FAMILY & CHILDHOOD

You have clicked on the gold and black stoned ring which represents Voldemort's past. The Gaunt ring once belonged to Voldemort's grandfather and later became one of his Horcruxes. It is eventually destroyed by Albus Dumbledore who is fatally cursed by its power. The stone within the ring was the Resurrection Stone, the second of the three Deathly Hallows.


It is not until the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that we learn all about the Dark Wizard Voldemort’s past. Albus Dumbledore decides that in order to defeat such a wizard, one must understand and know his weaknesses, his strengths, and especially, his past. Harry learns through a series of memories that back in the 1920s, there was once a dashing young muggle man named Tom Riddle who would ride his horse past an old cottage. In this cottage lived the Gaunts, a very ancient Wizarding family known for a vein of instability and violence that carried on through generations due to marrying their own cousins. They were parselmouths, unattractive, dirty, and ill-tempered people. Marvolo Gaunt and his two children, Morfin and Merope, were the last survivors of this twisted family. Merope fell in love with the handsome muggle Tom and used a love potion to make her wishes come true.

The Riddle family wasn't too different from the Gaunts. They were wealthy and sophisticated, but equally as unpleasant. Voldemort was born to this handsome Muggle, Tom Riddle. However, since he never actually fell in love with Merope, when the potion wore off, he abandoned his witch wife and returned to his family home in Little Hangleton. Merope was left alone in London while she was still pregnant with the baby. Albus Dumbledore discussed this story with Harry in great detail.

“But I believe that Merope, who was deeply in love with her husband, could not bear to continue enslaving him by magical means. I believe that she made the choice to stop giving him the potion”.
- Dumbledore

Tom Riddle left and never saw her again, not even to discover what became of his son. Being left alone in London, Merope desperately needed gold, so she sold her father’s locket to Caractacus Burke (owner of Borgin and Burke’s shop) for a measly ten Galleons. She had no idea that the treasured family heirloom that once belonged to Salazar Slytherin was basically priceless. At this point, Merope stopped using magic, even to save her own life. She died an hour after Tom Marvolo Riddle was born on December 31st, 1926. Harry found this to be very troubling.

“But she had a choice, didn’t she, not like my mother.”
“Your mother had a choice too.”
- Harry to Dumbledore

Why she died, is slightly unknown; but it can be guessed that Merope Gaunt felt there was no reason left to live, and that her boy would be better off without her or her family. How Voldemort grew up in an orphanage is discovered through the memory of Albus Dumbledore. The boy Tom Riddle, being born a wizard, had reached his time, like Harry had once reached, to go off to the wonderful Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So, Albus has a very long conversation with the Matron of the orphanage, Mrs. Cole. After a few glasses of gin, she pours out the entire story of how Tom came to be at the orphanage. The young Gaunt daughter had shown up to her Orphanage, gave birth, and died. Like Merope had wished, Tom was born looking nothing like her or her family; he looked exactly like his handsome muggle father. However, he was far from being a normal little boy.

“He’s a funny boy. He was a funny baby too. He hardly ever cried, you know. And then, when he got a little older, he was… odd.”
- Mrs. Cole

It seems that Tom Marvolo Riddle was evil from the start. He would use his abilities to bully other children, causing even some strange unexplained incidents. He would also collect possessions from the other children and hide them in his wardrobe. When Albus first met the boy, Tom was extremely suspicious of the purple suited Wizard. The pale, dark-haired eleven year old spoke with a ringing force that was almost shocking. Dumbledore convinced Tom that he truly was a wizard once he brought up the subject of magic. Tom joyfully explained his early abilities to Albus:

“I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to.”

Unlike a humble and shocked Harry, Tom Riddle knew he was special and he was quite proud of it. It was at this visit that Tom Marvolo Riddle began to dislike Albus Dumbledore. Why? Because Albus knew he was abusing his powers. He made the boy give back all things he had stolen from the other children as well as apologize. Having to abide by rules and follow orders was clearly not part of Tom’s personality. Little Tom didn’t even want Albus to accompany him into Diagon Alley to buy his supplies, a completely unknown area for a young wizard. He didn't thank him either for giving him money.

Tom also disliked his name; it was too simple and too common for him. He also figured his father must have been a wizard, because his mother wouldn’t have died if she knew magic. How wrong he was! This boy was surprisingly well-developed for his age and he already knew how to control some of his powers. He had instincts for cruelty, secrecy, and domination. Even at the age of eleven, Tom wanted to be different, separate and notorious. He was also very self-sufficient, friendless and independent; all traits which he continued to have into his adulthood. He did not want help or friends, for he trusted no one.

“You will hear many of his Death Eaters claiming that they are in his confidence, that they alone are close to him, even understand him. They are deluded. Lord Voldemort has never had a friend, nor do I believe that he has ever wanted one.”
-Albus Dumbledore

A TRAGIC HERO?

For me, I have always seen striking similarities between Tom Riddle and Anakin Skywalker of the Star Wars saga. Both were born as gifted, prodigal children from humble beginnings, became orphans, and were later taken in by a caring, older instructor. Both never knew their fathers, and their mothers’ deaths deeply impacted them psychologically. The two also had an immense fear of death and a need for immortality. When both eventually lose all their innocence, they become frightful figures cloaked in black whose eyes gleam red. Both are also rechristened with new names (Darth Vader, Lord Voldemort). They also change physically due to their uncontrollable lusts for power. It has been said by many academic scholars that Anakin Skywalker’s rebelliousness and eventual fall to the Dark side, is representative of Lucifer's rebellion against God and his fall from grace in Paradise Lost. I also see this concept for J.K.R.’s portrayal of Tom Riddle. I will get into all of these concepts further in the Diadem section.

