Professor Julian Womble (0:00)

Welcome to Critical Magic Theory, where we deconstruct the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Because loving something doesn't mean we can't be critical of it. I'm Professor Julian Womble, and today we are going to be talking about the Gaunt Men. Marvolo, Morfin, Bars. Because I am a poet and most times I don't know it. And you all are really getting it right now. Okay, I'm back from a break. I'm rejuvenated. I'm refreshed. I hope that you are, too. Happy New Year. By the way. It is 2025 and we are here. We did it. We did it. I know that there wasn't a survey for this particular episode, but, y'all, what was the survey going to be? Where. Where was the chaos going to come from? Are they good people? No. Is Marvolo a good father? Absolutely not. Is Morfin a good brother? No. I wanted to reserve the chaos for our next episode, which is going to be on Merope Gaunt. And so this is a bit of a primer because I know that that episode is going to be chaotic in the best way. And it's going to be our one year anniversary. Okay, that's crazy to me. But I'm not gonna get emotional this episode, because most of this is gonna be a rage fest. And so I'm just gonna keep my emotions for the next episode. But I'm so excited because we've been doing this for almost a year and I couldn't stay away. I couldn't stay away from you all for long enough to just like, make this be that episode. And also, if we're gonna come back, if we're gonna celebrate a year together as a community, it needs to be with chaos. And Marvolo and Morfin just are not going to give it to us. And so we are going to just explore who they are. This is going to feel a bit of a different vibe, but I hope it's still enjoyable for you because I'm literally going to be ranting and raving and I cannot stand either of these men. Okay? And so you know how that goes. You know how I get. And so just prepare yourselves for that particular dynamic because, yeah, y'all, these two terrible. But there's also a lot for us to think about as it pertains to them, because we've talked a lot about different pure blood families. We've talked about the Weasleys, we talked about the Malfoys Blacks. But the Gaunts introduced something very, very different. One they're a very old family that go way, way, way, way, way, way, way back. But they're also a family that has dealt with a series of consequences in terms of losing a lot of their wealth that have nothing to do with their politics like it does for the Weasleys. Right. And so when we think about the purebloods that we've talked about thus far, a lot of the way that we come to understand their relationship with Pure Blood Supremacy is very specific. But the Gaunts introduce a lot of nuances that I'm really excited for us to dive into and I think will set the stage up really well for us as we talk about Merope Gaunt. And I wanted you all to have this before I released the because I wanted you all to just have this in your mind as you're filling it out. Because many of you pointed out when we were discussing kind of, you know, what the next episode was going to be and how we were going to formulate this, you know, the relationship between Merope and her brother and her father and how a lot of it plays a part in the way that she particularly operates, you know, as it pertains to her magic or lack thereof, or the perception that she doesn't have any. As it pertains to kind of the way that she then goes about doing things with Tom Riddle Sr. Right. And so that there is a foundation that's created with these two men as we that will help us better understand her own decision making. And so I'm excited for us to dive into this because I think that even though we don't spend a considerable amount of time with them, there's still a lot here for us to unpack. And I was taking notes. I did a little research, which is normally something that I don't do, other than what you all offer me in your survey responses. But I went and did little research on the Gans because I was like, who are these people? How do we end up here? Right. When we meet them in that memory with Bob Ogden, how did we arrive at this place? So we're going to dive in a little bit to their history based on some sources from J.K. rowling herself. Someone pointed me to some things that have come out from Hogwarts Legacy, which also helps give us just a little bit of things. So we're kind of moving ourselves a little bit, a little bit outside the canonical text, but we're staying within the realm in order to give us a full picture of who these two people are and to explain why they behave the way that they do, which I think is really important, because the way that these two operate makes very little sense given the socioeconomic status that they have, the social space that they're in. It just doesn't make sense that they are the way that they are. But I think that kind of looking at the history and who they are and the things that they cling to, it does make a little bit more sense to me. And also, there's something to think about in terms of the way that they perform, their pure blood identity. That feels very familiar to me. And I'm not going to say who just yet, but needless to say, he's related to them. Okay. That's all I'm going to say. And before I reveal any more, you know what time it is. You've been waiting. Okay. You've