Harry Potter Voldemort Mirror Parallelisms

by Karolina on July 16, 2011

It may not seem like so, but Harry Potter Voldemort parallelisms are varied and plenty in the Harry Potter series. Upon closer inspection, you can even conclude that Voldemort is Harry’s evil twin. But how can someone so evil and bent on destruction be similar to his arch-nemesis and protagonist Harry Potter? If you stand in front of a mirror, you’ll see your reflection staring back at you. Your reflection would seem exactly the same as you, but not really since the image in the mirror would be inverted (your left would be your reflection’s right). It is the same with Harry Potter and Voldemort. Voldemort would be the inverted reflection of Harry Potter.

The first Harry Potter Voldemort parallelism is their lineage. Both are half-bloods with one of their parents being a muggle. Only, there is an inversion. While Harry’s dad was a pure-blood wizard and his mom of human descent, Voldemort’s mom was the pure-blood and his father the muggle. Also, Harry’s relationship with his parents, though short-lived, was one of love while Voldemort’s relationship with his was one of neglect. The next parallelism is how they were introduced to their lineage of being a wizard. It was Professor Dumbledore who both came to their younger counterparts, before they came to Hogwarts. Their reaction to the knowledge of their lineage was again similar, yet somehow inverted. Harry saw the opportunity to connect and belong, while Voldemort saw how it can be used to intimidate and manipulate. Both also similarly developed a relationship with the headmaster, yet their relationship with Professor Dumbledore was opposing. Harry came to love and respect Professor Dumbledore, while Voldemort came to fear and detest the old man. The Sorting Hat recognized this similarity in them when Harry first came to Hogwarts. The Sorting Hat gave Harry a choice whether he wanted to go to either Slytherin or Gryffindor. Voldemort was from Slytherin while Harry, of course, chose the latter.

Harry Potter Voldemort parallelisms can be garnered throughout the whole Harry Potter series. JK Rowling, in the creation of Harry Potter, wanted the perfect antagonist. In creating Voldemort the author may have thought of Evil as the opposite of Good. And so, using the protagonist as base, the author inverted all aspects of the character of Harry Potter, giving birth to Lord Voldemort.

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