Welcome to the new, and improved, exciting, important, amazingly awesomely intruigingly cool Discussion page! (whoohoo) So here's how we're gonna do it. FIRST, there will be a topic on something that: a) Puzzles me b) I think is flawed c) Could be a nicely debatable topic d) Holds symbolizims/comparisons... stuff like that. Next, I give insight, opinions, thoughts, and such from my viewpoint (in red text). Finally, YOU will be asked to REACT to the topic and answer any of the questions. All you have to do is fill in the title of what you're about to write, your name, your email address, and then your answer, of course. Once your response is submitted, it'll be posted to the discussion board. The topic will be replaced every so often -- whenever we feel there's been enough reaction to it.
Have fun!
Fates worse than death.
“You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?... Above such brutality, are you?”
“We both know there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom,…Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit—”
“There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!”
“You are quite wrong,…Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness—”
On page 814 of Order of the Phoenix, such an argument is given between Dumbledore and Voldemort. Voldemort has an incapability to love. Does this have anything to do with his reasoning above? Dumbledore has logical reasoning, though. One could even trace it back to a quote in the Sorcerer’s Stone: “To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” Obviously, Dumbledore has other ideas as to what truly tortures a man. In fact, Dumbledore is so intent on this topic, it is one of the last things that we hear him say in King’s Cross. But in this case, he is referring to the Master of Death: “He accepts that he must die, and understands that there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying.”
Master of Death… that truly is what classifies him. Yet again, I shall relate this “Master of Death” concept to a quote on Harry’s parents’ gravestone: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” What does this mean? Living beyond death, Hermione says.
After Harry sees Snape’s thought’s in the pensive, everything comes into focus for him. He accepts that he is nothing more than an object, used to save the day. He walks straight into the open arms of death. This is ironic…because he doesn’t die. It means that by accepting death, he has conquered it. Of course, that’s really not the whole reason he didn’t die, but it certainly is symbolic of it.
The thing that truly proves that something is worse than death, is when one wishes to die. If someone wants to die, it means whatever they are going through is so unbearable, they would rather just not live altogether. Harry most definitely could say he experienced this. Bellatrix killed his godfather Sirius, the “closest thing to a parent he ever knew”, and Harry absolutely could not bear it. He is in so much pain, he genuinely wants to die. There seems to be nothing more to live for at the moment, the horrific pain would stop, and he would see Sirius again. To Harry, losing Sirius was a fate worse than death. Dumbledore tries to tell Harry that the pain he feels only means he is human. But…Voldemort, on the other hand, is not quite human. So, it makes it difficult for Voldemort to understand these things. This goes back to Voldemort’s incapability to love. Is Voldemort immune to living torture because he is not human? Or is he not human because he’s immune to it?
So now, it’s time for you to answer. In your opinion, what living tortures are worse than death? How do you think Dumbledore wanted to make Voldemort suffer? Why is Voldemort so solid? Anything else you can relate/compare this to? Tell us what you think by filling out the form below.
We are encountering errors with the responses at this time. The list will be enabled again shortly. Sorry for the inconvience.
-The Harry Potter Dictionary Staff