Can we pity Voldemort?

[Lizzie]

The question is: can we feel sorry for Voldie?

I suppose this is an argument of nature versus nuture. Was Voldie born to be evil, or was it his lack of a supportive family that guided him towards the Dark Arts? Can you feel sorry for a man who has never been loved, or had a friend?

I feel disgust for him - maybe a small amount of pity - for Tom Riddle the child - but that definitely ended when he started tormenting the other children. Voldemort knew what he was doing - he knew that by opening the Chamber of Secrets it would result in a death. At an early age, he wanted to achieve immortality.

Harry could have turned out like Voldie - abused by his aunt and uncle, no friends - but obviously he didn't chose to turn to the Dark Arts. As Dumbledore said: ""It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." Well said, Albus!

[Bre]

I think nurture always has a bigger part in someone's life rather than nature. I don't think Tom Riddle was born evil. So I do pity that he had a poor childhood, but ya know, you control your actions later in life. It's obvious he was an evil man and only cared about himself and had a very Machiavellian view about power.

So I feel bad for him for his childhood, and that if it was better he would have been fine, but I don't pity the man he became. If you can call him a man.

I love his character, though! One of my favorites, if not my favorite.

[Amber]

I don't really pity him. Yes, he didn't really have the best upbringing, but the people who did try to bring him up did the best they could. He didn't have his biological parents, but he did have people who cared about him. And tormenting other children just because he could was wrong. He had no reason to.

I have even less pity for what he grew to be. I don't think he was necessarily born evil, I really don't think that's any villain's case. He chose to do everything he did, and I don't think he deserves pity for that. I am a little sorry his parents didn't care for him, though.

[Laura]

I agree with Amber.

I pity anyone that has a bad childhood, but my pity leaves when and if they start hurting others. Imo you can't blame all of somebody's actions on their childhood. It can be a reason for their actions, but not an excuse. Killing as many people as Voldemort did just doesn't deserve pity imo.

[Beck]

No. Other people have bad childhoods and don't turn into sociopaths. I believe he was born bad, he shows no feeling at all and showed his manipulative and mean streak from a very early age, even through his "nice" facade as Tom Riddle Dumbledore saw through it to who he really was.