taken a month to stretch so that you are limber. I've been shoveling snow because for some reason, a snowstorm came, and I had to be the one to do this shoveling. Gosh, just awful work. So I'm a little sore, but I'm never too sore to bop, and I know that you're not, especially if you haven't had to deal with snow. Okay, I know you're ready, and so just clear the space around you. This is our First BoP in 2025. Don't let it be a flop, y'all. Y'all are really getting it today. I hope you missed this, and if you're new to it, you're welcome. So we're gonna bop along to the theme song in 3, 2, and 1. We need to talk about Harry Pot sa. I hope you danced. I hope you brought in this 2025 moment with a bop, a shimmy, a shoulder, a body roll. Like, are you feeling adventurous this year? I hope that you did whatever your body was one able to do so that you don't hurt yourself, because as you all know, I'm not liable for any of that. Okay, you're not getting me. You're not getting me, y'all. We're back. All right. We're back in 2025. I missed you all. And I know that there are many of us who may have returned to listening or who are new to the community. So whichever one you are, wherever you fit on that particular spectrum, welcome and or welcome back. I also want to take a moment to thank those of you who have been on the Patreon. As we were on break, I posted a bonus episode where we talked about Harry Potter and Christmas and kind of what Christmas means to Harry, which was a lot of fun to record and just kind of go through all the books and think about, you know, what Christmas looks like and how we can understand his character arc through the Christmas moment. Because it comes up in every single book and there's always something that's happening. So if you are on Patreon, it is there for you. If you are not on Patreon, it can be there for you if you join Patreon, which you can do for free. Oh, I'm still very much in my marketing salesman bag in 2025, so there you have it. I also want to thank those of you who have been on Patreon and who joined in the post episode chat on Luna and who also helped pick the next couple of Pure Bloods that we're going to be talking about. Hold on, sorry. We're going to take a moment here because many people have been asking kind of, you know, when are we going to get to this character and when are we going to get to that character? And I just want to emphasize the idea that, like, there's a method to my madness. And part of the reason why we're focusing on Pure Bloods right now is because a lot of the way that we understand social hierarchies is that people who are not at the top of hierarchies make particular kinds of decisions based on trying to get to that particular level. Right? And so in our understanding of what it means to be pureblood, who the purebloods are, we kind of get a very strong sense of what the goal structure of the magical world is. And we get that from people like the Malfoys, right? Like those are the people who are, you know, seen as the bastions of or the best examples, right? Those are the people who exemplify the idea of what it means to be Pure Blood. Right? They're rich, they're powerful, they're influential. They have all of these things going for them. I mean, are they evil? Yeah, sure. But a lot of people would ignore that if they could get certain things right. And then we have the Weasleys who kind of show us what it looks like when your ideology doesn't match with that of the society that you're living in. And so, yes, there are a lot of really interesting characters that we have yet to discuss. We will get to them, I. I promise you. Because we are actually rounding out a lot of our Pure Bloods. And so we are going to get to Half Blood soon. And that's where all of our meat and potatoes are. And we have to discuss kind of how we want the structure to work. Someone suggested that we should go Muggle Borns first before we get to Half Bloods, because that's where all of our meat and potatoes are, our Half Bloods. But I don't know. I don't know. I feel like we almost need to go Half Bloods just because the people that we see really do embody this kind of goal structure of trying to get as close to Pure Bloods as possible. And I think it's important for us to kind of realize that and think about what it means, and there's a lot of things there for us to think about. Anyways, I just wanted to highlight that because I know that some of us have had some questions about when are we going to get to Dumbledore, when are we going to get to Harry, when are we going to get to Snape? And we're going to get to them. Ho, ho, ho, ho. Believe you me, we're going to get to them. And all of those people that I've just listed are going to have multiple episodes because What? Huh? How are we going to do one episode? Your survey responses are going to be, like, 18,000 pages. And you think I can just do that for one episode? Don't be silly. Don't be silly. We are going to get into all of it, I promise. So just trust the process. I promise. We're on our way there. Okay, so that was completely off topic, but now we're back on topic. I want to thank our new Chronic overthinkers who have joined us since the last episode. Valentina Desine, Caitlin Lynae, Bob the Skull McFly Rock. Sabrina, Zara, and Sophie, thank you so much for your support, both in terms of