12 Days of Sharing
Thirty Days of Sharing
Day 01 → Your favourite song
Day 02 → Your favourite movie
Day 03 → Your favourite television program
Day 04 → Your favourite book
Day 05 → Your favourite quote
Day 06 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 → A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 → A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 → A photo you took
Day 10 → A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 → A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 → A fictional book
Day 14 → A non-fictional book
Day 15 → A fanfic
Day 16 → A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 → An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 → A talent of yours
Day 20 → A hobbie of yours
Day 21 → A recipe
Day 22 → A website
Day 23 → A YouTube video
Day 24 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 → Your day, in great detail
Day 26 → Your week, in great detail
Day 27 → This month, in great detail
Day 28 → This year, in great detail
Day 29 → Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 → Whatever tickles your fancy
I'm a day behind, since I was asleep for most of the yesterday during which I was not at school. So today is officially Day 12, which means that I'm supposed to put whatever I want. That's hard because, y'know, I'm really boring. So I'll just share the paper I wrote yesterday, about the development of Tom Riddle's personality, because honestly? I'm not going to write something that geeky and not post it on here. It would be a shame.
As a prelude to giving a biography on Tom Riddle, it should be noted that due to the incomplete or ambiguous nature of most relevant resources on this subject, many of the dates - especially those taking place after his graduation from Hogwarts - have the capacity to be variable by a few years. I will note when there is a particular likelihood of error, comparatively speaking, but the incidental nature of much of the information leaves the possibility open for most of the dates and years mentioned, with the exception of the dates of his birth and death. All dates were retrieved from the Harry Potter Lexicon, the most comprehensive resource for chronicling the events featured.
Biography
Tom Marvolo Riddle (also known as Lord Voldemort, among other things) was born on December 31st, 1926, and was killed at the age of 71 on May 2nd, 1998 (Vander Ark, 2009). From the day of his birth until the September of 1938, he lived in an orphanage. His father, Tom Riddle, had been forced against his will into being with and impregnating his mother; he left her as soon as he was able. His mother, Merope Gaunt, died approximately one hour after giving birth, living long enough only to name him.
At the age of eleven, he was admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he stayed from the beginning September through most of June. It is not known specifically where he spent the time in between terms, but it is speculated that he returned to the orphanage where he was raised. He was admitted into Slytherin House, which prized students of ambition - and Tom Riddle was ambitious. Probably in his first year, he discovered that he was actually the heir of Salazar Slytherin, the founder of Slytherin House. In his fifth year - 1942 or 1943 - he learned how to access the fabled Chamber of Secrets and control the basilisk within; it was during this year that he caused the death of his first known victim, now known as Moaning Myrtle, who died after being exposed to the gaze of a basilisk. After his first victim, it did not take long for more to follow; within as little as a few months, he located and killed his father and his paternal grandparents, framing his mother’s brother for their death.
During school, Tom was widely known as being an intelligent, handsome, charming young man. He excelled academically, and was made a Prefect and later the Head Boy. However, unbeknownst to the majority of his professors, Tom was already in the beginnings of his terrible transformation. At some point in his first five years at Hogwarts, he became known to certain close acquaintances as Lord Voldemort, an acronym of his given name translating from French to flight from death.
The name Voldemort does fit with his overall personality, and it is not surprising that shortly after graduating form Hogwarts, Tom Riddle went missing. He emerged, practically unrecognizable as a result of his attempts to obtain immortality, in approximately 1957. After this, not many specifics are known about his whereabouts for several decades. In the 1970s, he gained power as a dark wizard, championing against non-magical folk (muggles) and muggleborn witches and wizards. In 1979, he heard of a prophecy that predicted his downfall. On October 31st, 1981 he attempted to kill a baby named Harry Potter, who perhaps held the power to defeat him. This famously backfired, leaving him in a state halfway between death and life for roughly ten years, until in 1990 he encountered Quentin Quirrell, who attempted to restore him to life.
The events that occurred after this are complicated and outside the scope of this study; however, for further reading, see the complete Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, which is an excellent, in-depth treatment of the events that occurred between 1981 and 1998.
