herself). It is clearly stated in the books that a child born under the influence of a love potion isnt capable of feeling love (for others). I give you the Nagini thing though since he probably "loved" himself a lot and the snake is a Horkrux so basically himself.
I’ve also wondered how the story would have been effected if Voldemort had been adopted as a new born by muggle parents who raised and cherished him with love.
I always thought the lack of love was due to his literally breaking his soul into seven bits. LOL. Could make it a bit difficult. However, I do feel he loved the snake, Nagini. I don't feel Rowling dropping this in an interview should count as particular set in stone canon personally, it should be dropped in the books to be canon if you ask me. I mean she's dropped some other facts' after the books that don't exactly line up with it so... Just something to consider. Bellatrix L
I always thought merope stopped giving Tom the love potion after she was pregnant because she believed he really did love her and that he’d stay for the baby. He abandoned her while she was still pregnant. She sold the locket to borgin and Burkes in an attempt to have money. He knows it’s a slytherin heirloom but tells her it’s worth next to nothing but she sells it to him for pennies anyways. She died at the orphanage after giving birth and she told them he was to be named Tom marvolo riddle after his father and grandfather.
Voldemort being able to show affection for Nagini and "love" does not redeem him. But yeah, it adds some complexity to him. It reminds me of a holocaust story, actually.
I have often wondered why he gave Lily the chance to get out of the way before he killed Harry. Was he teasing her? Did he feel a small bit of obligation to Snape?
With this like of thinking, I’d argue that like any subject he may be able to understand it more than previously thought, but his experience causes him to lack the capability to practice it. A muggle analogy would be that most of us have taken a biology class in high school, but that doesn’t make everyone a surgeon. Or you know how to put gas in your car, but that doesn’t make you a master mechanic
I thought this was very clear. Voldemort was in fact able to Love, but He chose to Not; He Had the opportunities For redemption to heal His Soul, but He Made decision against this.
My reading of it is that while Voldemort MAY be capable of feeling love, he simply chooses not to, as he believes that emotions distract him from his ultimate goal. On the other hand, Voldemort is very clearly obsessed with himself, and has little to no interest in other people. As such, why would he be interested in somebody enough to actually love them?
The thing that could make him interested in a woman. That she is a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. A captivating charm because it takes a lot to attract Voldemort. Of above average intellect. A mysterious and insightful woman.
Voldemort is evil because he’s the physical manifestation of an obscural which explains why Newt had it locked up in his suitcase. One of the fragments went inside of Merope Gaunt and Nagini which resulted in becoming Lord Voldemort and his Horcrux
Since all the names were made up in this series of books the only way to know with 100% certainty the names are being said correctly is for the author to inform the reader (footnote or something).
Also, he might not be able to romantically love but he does love. He is visually shaken at the death of Bellatrix in both movie and book implying that he did have love for her and her loyalty
They should have made Voldemort look like a mostly normal guy similar to Grindewald, to have made the opposition more likeable and allow the audience to entertain the opposite notion of the establishment wizarding ideology.
He was a sociopath/psychopath. Just like Bellatrix, Barty Jr., and many other Death Eaters. It doesn't mean they are completely incapable of love. Just that they have far less likely to feel that emotion than a normal human. There are also plenty of other symptoms/characteristics of sociopathy/psychopathy including impulsivity/lack pf self control, recklessness, and sexual promiscuity, as well as high intelligence yet an inability to learn from one's own mistakes. Like all diseases, disorders, and syndromes, not every symptom is preaent in every diagnosed person, and especially not to the same degrees. Most people who do have it are likely undiagnosed, mainly because a diagnosis(using the current criteria used today) requires a criminal record before the age of 17, and if one never gets caught theyobviously can never be diagnosed under the current criteria... Also, most people have/display at least one trait/symptom.
