Frankly, I don't see Voldemort as Tom Riddle's insane, highly detached version. I understand those who idealize him as one or the other, but I think he is intrinsically and extrinsically both. More like a paradox, yet still another layer of his own being. Not from his overwhelming ambition and power pursuit, but because Tom spent years breaking, carving, bending everything about him so that he would be the one to control even the death of his humanity. Just as he idealized what Lord Voldemort would symbolize throughout his whole life.
All for his metamorphosis. Not only the future, but also everything Voldemort would represent, even from his past, as Tom put it in that classic moment of his:
āVoldemort,ā said Riddle softly, āis my past, present, and future, Harry Potterā¦ā
He pulled Harryās wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
He wanted to erase the "Tom Marvolo Riddle" (himself) from existence. It wasn't just his name.
Except that Voldemort, contrary to all the machinations, attached even more with this version of himself that he didn't quite accept, the disregarded and disowned part. Voldemort was raw feeling, unrestrained at its peak. That's why his emotions weren't filtered at all, and why he was considered to be as ruthless in his strategy as he was childish in his impulsiveness and desires. He was painfully human.
Tom Riddle's mind was preserved, of course, as they both always had the same self. But only one could maintain control, only one would devour the other completely. And Tom believed himselfāto have sacrificed himself forāLord Voldemort.
It's clear to understand ā through Tom's own lens ā how Voldemort became inevitable, as well as the years of crafting behind his projection. Yet, I also recognize, with the same intensity, that he never got rid of Tom Riddle.
He had strong narcissistic traits as much as he was his own worst enemy. He hated himself just as much as he was obsessed with becoming himself.