your presence on the Patreon, as well as the financial support that you're offering. It means so much to me. It's. It means so much, this community. It helps our community. And if you joined as a Deep Diver, you will see your name listed in the episode summary. Y'all, you know we have merch. What? We have merch. And many of you have been buying it. And I'm so, so grateful, y'all. I'm obsessed, actually. Like, and not in a. I'm saying this because I want you to buy it kind of way. But, no, like, actually obsessed. Like, I bought the beanie, and it's all I wear. It's actually warm. Like, I wore it outside to shovel the snow, and I was sweating. Like, that's the kind that's what I'm talking about. Okay. I know I haven't gotten the tote bag yet, but I'm going to get it. And to be clear, like, I have to pay for this. I could get samples, but, you know, I, I make dictatorial decisions sometimes, but, like, I also like to contribute to this community as much as I can. And so I also pay full price for these items. And y'all, the hat is great. I bought the, I bought the, the sweatshirt, which some of you may have seen if you follow me on social media. I also designed another sweatshirt that's a little bit more minimalist for those of you who are like, I just don't want to walk around with a lot of brands. I appreciate that. And the shirt just says, love does not equal, and the sign does not equal. No criticism. And it has a light bulb on the sleeve and that's it. And I love that I ordered that one for myself as well. I think it encapsulates a lot of what we believe, both on this podcast, but maybe also out in other spaces and places in the world. And so if you are more of a minimalist person, that is there for you. We've got mugs. We've got all the things. Feel free to go check it out on criticalmagictheory.com there's merch. If you're on the Patreon. There is a link that I put up. I'll put it in the chapter, the episode summary, rather. It'll be there. Okay? It'll be there for you. Check it out. It's good stuff. The quality is good. And you know, that's hit or miss, but the quality is good. Again, that beanie. Let me tell you something. Love it. I also did get a mug for my, for my parents. And so highly recommend. Not just because, like, money, but because I actually do believe it. And also because merch is like a community thing, right? Like, it's really cool to see people out in the world. And so if you bought merch already, please feel free to take a picture and send it to me. I'm trying to think. You can email it to me@criticalmagictheorymail.com and maybe we'll do like a compilation situation. So just know that if you send it to me, I'm going to try to make maybe a little slideshow situation that we can then post so that the people can see. Right? Because that's what the point is. So it can be a picture with the clothes. It can be a picture with your mug. Whatever it is, if you would like to, this is totally optional. Please feel free to send that to me again@criticalmagictheorymail.com and again, y'all, the Patreon is there for us. We will have a post episode chat for this episode. And I know it's gonna be something because I have. I don't know if I have any hot takes because, like, obviously, again, these two are just deplorable people. But I do think that there's a way for us to think about, you know, how they arrived at this place and what that means. And so I'm excited for us to dive into that, y'all. We may have made the big time. And I had a video on Instagram go, like, more viral than I've ever gone in my whole life, which is what may have brought some of you here today. Listening. Hello. Thank you. But in addition to that, y'all, I think as of today, I'm recording. This is Tuesday, January 7th. We are number two in the top arts podcast on Spotify, number nine on Apple Podcasts. I've never even charted on Apple Podcasts. And I think we're number 168 on overall top podcast, y'all. We're making the big time. So thank you all so much for listening. If you have friends who you think would like this, please feel free to send it to them. Please like and rate and subscribe and share as you are willing to do. It makes such a big difference. I also do read the reviews. It means so much to me. Well, the nice ones. The nice ones, you know, it's information. But I'm so grateful to this community and we are growing and I love that. And many of you have been sharing, you know, personal stories about, you know, what the podcast has meant to you or your children or both of you together. And I read all of it. And sometimes I get the chance to respond and sometimes I don't, but I do read it. And so please feel free to share those stories with me. It is so meaningful because, y'all, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm gonna be very transparent with you. I don't know what's going on. I am just so grateful to be able to create this community and to be here with you all and growing and learning together. And the fact that this community exists the way that it does and is growing the way that it is is so meaningful to me because I'm literally just muddling through somehow. And I'm so grateful that you all are on this journey with me. And so please feel free to share those stories with me. And again, like, really rate and subscribe. Enough of that. Enough of that sentimentality, y'all. We don't have