Voldemort and Comparisons to Historical Leaders

[Barry Trotter]

i agree, i don;'t think JK is mirroring anything that has already happened

but as
Blaise said there are a lot of simelarities between all Dark peopleespecially hitler and Voldi

[Ju-DedoH]

I wonder how he got all those legions to follow him when what he was promoting was so obviously hypocritical. Sadly, I think I know the partial answer to that: LV like Hitler is very charismatic and preys on the weak of mind and promotes power that so many crave.

I suppose that VD also has followers who don't agree with him, but only because they are scared of him or under a spell, not especially because they agree with him.

[azn wizard]

hitler rose in a time of turmoil in his country...cuz all the other political factions were weak...dunno about voldie though...

[Barry Trotter]

well we know fudge is weak
but for the last time he rose its anyones guess

[Meg Boyd]

oh i am so for the WWII allegory. The similarites are just to shocking. I said this before in another thread, but the three wizarding schools are presumably from 3 of the big four, France (beaubatons), England (Hogwarts) and The Former USSR (durmstrang). Plus Fudge's denial in LV's rising power could be Chamberlain's denial of Hitler's power, thus bringing the appeasment. I believe Hitler is a major muse for JKR's character of Voldemort. Its just too uncanny. Voldemort and Hitler both promised good things to weak people...hitler promised a wonderful life full of all the material things and voldemort offered power. They both had the power of intellegince, they both wanted to be powerful from day one. People fear the Dark Mark in HP and people still shy away from the Swastika to this day. WWII was a war of humans, not polictics, and Voldemort is not waging war on the Ministry, he has a war with the people. It is society againist society. Pureblood Supremists vs. Everyone else. Its' not always against muggles, its the elves, and the giants, and other magical creatures plus anyone who befriends these groups...hitler wasn't only against Jewish people, but of mentally ill, Catholics, black people, and anyone who was in line with them. However, these people were also kinda discludded in the allied society too, much like how wizards treat non-humans...i have to stop now, i'll prolly be chided to no stop

[azn wizard]

hmm...now that you point the big four out...perhaps we'll see some US wizards in the upcoming books??? although i must say i think voldies more for power rather than against muggles. I mean, killing muggles and mudbloods are important, but power is more of a priority...

[Tuima]

Awesome topic!! I had to do a biography of Hitler a while ago, and he's absolutely fascinating (in a horrible way). Similarities: he treats his followers horribly, but has them trained to follow orders really well. A lot of people "thought he had the right idea at first, before he started showing his true colors". Hitler was a total hypocrite, just like LV. (By the way, I think there's something really funny here: Hitler wanted to be an artist, but didn't pass the test to get into the school. He decided the judges must have been Jewish. ) He also lived with his mother and mooched off her money a lot, I think his father died or abandoned them, don't remember which... Oh, but back on topic... he was an immensely powerful orator (like LV is a wizard) and he gained power through a lot of subterfuge and spies in the government, as well as using his supporters to terrorize voters. Yep, I am seein' a whole lotta similarities, and the "pure-blood" idea is just too good to ignore... Hitler definitely occured to JK while she was writing. I dunno if she actually based LV on him, but she may have tweaked his character because of Hitler's influence.