View Full Version : definition of "terrorize"
Um, I have a question that has really been bothering me since I read HBP. What did Rowling mean when she wrote that Voldemort "terroized" a boy and girl in that cave? And in what way were they "never quite right again" ? Because it sounded to me to be a bit...............wrong. If u get my meaning. :confused:
I'm not quite sure what you're getting at here, but I can tell you what I thought she meant and perhaps others can share their ideas as well.
When I read that passage, I thought he tortured them in the cave or else frightened them so much they couldn't think straight again. If you think about what he could do in terms of controlling his environment, and he took these two young children into a dark cave by themselves, I probably wouldn't be quite right when I walked out, either!
So, I guess I just thought he either scared them awfully or did things to them that they never quite recovered from.
DieandDecay
18-07-2005, 06:29
for the most part, I just think that yea, he just really scared them.
however, if that lake was there at the time...
i know if i saw that as a child, I would never be right again.
but its not likely that the lake was anything disturbing at the time seeing as riddle was still a young boy then.
Alright, yeah, it was late when I posted that and I guess it was a bit vague. My real question was whether or not anyone else thought Riddle had done something innapropriate to them. The reason I wondered was, because the orphanage caretaker described the boy and girl's reaction to Riddle's behavior as that of rape victims or something. Do I just have a dirty mind or is there somthing here to warrant my feeling?
DieandDecay
18-07-2005, 08:36
no, it does make sense. actually something along those lines originally crossed my mind as well, but it just doesnt work with the story.
mimbulus mimbletonia
18-07-2005, 08:39
I don't think that would be appropriate in a children's book, plus Riddle was visited by DD before his 11th birthday, so he would have been even younger at the time.
I think Riddle would have done something scary and bullying - perhaps using his Parselmouth ability, or killing a small animal in from of them. Something nasty but definitely not sexual.
Agreed. I think he just scared them senseless, as the saying goes. I don't think there was anything inappropriate sexually - we haven't really seen any evidence of that behavior in him, so I think it unlikely.
The SketchWolf
18-07-2005, 09:46
Alright, yeah, it was late when I posted that and I guess it was a bit vague. My real question was whether or not anyone else thought Riddle had done something innapropriate to them. The reason I wondered was, because the orphanage caretaker described the boy and girl's reaction to Riddle's behavior as that of rape victims or something. Do I just have a dirty mind or is there somthing here to warrant my feeling?
That crossed my mind right off, probably just because I know a couple of people that it happened to. But I don't think JKR meant it to come off that way. After all, Tom Riddle/Voldemort would have been WAY too young to do something like that, and frankly I don't think that JKR would have put something like that in a book meant for a wide-range age group.
THANK YOU for letting me know I wasn't the only one :eek:
No, I thought about it some more and was feeling that it probably wasn't really meant to sound that way. But it was a dark cave and a boy and girl. And my mind went there.
Padma Patil
18-07-2005, 12:41
Hmm, I didn't really think about that till now, but it kind of hints toward that. But as said before, I don't think JKR meant it to go that way.
I'm thinking that if the lake was there like said before, I would deffinatly not be alright once I came out of there. I mean, that is just creepy think about at the age I am now!
psychgirl83
18-07-2005, 12:45
THANK YOU for letting me know I wasn't the only one :eek:
No, I thought about it some more and was feeling that it probably wasn't really meant to sound that way. But it was a dark cave and a boy and girl. And my mind went there.
Hmpf! And you say I have a dirty mind! :rolleyes: Ok, so maybe I thought that at first too. :evil1: But then I realized he was probably far too young to have any of those ideas, and JKR probably wouldn't put something like that in the book.
pooh on u psychgrrrrl. u're such a brat. LOL!
See - I have to say when I first read it - the thought did enter my mind for a bit - but then you think a little more - do the maths and it becomes a lot more clear.
I think this was a psychological terrorise and not anything else - although I can see why people might think that - even if just for a split second ..
We all know Voldemort is despicable - we also know that Riddle was disturbed - ergo your mind doesn't build that many barriers off the bat ...
vBulletin® v3.7.2, Copyright ©2000-2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.