time for sentimentality. We're talking about the Gaunts, and they don't have that. They are not sentimental people, okay? And so let's get into it. All right, y'all. So when I was thinking about my favorite moment with them in it, honestly, and this is a little bit messy, but you know me, so, you know, mess is kind of my bread and butter. I really love the moment where Bog Bog Ogden, where Bob Ogden is like, get the Aurors over here. Get magical law enforcement in this place. Because these people are crazy. And he has them arrested. And the reason why I really like this moment is one because, like, justice, right? But also because I think for people like Morphin and Marvolo. And we'll talk about this a little bit as we go through the episode, like, they don't understand consequences for actions, right? Like the fact that a ministry official came to your home and it's basically trying to see whether or not you've broken the law. And you basically have no respect for his authority, no respect for what is actually happening. And you believe that because you were related to Salazar Slytherin, that you can just do whatever you want. I love it that Bob Ogden was like, I've got your number and here's mine. And my number is the number of Aurors and magical law enforcement officer were here to arrest y'all because y'all are acting ridiculous. And I think that there's something to be said about kind of the idea of pure blood privilege that we really don't ever really get to see in terms of justice, because the Malfoys run amok. We talked a lot about in Lucius episode, the fact that he just kind of does whatever he wants in the Ministry of Magic, and Cornelius Fudges allows him to do that. And so what I like about this is that there's actually some sort of recourse for breaking the law, even when you're a pureblood. It also invites me to think about, you know, the reality of, would this have happened if the Gaunts had maintained their class status, right? Like, if they had still been rich? Because that's really what the Malfoys have going for them, right? So I think of the moment where Harry comes back and he gives the name of the people who came to the graveyard. And Cornelius Fudge literally says, when Lucius name is Brought up, very prominent family, lots of donations to good causes, right? And so their money is a thing that allows them to evade justice and evade the law. And in this moment, it strikes me that I wonder if Bob Ogden would have done the same thing if they had not have been poor and, like, destitute. And what that then means to our own understanding of what pure blood supremacy looks like and how it operates. And I think that it's interesting to think about this because so much of the way that we've really come to understand the idea of pure blood supremacy and the privileges therein really are attached to wealth. And that much of what we understand about kind of the explicit privileges that come along with being pure blood are ones that are attached to how much money you have and the extent to which that offers you the ability to get out of trouble. And when we look at the Weasleys, like, we kind of see they get out of trouble, too, but for very different reasons and in very different ways. But we also see them getting punished because they have a very particular kind of ideology and they don't have a lot of money. And so there's something to be said about kind of the idea of class in this way. But regardless of that, right, like, the Gaunts operate from a space of it doesn't matter how much money we have or don't have, we're still pure blood and we're still better than you. The moment that Bob Ogden even shows up, they are ready to basically rake him over the coals because they're trying to figure out who he is. And so it also sets the stage for us to really understand what the currency is for these individuals. And it adds a level of nuance to the understanding of, you know, what it means to be pure blood. Because so often when we've talked about purebloods, it's like, yeah, they're at the top of this hierarchy. But we know that the Malfoys are, like, what you believe matters, you know, how much money you have and influence you have that matters. The Weasleys use a very different metric, but in this moment, what we're able to see is that the Gaunts are like, all we need to know is who your family is. And so that because they lack a certain socioeconomic leverage, they've put everything that is meaningful about them in the status of their last name. And this is something that I think we will see over and over and over again. And it also reminds me, right, of this notion of kind of Voldemort's rechristening of himself, right? To go from Tom Marvolo Riddle to Lord Voldemort as a way to kind of up his cachet, if for no one else himself. And so there are these kind of bridges that are created in terms of, you know, how it is that individuals who may lack status in one domain, right in this situation class, kind of make up for it, at least in their own minds, in other ones. And so I love this moment because no matter how you spin it, you're in Azkaban. They go straight to the ban. And they deserve to be there because they broke the law. And this is one of the few moments where we see the Ministry actually exacting its rules against individuals who are at the top of the hierarchy and are deserving