“Something's happening. I'm not the Jedi I should be. I want more and I know I shouldn't.”
-Anakin Skywalker

Discovered as a slave child on Tatooine, Anakin was brought into the Jedi Order and quickly ascended to become one of its brightest stars. The trials of the Clone Wars, however, transformed him. Tempted by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Anakin succumbed to the dark side of the Force, and became the Sith Lord Darth Vader. It was only through the efforts of his son, Luke, that Anakin was redeemed to fulfill the prophecy, and vanquish the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious.

Unlike Riddle, Anakin was a kind, selfless child. He had no thoughts of greed or malice in him. He would often risk his own well-being to bring help to those who needed it, whatever the consequences. As a five-year old, Anakin climbed a dune to chase away banthas so that hunters would not shoot them. Though he collapsed from exhaustion several times, he nonetheless persevered in his effort to save the animals. Though compassionate, Anakin was also quite competitive and downright aggressive at times. He ultimately became impatient and weak, but at the same time, wanted power at any cost; in many respects, he was like an annoying and spoiled teenager!

Anakin became so incredible by the time he was 20, many feared that he might simply be too powerful to control. Although he was extremely gifted, he was always haunted by his memories and years of repressed emotion. Anakin was constantly plagued by nightmares, and one showed him a horrible fate for his mother. Full of fear, Anakin went out and found his mother tortured and beaten beyond help; she died in his arms. He became so enraged that he slaughtered the entire village of Sandpeople that kidnapped her, including the women and children; he was only 19 years old, a teenager like Riddle was when he murdered his own father and grandparents. When his mother died, he made a promise at her funeral - and a very haunting promise: he would never fail her again. Someday, he knew, he would be powerful enough to not fail the ones he loved. Perhaps someday, he could even stop people from dying.

“Love won't save you, Padmé. Only my new powers can do that.”
-Anakin Skywalker

Skywalker was no more. He could not hear the entreaties of his friends and loved ones to return from the darkness. As Darth Vader, he killed the leadership of the Separatists, bringing an end to the Clone Wars. In his rage, he would bring about the death of his wife, fulfilling the terrifying vision that prompted his turn to forbidden and dark knowledge. Vader required cybernetic enhancements and replacements to sustain him after his duel with Obi-Wan. His pure innocent self seemingly lost forever, Darth Vader cast a dark pall over the galaxy. In many respects, Voldemort, like Anakin, is the flawed or tragic hero of the story.

I think Voldemort is an excellent example of the tragic hero because he has a tragic flaw. A tragic hero has the potential for greatness but is doomed to fail because of the flaw; Riddle has incredible potential to do great things but was doomed to fail because of his arrogance. He basically traps himself in a situation where he cannot win. Also according to Aristotle, the tragic hero makes some sort of tragic flaw (arrogance & pride), and this causes his fall from greatness. A tragic hero must have the following according to Aristotle:

Voldemort definitely has all those traits. Firstly, he was very much born into nobility. His muggle father was very wealthy and his ancestor on his mother's side was Salazar Slytherin. Aristotle also wrote, though the tragic hero is pre-eminently great, he or she is not perfect.  Otherwise, the rest of us mere mortals would be unable to identify with the tragic hero. This is true for Riddle because although he is a great and powerful Wizard beyond most people, he did have the very basic human fear of death.

“Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies. You must know this, Dumbledore.”
- Lord Voldemort

Secondly, Voldemort is responsible for his own fate. Aristotle wrote, the hero's downfall, therefore, is partially her/his own fault, the result of free choice, not of accident or villainy or some overriding, malignant fate.  In fact, the tragedy is usually triggered by some error of judgment or some character flaw that contributes to the hero's lack of perfection noted above. This error of judgment or character flaw is known as hamartia and is usually translated as “tragic flaw” Often the character's hamartia involves hubris (which is defined as a sort of arrogant pride or over-confidence). Voldemort had hurbis for sure, as his entire downfall was result of his arrogance, pride, over-confidence, and lack of love; he also claimed no responsibility for such flaws.

A very important characteristic of a tragic hero is the typical epic battle with a counterpart where they fight to the death for what they believe in; Voldemort fights to the death with Harry Potter for his corrupted beliefs. He's also a leader of men and women who follow him, and these people, his Death Eaters, all experience his fall with him. It's important to note that the audience & readers are very much affected by his character; either by fear and maybe even some pity. His story is tragic due to his arrogance and lust for power; the lesson learned through this is told by bad example. Through his downfall, the reader is able to learn from his mistakes. Aristotle argues that one function of tragedy is to arouse the “unhealthy” emotions of pity and fear and through a catharsis (which comes from watching the tragic hero's terrible fate) cleanse us of those emotions.

In sum, Star Wars and Harry Potter show us how pride and power can even destroy a once proud hero born into oppression and loss, rescued by a caring mentor in order to fulfill some sort of destiny. Grief and fear always lead to a fall; both men have a great difficulty with loss and death, and are utterly gripped by power (unlike Harry, who avoids it). Fear leads to anger, which leads to hate and suffering; even in the Iliad, unbridled passion always lead to misery.

  • Reference 1: Star Wars Databank
  • Reference 2: Aristotle's Poetics

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