Kingdom Pet United In Minutes
Kingdom Pet United In MinutesTherefore, one can argue that the cat has been domesticated, if at all, for little more than a hundred years, and that its domestication did not commence until people began to exert systematic …

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!)

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.

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.