of the punishments that they receive, y'all. As I was doing the research on the Gaunts, I think it's easy to just sum it all up by saying they're absolute disasters. And that's the end of the episode. Thank you so much. I mean, from generation to generation to generation to generation, the Gaunts are absolute wrecks. And I think there are ways that we could attribute this to the outlandish amounts of inbreeding that are said to have occurred within the family in order to maintain blood purity and the way that that leads to a lot of kind of mental, emotional, and kind of attitudinal outcomes that are all bad. But I also think that this is the byproduct of what happens when your belief structure is so inherently toxic that it begins to kind of rot from the inside out. Because the amount of hate that is said to have existed within this particular family, the way that they kind of deal in dark arts and the way that they kind of take pride in all of those things, is something that is very much discussed in so many different ways throughout their kind of history that these different external sources speak to. They talk about one Gaunt family member who was there and kind of helped hide the Chamber of Secrets. And they talk about another Gaunt who was a woman, who was the aunt of the woman who began the American Magical School, Ilvermorny, who like, killed her sister and brother in law because they weren't down with the dark arts and then stole her niece, y'all mess and madness and mayhem, okay? And so when you think about what this means for Marvolo and Morfin, so much of the vitriol and the sheer kind of hatred that they have both for non magical people, for Muggle borns, for anyone who they believe is Beneath them. It is easy to say that it comes naturally and that some of this may be learned behavior, but there is something else happening inside of them. There is something else going on and that this is socialized behavior. Yes. But like there's something that feels even more insidious. And again, I think it's just the generations of like hate and madness. And then when you couple this with the loss of money, when all you have now is this kind of belief about who you are and the importance of that, it really does make it so, so clear that so much of the kind of vitriol and hatred that they're putting out is kind of an overcompensation for the fact that they are not who they, their family was before, right. They are not the rich gaunts who could, like we know the Malfoys do, flaunt all of their money and do all of these things and hold these beliefs. It's also interesting because whereas the Malfoys, who are kind of our only other look and the Blacks, but our only other look at, you know, what this level of Pure Blood supremacy looks like. And I would actually argue that Marvolo and Morfin kind of exhibit something that's more aggressive than what we see even from Bellatrix Lestrange, right? Which is saying something because there is this sense of untouchability that Bellatrix has, but she also knows how to play it right and so does Narcissa. They know how to play it right so that it doesn't quite come off as outrageously fanatical. There is a refinement to the way that the Black sisters, that Lucius, that they operate with this feels almost juvenile in the way that they do it, as if they have something to prove. And in a lot of ways they do because they don't have the status of their wealth. And so what they do have in all they have, right, is this belief that they are superior because they are pure blood and not just like pure blood in some sort of abstract sense, right? Like we learned very early on that there aren't a lot of Pure Bloods anymore because they've all died out and so they must have had to intermarry. But we know that the Gants have made a concerted effort, even at the detriment of their own emotional and mental well being, to maintain that level of purity. And so that they're in that, right? They have gone above and even more beyond because all of the Pure Bloods are related to one another. But like the kind of inbreeding that is at least alluded to in the text that I read suggests that they went, like, very, very, very, very aggressively into the kind of Targaryen level inbreeding in order to maintain the kind of purity of their blood. And so when everything else falls away, they know that their blood is pure, and they're not trying to fake the funk for people. They know it to be true because they have gone well beyond the, you know, social mores of pure bloodedness to, like, marrying your third cousin, right? They are like, no, no, no, no, no. We're keeping this thing as pure as we possibly can. And I think that, you know, what we're able to see is how the lack of status as it pertains to class augments the way that they lean on this particular belief. Another facet that is discussed at length within these texts is the reliance on dark magic and the way that we know that the Gaunts were really, really into the dark arts. And, in fact, when the ancestor who kidnapped her niece, who ultimately started Ilvermorny, when she kidnapped her, she was very much using the dark arts and teaching her the dark arts. And so that this is also a big part of the Gaunt kind of family legacy. So there is the inbreeding, and then there is the dark arts. And what we know, or at least what we can kind of