Analysis
After careful study, it has been determined that the theoretical perspective able to best explain the personality of Tom Riddle is that of the neo-analytic school, primarily Adler’s contributions to the field.
It is a common thing for witches and wizards, before they have entered school and begun to learn how to control their magic, to perform accidental magic, generally prompted by a strong emotion (Rowling n.d.). While children raised in magical families are equipped to deal with this, that is generally not the case for those raised in muggle environments. Due to the magical outbursts for which neither Tom nor those in his company were prepared, he was isolated during his time at the orphanage before learning the truth about himself. He also likely felt confused and initially powerless as a result. An inferiority complex is said to be exaggerated feelings of incompetence, resulting from an overpowering sense of helplessness or powerlessness (Friedman & Schustack 2009). Friedman & Schustack also state that, sometimes, a superiority complex can evolve out of the attempt to resolve an inferiority complex. It is evident in Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005) that the young Tom Riddle acts overly confident in himself - and it is equally evident, when presented with a person in possession of greater power, both that his confidence is to some extent an act, and that he is relieved to learn that he is not the only person in his position.
It is given from various reports that, while in school, Tom Riddle was extremely intelligent, outwardly well-behaved, and charming. I would argue that this was a result of his continuing attempts to feel superior to those around him; in order to maintain his illusion of superiority, in the face of people who shared the attributes that he had previously used to justify the emotion, he had to increase his performance so that he outpaced his classmates. Naturally bright, he was able to succeed and so his superiority complex remained intact throughout the rest of his life. Some would claim that his feelings of superiority were, in fact, the cause of the defeats he suffered through his attempts to dominate the world; however, again, that is outside the scope of the current analysis.
It would not come as a surprise to anyone who had known Tom Riddle if he were described as striving for perfection; this is equally true when Adler’s definition of perfection striving - attempting to eliminate perceived flaws - is taken into account. For Tom Riddle, he had but two flaws: his muggle heritage, and his mortality; he tried his best, through various means, to minimize both of those. His muggle heritage, he attacked through his systematic persecution of muggles and muggleborns.
To those familiar with Tom Riddle, it may seem obvious to say that there was really only one thing that he feared: death. To him, death was a “shameful human weakness” (Rowling, Spartz, & Anelli, 2005). The conquering of death was, to him, what Adler would describe as his fictional goal: a trait that would cause him to become the perfect person (Friedman & Schustack 2009). He put forth huge amounts of effort in order to try to obtain that goal. And because he was naturally so intelligent, and had strived for so many years to be better than everyone he knew, he came closer than any other wizard to succeeding. He learned about, and practiced, some of the darkest magic that there is in order to become death’s master.
Conclusion
Tom Riddle’s life was influenced, more than anything, by two specific realities: he was different from his initial peers, and he was mortal. As a result of those facts, he was caught up in two simultaneous efforts: to be better than those around him, and to never die. In some ways, for most of his life he managed to accomplish both of those feats; it was not until 1998 that his reign of terror was finally put to a permanent end, and even then it could not be said that his defeat was brought about by a wizard of greater skill or power than himself.
Due to the great effect that his early childhood had on his later life, I feel that taking the neo-analytic approach to dissecting his life was a good choice; Adler’s contributions were in particular helpful due to the emphasis placed on inferiority/superiority and ultimate goals. It also should be mentioned that certain other approaches to studying the life of Tom Riddle would have been significantly more difficult due to the nature of information available. Theories requiring a more in-depth look at the specifics of his life, at any age, would simply be prohibitively complex, and perhaps not even possible with any real degree of certainty.
References
Friedman, H.S., & Schustack, M.W. (2009).Personality: classic theories and modern research. Pearson.
