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To: ClearCase_guy
However, the Dark Arts are about death, and suffering, and the loss of our free will. Voldemort's primary goal is to avoid death and cheat God of his judgement. Voldemort thinks that he is above Death -- he wants to live in our physical world forever, and has no desire for Heaven.

Good points all. Hadn't looked at it that way. Though I don't know if Voldemort is specifically trying to cheat God of his judgment. Aside from the use of the terms "godfather" and "Oh god" on occasion, He's not mentioned at all--at least not through the first five books.

Safe to assume that the reason for the minions of Voldemort being called "death eaters" is explained in greater detail in Books VI and VII?
18 posted on 09/12/2007 2:21:59 PM PDT by Antoninus (Republicans who support Rudy owe Bill Clinton an apology.)
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To: Antoninus
Though I don't know if Voldemort is specifically trying to cheat God of his judgment.

A fair comment. Rowling is certainly not so explicit, so I overstated the point. Voldemort, however, is all about doing his own will, and not His will. Indeed, Voldemort recognizes no higher power, nor any system or rules. There is nothing and no one to judge Voldemort. It's all about power and what you can get away with. As the books make quite clear, this is not the proper way to interact with the world.

Given that Voldemort doesn't recognize anything beyond or above our own physical world, he therefore fears death more than anything. Death is just oblivion. There is nothing after that, so Voldemort wants to live forever in our physical world. He says "Death is the worst thing that can happen." But Rowing has an explicit reply: "There are worse things than death."

Lastly, it seemed to me -- unless I missed it -- that Rowling never really came out and said why the term Death Eater was chosen. Surely the overall aim is clear, but the term is, I would say, unexpected. But perhaps we are supposed to see it as a sort of "death cheater". Anyway, I see Voldemort's two great mistakes being: 1) he thinks that doing his own will is the highest good, and 2) he thinks that he can redeem himself from death, or gain mastery over death without anyone else's help. Rowling shows why these beliefs are wrong.

21 posted on 09/12/2007 5:46:10 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (The broken wall, the burning roof and tower. And Agamemnon dead.)
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