assume based on what we understand from kind of Voldemort and other texts that have happened outside the canonical text, is that, like, dark magic really does eat away at a person. And so, you know, part of what ultimately ends Voldemort is not only just the fact that he, you know, was silly and made all of these Horcruxes and thought no one was gonna find them, but also that there was a volatility to his soul because of all the dark magic that he had been performing and all the murders that he had been doing. That, like, that's how we end up with Harry as a Horcrux, because his soul was just, like, in tatters, right? And so when we think about what that means generationally, right? And you combine that with the level of hate and the need to make yourself feel superior to literally everyone else, it's no surprise when we get to Morfin and Marvolo, who have lost everything, that there's so little that is actually left for them to have, right? Both Merope and Morfin are dealing with what it means to not have been educated formally. And it shows. And that Marvolo himself is also dealing with some sort of something, right, that is happening. And it just Strikes me that when we think about, you know, what we understand about Merope and when we talk about her in the next episode, I think it's important for us to really think about what it means to kind of be in the position that she is in, in this house with these two men who clearly have anger issues. And I think it is also fascinating to consider the kind of gender dynamic here. Right. Because obviously we know that there clearly was a mother who is not, and we don't know the circumstances that led to her not being there and what that then means for Merope as she kind of contends with being the only woman in this place and dealing with two men who are just emotionally, educationally, mentally, physically unwell. And how does that inform the way that she then goes about making the decisions that she makes? And ironically, right. We could imagine how your understanding of Pure Bloodedness, when it looks like that might make other populations more appealing to you. And so in some ways, it's kind of like this self fulfilling prophecy that all of this Pure Bloodedness, that then kind of comes this Pure Blood supremacy rather. And the ideology therein is the thing that kind of turned her off to Pure Bloodedness. And also, like, what were her options? They are very much isolated because they think they're better than literally everyone. And all they have are these kind of trinkets to make themselves feel better about who they are. Something else that I read that really makes a lot of sense for how we can understand Marvolo and more is that Gaunts are obsessed, obsessed with their connection to Salazar Slytherin. All the texts that I read said this was a thing that the girls were just running around screaming and yelling to everyone that they could find. And I think it feeds a lot into not only the Pure Bloodedness, right, But also the fact that, like, we're Pure Bloods, but we are like the Pure Bloods, premier Pure Bloods. Like our blood is so pure that it's connected to one of the brightest wizards of the age. And it is fascinating to think about because it also suggests to us that Gaunts are not just people who want to be pureblood supremacists, but they want to be like the most supreme of the supremacists, right? Like they want to be better than other Pure Bloods. They want to be the absolute best Pure Bloods around. And you can imagine then how that particular dynamic would also be heightened. But it also reminds me of one of their descendants, Marvolo's grandson, Morfin's nephew, Tom Riddle. Right. The fact that everything about him, once he finds out that he's descended from Salazar Slytherin, he immediately starts to change the way that he behaves. He's the Heir of Slytherin. This and that. He goes and finds a chamber of secrets like that piece of who he is becomes such an integral part of his identity, right? He goes and finds the locket and all of these things. And it could be as simple as, obviously he cares that this is who his family is. But I think more than anything, it is the obsession with the past and the obsession with the fact that, like, I'm better than even some of you other Pure Blood people. And we can imagine how meaningful that would be to someone like a Tom Riddle Jr. Who is so caught up in what it means to be a wizard, who is so caught up in fitting in with the magical community. And to find out that, like, your father's family is actually not magical at all and it's your mother's family was disappointing to him because his mother died and he thought that if she died, that means she's weak. But then you find this, like, kernel of amazingness, which is, no, but my family is descended from Salazar Slytherin. And now all of these things that I can do, this parsel tongue, all these things start to make sense, and it's like, no, I am incredible. I am exceptional. I am better than all of these other people who undoubtedly recognize me as not being pureblood. But now, what are they gonna say? I am descended from one of the best and brightest wizards of the age. There hasn't been another one like him. Everyone's been trying, but I am him. And so in this moment, right, when we think about the psychology of belonging, right, we can imagine why this