Episode #12: Vol-de-Mort - The Death Eaters
Nothing strikes fear into the heart of wizards like a Death Eater. These minions of the Dark Lord do his every bidding, or they suffer the consequences. The worst part is: no one knows for sure the identities of these dark wizards; shrouded in mystery, their chief weapons are fear, surprise, a ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to Lord Voldemort.
Who are these masked men? We now know the identities of most of the Death Eaters. But what lies in store for them? What is their raison d’etre, as it were? What is their task, come Book 7, and by extension, what is the task of their master, the Dark Lord himself? All this and more are discussed in this week’s installment of Harry Potter Prognostications.
And the news:
- Potter OK in Georgia; take that, Laura Mallory!
- JKRowling.com: Harry and Voldemort will NOT perform a mutual mind meld.
- Somewhere on the web, more pictures of Daniel Radcliffe.
Blog post of the week goes to Rob from At the Core, who links to the HD version of the Book 5 movie trailer.
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You can listen to the podcast with the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.
December 24th, 2006 at 10:02 am
Penny: You said that the Death Eaters do not know of Voldemort’s half-muggleness. I don’t think that’s true. In GoF, They meet in the Riddle graveyard. Pettigrew was there to pick at Tom Riddle Sr.’s bones, and it is nowhere indicated that he had to keep that secret.
I think Rowling is setting the Death Eaters to have motives similar to the Nazis: Greatness and power. They see elements in their society that have played down Wizard greatness and wish to eradicate those elements. This is what Hitler saw in the Jews. He saw the Jewish element of Germany play a role in reducing Germany’s Historic Destiny.
It is interesting to note that Hitler’s lineage was far from perfect Aryan as well. I believe there was a Jewish grandparent involved. It is natural to want to reject what one perceives as negative in one’s lineage and fight it externally. Look up “self-hating Jew” for similarities.
Voldemort has a personal aversion to Death. But I am sure he conveys it to his followers as a philosophical aversion, arguing that Wizards should be aggrandized and seek immortality. Surely nobody would be interested in eliminating Voldemort’s personal pet peeve if that’s all s/he saw.
There was no horcrux in the graveyard. More study is needed to explain how or if horcruxes worked in keeping Voldemort around after the events of Oct.31 1980.
December 24th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
Raffy- It is great to hear your comments! I don’t have time to address your whole post because we are going out but as far as Voldemort’s followers knowledge of his half-blood ness, I am not sure and I will go back and check but for some reason I think that this was addressed in HBP with all of Harry’s pensieve trips. I will check on that.
I seem to remember in a past podcast (maybe the original one about Voldemort) comparing Voldemort to Hitler. What is funny is that when I re-listened to that podcast, I realized that the way I phrased my comparison was not accurate but nevertheless, I think there are similarities.
December 31st, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Hey guys -
Great discussion as usual. Can’t wait to hear the new stuff - I’m a bit behind!
Couple of things -
I never thought of this before, but suddenly something about the snake-and-skull symbol occured to me - the snake has Garden of Eden, forbidden knowledge connotations. (Duh!) And LV/Deatheaters are really trying to “play God”, so to speak, by cheating death. (Duh!) I always thought of the snake as just a creepy, sneaky association for Slytherin, but it suddenly occured to me that snakes have major Old Testament symbolism as well. I’m sure I’m not the first person to realize that, but it took me this long.
As for LV and his followers, I think there is a pretty basic logic to it: LV wants power. If you wanted power in the wizarding world, you’d probably kiss up to the most powerful wizards, a large majority of whom are probably pure-bloods elites (eg, old families - that’s the way class systems work), because they’re the ones who have the access and skills and resources you want to exploit. You secure the support of the elites by promising them tit-for-tat in your new regime. You also nurture the devotion of the “true beleiver” fanatics like Bellatrix, and also get the cowards looking for a protector (like Wormtail) on your side. You give your followers some outsiders (muggles, mud-bloods, blood-traitors) to scapegoat and feel superior to. And you depend on your more outwardly “respectable” followers like Malfoy to manipulate the government (Minsitry/Fudge). My history, poli sci, sociology and psychology are a bit spotty, but to me this combo of established elites in it for themselves, plus fanatics looking for a leader, plus the frightened looking for a strong protector, all seems to add up to an analogy for a basic real-world pattern of alliances in some tyranical regimes under “charismatic” leaders, either in government or other schemes.
By the way Penny, I agree with you - LV doesn’t simply want Harry dead, he wants to KILL Harry HIMSELF. I think he said as much in the graveyard at the end of Goblet. (Sorry for the disagree, Greg!)
January 1st, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Janice- I only have time to respond to the last paragraph now but I was just listening to HBP (book on tape) and at one point Snape says to the death eaters “No! Have you forgotten our orders? Potter belongs to the Dark Lord! We are to Leave him!” So there is our proof.:)
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:34 am
I just thought of somthing kind of weird. Remember how Tom Riddle killed his dad and his step-mom? He was about 17, right? Well, I think that if and when Harry destroys all the Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a young man, about 20 or 21. It’s a weird thery, but hey, with me, what else is new?!?
February 10th, 2008 at 4:45 am
Kingdom Pet United In Minutes…
Kingdom Pet United In Minutes
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