Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

Those as familiar with Lord Voldemort as Harry is can understand Harry’s confusion when reading
“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Voldemort makes his stance on mortality clear as soon as
he returns to his body in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He explains that his rebounded curse intended
for infant Harry did not kill him because he “[had] gone further than anybody along the path of immortality”
and that his ultimate goal is “to conquer death” (GoF 653). Even as a child, Voldemort sneered at the
“shameful human weakness of death,” insisting that his deceased mother could not have been magical (HBP
363). Upon finding out the truth about his magical mother and muggle father, Voldemort dropped his
given name, Tom Riddle, in exchange for his new title of Lord Voldemort. This self given name signifies
his wish to evade death as it translates from French to “flight from death” (How Harry 116). Defeating, or
conquering, death is obviously in the forefront of Voldemort’s mind. He fears death because he cannot
control it and craves immortality to avoid it. Therefore, nearly every decision he makes revolves around his
greatest fear and his ultimate goal. Rowling illustrates the error in Voldemort’s views as his selfish desires
depict him as a satanic figure.
In the series Harry and Voldemort first come face-to-face at the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
Stone. While attempting to secure the stone, Harry discovers that Lord Voldemort exists as a parasite, his
face where the back of Professor Quirrell’s head should be. As Quirrell unwraps his turban to reveal
Voldemort, Harry feels as “if Devil’s Snare [is] rooting him to the spot” (SS 293). This obviously references
the plant Harry and his friends landed in after going through the trapdoor, but the juxtaposition of the
reference immediately before Voldemort’s reveal is interesting given the plant’s name and aversion to light
as well as Harry’s inability to move once he becomes face-to-face with Voldemort. Voldemort immobilizes
Harry with fear in the same way that the Devil’s Snare entangles its prey in the darkness. Only when
Voldemort mentions Harry’s parents does Harry find the courage to overcome his fear of Voldemort (294).
Similarly, the Devil’s Snare is defeated with light. Harry’s parents, therefore, become the “light and truth”
which “set [him] free” from Voldemort’s snare (Neal 32).
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