is so appealing to Tom Riddle. But we can also imagine why it's so important for Marvolo and Morphin, right? We know in the moment, in the. In the memory, when he grabs that locket around Merope's neck and he's like, look at this. Like, this is the blood that is flowing through our veins. There is something so meaningful about that because it says, no matter what you think of me, no matter what we have, no matter what we don't have, we have this. We have this sigil, this meaningful thing that ties us to greatness. And so we don't have to look great, we don't have to be great, we don't have to do anything that is great. Somebody else did it. And we are connected to that greatness, and so we are great by Proxy and I think that for Voldemort, it matters so much, and for them it matters so much because there is some sense of deficiency that exists in. In both their lives, right? The lack of knowing who your family is on the part of Tom Riddle Jr. And the part of knowing who your family is, but not having any of the accoutrements that comes along with the status that you cling to so heavily. And so that this connection to Slytherin makes such a big difference. And then what we find out, right, is that that isn't necessarily the case for Merope. She goes and she sells it. She sells that locket because she's like, I need money. And so it's fascinating because it seems for her that there is less of this connection to all these other things that give meaning to the last name of Gaunt. And she is more concerned with other things. And so as you all are thinking about, you know, what you're gonna write for your essays, I mean, survey responses, you know, that there is something to think about, about why it is that she feels so detached from this. And it could be her treatment of them, it could be something else. And so just throwing it out there for you to think about. But this is another moment where I think we're looking at the nature versus nurture aspects of what it means to be a Gaunt and a Gaunt descendant, right? Where this obsession with the past, this obsession with all of these things is really kind of. It's very much at the forefront of their minds. And I think it very much is connected to Parselton, right? I think it's very much connected to the fact that there is this thing that only they can do that holds a lot of meaning for the way that they are be able to be superior. And so that there is a. This kind of superiority complex that exists for morphine and particularly for Marvolo, where it's like, we are better than even the best, we are purer than even the most pure. And we have evidence of that both, like in our inbreeding, but also in a skill set that nobody else has, right? Like nobody else is a Parsel tongue but us. And so if we can speak that language, it's meaningful. We know that in the memory that Dumbledore extracted from Morfin, one of the first things he says to Tom Riddle is, you can speak it too, right? And that's such a mark of meaning to them, right? This, like, secret skill that they have. And so it's fascinating because again, there is this, like, this connection to Slytherin both in terms of, you know, lineage, but in terms of the ability to speak. Parsel tongue really is a defining situation. And it's interesting because then we see Harry is able to do it as well. And it's the complete opposite reaction. He's like, why the hell can I do this? And now people think I'm a bad person because he was, like, the only Parselmouth that people knew. And so I think it's just fascinating because, again, what we're learning about Morphin and Marvolo is what. What it looks like when you have nothing else other than the past to rely on to make you feel like you are important. And what we also then see is that that is something that Voldemort also kind of adopts in his own belief. Even though he's good at magic, the thing that he leans on, the stuff that he kind of really allows to be the banner that comes before him is his connection to Salazar Slytherin. I mean, he has a literal snake with him at all times. He wants everyone to be reminded. And I think that this comes from a very similar insecure space that we see from Marvolo and from Morfin. And I'm interested in kind of unpacking what this means for Merope and how do we see the way that she navigates this particular thing when it comes to, like, what she decides to do as it pertains to Tom Riddle Sr. And one of the other things that I also think about here is the reality that, you know, they are so obsessed with collecting these trinkets, right? They're obsessed with the ring, they're obsessed with the locket. And it reminds me of a young Voldemort or a young Tom Riddle who is collecting all of these little trinkets from the people that he's tortured. Right? And so there are so many aspects of his existence that feel so connected to the kind of madness of the Gaunts, Right? We also know that as a young child, he is outrageously angry and demanding and has a temper that is not easily quelled. And I think it's fascinating because a lot of people explain his behavior and who he is and the psychopathy and the sociopathy because of how he was conceived. But as I've done this research, and even in the process of recording this episode, I'm wondering the extent to which some of this has nothing to do with his conception and everything to do