Rowling, J.K. (n.d.). Rumors. Retrieved from http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours_view.cfm?id=41
Rowling, J.K., Spartz, E., & Anelli, M. (2005, July 16). Accio quote. Retrieved from http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-2.htm
Vander Ark, S. (2009). Lord Voldemort: Data. Harry potter lexicon. Retrieved (2009, December 4) from http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/voldemort.html
Vander Ark, S. (2009). The Timeline. Harry potter lexicon. Retrieved (2009, December 4) from http://www.hplex.info/timelines/timeline.php
Day 01 → Your favourite song
Day 02 → Your favourite movie
Day 03 → Your favourite television program
Day 04 → Your favourite book
Day 05 → Your favourite quote
Day 06 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 → A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 → A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 → A photo you took
Day 10 → A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 → A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 → A fictional book
Day 14 → A non-fictional book
Day 15 → A fanfic
Day 16 → A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 → An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 → A talent of yours
Day 20 → A hobbie of yours
Day 21 → A recipe
Day 22 → A website
Day 23 → A YouTube video
Day 24 → Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 → Your day, in great detail
Day 26 → Your week, in great detail
Day 27 → This month, in great detail
Day 28 → This year, in great detail
Day 29 → Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 → Whatever tickles your fancy
I'm a day behind, since I was asleep for most of the yesterday during which I was not at school. So today is officially Day 12, which means that I'm supposed to put whatever I want. That's hard because, y'know, I'm really boring. So I'll just share the paper I wrote yesterday, about the development of Tom Riddle's personality, because honestly? I'm not going to write something that geeky and not post it on here. It would be a shame.
As a prelude to giving a biography on Tom Riddle, it should be noted that due to the incomplete or ambiguous nature of most relevant resources on this subject, many of the dates - especially those taking place after his graduation from Hogwarts - have the capacity to be variable by a few years. I will note when there is a particular likelihood of error, comparatively speaking, but the incidental nature of much of the information leaves the possibility open for most of the dates and years mentioned, with the exception of the dates of his birth and death. All dates were retrieved from the Harry Potter Lexicon, the most comprehensive resource for chronicling the events featured.
Biography
Tom Marvolo Riddle (also known as Lord Voldemort, among other things) was born on December 31st, 1926, and was killed at the age of 71 on May 2nd, 1998 (Vander Ark, 2009). From the day of his birth until the September of 1938, he lived in an orphanage. His father, Tom Riddle, had been forced against his will into being with and impregnating his mother; he left her as soon as he was able. His mother, Merope Gaunt, died approximately one hour after giving birth, living long enough only to name him.
At the age of eleven, he was admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he stayed from the beginning September through most of June. It is not known specifically where he spent the time in between terms, but it is speculated that he returned to the orphanage where he was raised. He was admitted into Slytherin House, which prized students of ambition - and Tom Riddle was ambitious. Probably in his first year, he discovered that he was actually the heir of Salazar Slytherin, the founder of Slytherin House. In his fifth year - 1942 or 1943 - he learned how to access the fabled Chamber of Secrets and control the basilisk within; it was during this year that he caused the death of his first known victim, now known as Moaning Myrtle, who died after being exposed to the gaze of a basilisk. After his first victim, it did not take long for more to follow; within as little as a few months, he located and killed his father and his paternal grandparents, framing his mother’s brother for their death.
During school, Tom was widely known as being an intelligent, handsome, charming young man. He excelled academically, and was made a Prefect and later the Head Boy. However, unbeknownst to the majority of his professors, Tom was already in the beginnings of his terrible transformation. At some point in his first five years at Hogwarts, he became known to certain close acquaintances as Lord Voldemort, an acronym of his given name translating from French to flight from death.
The name Voldemort does fit with his overall personality, and it is not surprising that shortly after graduating form Hogwarts, Tom Riddle went missing. He emerged, practically unrecognizable as a result of his attempts to obtain immortality, in approximately 1957. After this, not many specifics are known about his whereabouts for several decades. In the 1970s, he gained power as a dark wizard, championing against non-magical folk (muggles) and muggleborn witches and wizards. In 1979, he heard of a prophecy that predicted his downfall. On October 31st, 1981 he attempted to kill a baby named Harry Potter, who perhaps held the power to defeat him. This famously backfired, leaving him in a state halfway between death and life for roughly ten years, until in 1990 he encountered Quentin Quirrell, who attempted to restore him to life.
The events that occurred after this are complicated and outside the scope of this study; however, for further reading, see the complete Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, which is an excellent, in-depth treatment of the events that occurred between 1981 and 1998.