The books involve love triumphing over darkness. A mother's love is a massive thing in the Harry Potter books/universe. Lily's sacrifice, Narcissa and Draco, Molly defending her kids etc. Voldy's mother didn't love him, and he's not into love. So people in orphanages or people without 2 happy loving parents become serial killers? Bit lazy, JK :S
Voldemort's evil character comes from his miserable childhood and the trauma he experienced and the lack of love. Although he despises love and rejects it, he clearly sees that he is jealous of Harry that he receives love and support etc. Ralph Fiennes the actor who plays Voldemort (adult) and says he understands Voldemort's "loneliness", since he has never loved or been loved in his life. “He doesn't know what love is, it's a language he doesn't understand. He only thinks about gaining power, and controlling and manipulating as many people as possible (...), but I always think that there is good in each of us. Voldy is also a very suspicious person and does not trust people other than himself, moreover he clearly sees that the people around him betray easily and do not tell the truth example with: Dumbledore and Lucius. This is why he insists so much on loyalty! I remember Albus Dumbeldor's words to Harry in The Deathly Hallows." "Do not pity the dead, Harry, rather pity the living, and especially those who live without love.", Who lives without love in the saga? The answer is logical, obvious: Voldelmort. Dumbledore tries to tell Harry that Voldemort may be more powerful than him, but he is to be pitied above all others. In other words, that Harry is despite everything more powerful than Voldemort thanks to the force of love. What Dumbledore also explains to us is that behind Voldemort's anger and fury we see a deeply sad man. I also wanted to add that the key tendencies of Tom Riddle Alias Voldy come from the fact that he is an orphan as he never had anything. He takes or snatches from others everything he would have liked to have. He indulges in lies by pretending to be a pure blood because he would really like to be one in fact. But above all, be accepted into wizarding society. As people do not care about him, he likes to be the center of attention and to be interested in him and to recognize his abilities, he likes to be admired and feared. Thanks for video ^^
Even capable of love or not doesn’t matter to his motivations. In the end he wanted to live forever and rule as much of the world as possible. By any means necessary, maybe if raised by his mother he wouldn’t turn out this way. But he doesn’t need to be incapable of love to make him work as a all evil villain. Because in the end he chooses that being the master of death is the most important to him over anything else
I ain't think for a while he couldn't understand it as in like a child wouldn't understand it so that's how we felt about nagini but he didn't quite really know how to put it and then when cycle lady comes in that's when it really appears because when she dies he really feels it you can tell by his face and a little bit of I believe anger sadness and disbelief that she died
I think he was a psycho with no empathy. But it's not a matter of being conceived by unloving parents. Many children are conceived this way. It is rather a matter of upbringing in an orphanage and character traits inherited, for example, from a grandfather.
Voldemort was a protypical psychopath...or having one of the extremes on the ASPD scale. He is actually incapable of love by the time we see him as a young boy....and was already "experimenting" with abnormal cruelty to children...rather free with "ownership" of things he desired...and was unafraid of adults, being used to power and intimidation at a young age. None of the typical criteria seems present; Tom Riddle Jr. wasn't treated any worse than any other orphan...yet, he developed a cruelty anyways. His environment, while bleak and unenviable, wasn't worse than Harry's own upbringing. So, if not circumstances...or environment.. Then it leads toward genetics. And if that's the root cause, Merope being a poor destitute mother figure may not have resolved that "weak" mother aspect that he learned when she "let herself die". She was an abused girl...mentally and physically. Voldemort, at some point, would have discarded his need of her.
I disagree, Voldemort's capability of feeling love just highlights the role of choice in this. Merope chose not to try to live, not even for her son, Tom chose not to love because he never received any affection. He could have chosen otherwise, formed friendships with other children at the orphanage, but he chose to dominate and control them instead. This was implied in the books. The same choice lay before Harry, but Harry was lucky and had love for that first crucial year with his parents and he chose to love even though he had a miserable time with the Dursleys. Tom Riddle is to be pitied, had he been shown kindness he might have chosen another way, but as Dumbeldore says, it is your choices that define you, not what you are born.
There are many things people gets wrong about Voldemort these days... Voldemort suffers from anti-social personality disorder and its because of neglect as a natural result of his mother dying after conceiving him and his father abandon his mother.
Uh whut Nooo he was genuinely evil and felt No love in his heart It’s because he was conceived with a love potion and a side affect of that would be that the offspring will feel no love or true emotion He also enjoyed hurting other kids his age
Well done video my man. I of course read the books so I understood you right away. But this is such a shame that the movies don't explain good enough/at all about Voldemort's past. I don't remember that in the HBP movie Morfin, Marvolo or Merope are even mentioned. I know they didn't cast them I just can't remember if they said the names. And neither Bob Ogden for that matter. The meeting between Bob and the mad Gaunts was super important to understanding Voldemort. Missed opportunity that I hope will be fixed in the HBO Max show.
You just have to wonder how big Meropes potential was if she was able to produce a love potion on her own, without practically no magical training whatsoever.
Grindelwald did many evil things, but no horcruxes. Harry had terrible childhood, yet prospered strongly. I think this reflects the real world pattern where some children will, irregardless of parenting, do well, some require good parenting and some are bad seeds. Inbreeding, bad magical karma and deprived childhood left little room for redemption. Grindelwald, not Voldemort was the tragic villain!!!
Voldemort is capable of feeling love, he chooses not to, because he considers it weak. Possibly he thought his mother was weak and died because of her love towards Tom - abandoning Tom junior in the orphanage. But if Voldemort was truly literally unable to experience love, that would actually be more humanizing. It would mean it's not his fault. It would take away some of the responsibility, since it wouldn't be a choice. He is evil precisely because he has a choice and chooses to be evil.
Ever since Freud many people try to eyplain evil people rationally, causally and pathologically. But not all evil people because there is something wrong with their childhood or their brain, some are evil because they are evil. In my opinion it's also because people try to find a simple, rational explanation rather than a morally difficult one - they don't necessarily have to be evil, they could be good, so why are they evil?