Analysis
After careful study, it has been determined that the theoretical perspective able to best explain the personality of Tom Riddle is that of the neo-analytic school, primarily Adler’s contributions to the field.
It is a common thing for witches and wizards, before they have entered school and begun to learn how to control their magic, to perform accidental magic, generally prompted by a strong emotion (Rowling n.d.). While children raised in magical families are equipped to deal with this, that is generally not the case for those raised in muggle environments. Due to the magical outbursts for which neither Tom nor those in his company were prepared, he was isolated during his time at the orphanage before learning the truth about himself. He also likely felt confused and initially powerless as a result. An inferiority complex is said to be exaggerated feelings of incompetence, resulting from an overpowering sense of helplessness or powerlessness (Friedman & Schustack 2009). Friedman & Schustack also state that, sometimes, a superiority complex can evolve out of the attempt to resolve an inferiority complex. It is evident in Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005) that the young Tom Riddle acts overly confident in himself - and it is equally evident, when presented with a person in possession of greater power, both that his confidence is to some extent an act, and that he is relieved to learn that he is not the only person in his position.
It is given from various reports that, while in school, Tom Riddle was extremely intelligent, outwardly well-behaved, and charming. I would argue that this was a result of his continuing attempts to feel superior to those around him; in order to maintain his illusion of superiority, in the face of people who shared the attributes that he had previously used to justify the emotion, he had to increase his performance so that he outpaced his classmates. Naturally bright, he was able to succeed and so his superiority complex remained intact throughout the rest of his life. Some would claim that his feelings of superiority were, in fact, the cause of the defeats he suffered through his attempts to dominate the world; however, again, that is outside the scope of the current analysis.
It would not come as a surprise to anyone who had known Tom Riddle if he were described as striving for perfection; this is equally true when Adler’s definition of perfection striving - attempting to eliminate perceived flaws - is taken into account. For Tom Riddle, he had but two flaws: his muggle heritage, and his mortality; he tried his best, through various means, to minimize both of those. His muggle heritage, he attacked through his systematic persecution of muggles and muggleborns.
To those familiar with Tom Riddle, it may seem obvious to say that there was really only one thing that he feared: death. To him, death was a “shameful human weakness” (Rowling, Spartz, & Anelli, 2005). The conquering of death was, to him, what Adler would describe as his fictional goal: a trait that would cause him to become the perfect person (Friedman & Schustack 2009). He put forth huge amounts of effort in order to try to obtain that goal. And because he was naturally so intelligent, and had strived for so many years to be better than everyone he knew, he came closer than any other wizard to succeeding. He learned about, and practiced, some of the darkest magic that there is in order to become death’s master.
Conclusion
Tom Riddle’s life was influenced, more than anything, by two specific realities: he was different from his initial peers, and he was mortal. As a result of those facts, he was caught up in two simultaneous efforts: to be better than those around him, and to never die. In some ways, for most of his life he managed to accomplish both of those feats; it was not until 1998 that his reign of terror was finally put to a permanent end, and even then it could not be said that his defeat was brought about by a wizard of greater skill or power than himself.
Due to the great effect that his early childhood had on his later life, I feel that taking the neo-analytic approach to dissecting his life was a good choice; Adler’s contributions were in particular helpful due to the emphasis placed on inferiority/superiority and ultimate goals. It also should be mentioned that certain other approaches to studying the life of Tom Riddle would have been significantly more difficult due to the nature of information available. Theories requiring a more in-depth look at the specifics of his life, at any age, would simply be prohibitively complex, and perhaps not even possible with any real degree of certainty.
References
Friedman, H.S., & Schustack, M.W. (2009).Personality: classic theories and modern research. Pearson.
Rowling, J.K. (n.d.). Rumors. Retrieved from http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/rumours_view.cfm?id=41
Rowling, J.K., Spartz, E., & Anelli, M. (2005, July 16). Accio quote. Retrieved from http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-2.htm
Vander Ark, S. (2009). Lord Voldemort: Data. Harry potter lexicon. Retrieved (2009, December 4) from http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/voldemort.html
Vander Ark, S. (2009). The Timeline. Harry potter lexicon. Retrieved (2009, December 4) from http://www.hplex.info/timelines/timeline.php