with his mother's bloodline and all of the things that are inside of that that are now inside of him. Coupled with, you know, the feelings of abandonment and all of these other things that kind of come along with it. And that perhaps this kind of revisionist history that we've put on within the fandom about why he is the way he is is ignoring the fact that, like, some of the reason he is the way he is is because of the way that his family was. Ooh, that might have been a bit of a hot take. And honestly, that's okay. You know, sometimes the takes. The one question that I think would have been interesting to answer and would have probably given us at least a smidge of chaos. And so let's bring that to the post episode chat on Patreon would have been Armor. Oh my gosh, are Marvolo and Morfin say those names five times fast. Are they good Pure bloods? And you know what? I think personally, that they are the best purebloods because they are the purebloods who absolutely receive nothing from their position in society. They are fighting tooth and nail to make people know and appreciate who they are. That memory with Bob Ogden tells us a very specific kind of story about who these two men are, particularly Marvolo. Right? Morphin just kind of is there, but he just buys into everything his dad says and gets the benefit of being a boy to a man who is outlandishly chauvinistic. Right? But that is a different conversation for a different day. Next episode. All right, but they are two men who absolutely fight for the privileges that we see. Even the Weasleys and the Malfoys and the Blacks, they all have it without having to fight for it in any meaningful way. But they still uphold it. They still uphold the system. They are scraping. They are fighting with people. They are like working so hard to convince Bob Ogden that they are worthy of his deference and they are worthy of all of these things that they believe that they deserve. And they are getting none of it. I mean, they go to the ban, right? They don't even get to subvert the law. And so they don't even get any of the privileges that come along with being pure blood. And yet they fight for it so hard. They want everyone to know they are literally holding on for dear life to trinkets, to jewelry, to make sure that people know that they are from an important family and it gets them absolutely nothing. And yet they still uphold it. They don't turn their backs on it. It still holds so much meaning for them. And we often talk about, you know, whether or not a person is a good or a Bad pure blood by the way that they uphold the system and whether they benefit from the system. And in this case they uphold the system but they get none of the benefits which in theory would suggest that you wouldn't uphold the system anymore, right? Because what's in it for you? But they still do, they still are so dedicated to making sure that they are seen as the freaking like best, most superior pure bloods that ever pure blooded ever. And it's like to what end? Like why are you so invested in a thing that is clearly not serving you in any capacity? And I think it's partially because it, it is so meaningful to them, right? And in some ways it's interesting because they are the biggest champions of pure blood supremacy but they're also the biggest victims of it, right? Because you're not even fighting to get the things that you deserve. You're not fighting to try and like get the privileges that you have. You don't even believe that you should be fighting because you think the Ministry of Magic is beneath you. The very institution that could be used to help you in your position you don't even believe in. There's something so perfect about that for the kind of architects of pure blood supremacy, right? The people who, who benefit from it the most, right? Your Malfoys, right, your blacks. Because it means that you don't have to do anything, right? Like you have the people who are actively not even benefit from it. Rather like they are fighting a fight that you don't need to fight, you just get all the benefits without actually having to struggle. And there are people who are working so hard to lay claim to all the benefits but like have none of them and they're just like whatever about it, you know, I think it is, I think they are the best kinds of pure bloods because they're upholding a system that does nothing for them and they aren't asking anything of it. And that's how pure blood supremacy is maintained. When a system doesn't really need to give you anything because it's already offered you at least the kind of fallacy of status and all you do is fight for it even though you receive nothing. That's how it stays, right? Like even if everything else falls away, there are still people out there who have bought in so much that they are so willing to just like without any sort of reciprocity keep fighting. And that's how it persists and that's how it keeps going because you're not going to go out there and start creating coalitions with half bloods and Muggle borns because you think you're better than them. No. Even if they have more and even if they're benefiting more from society and from social status and from class status than you are, you still think you're better than them. And we can imagine how particularly Marvolo. It's like, I don't care what you all are doing. I don't care if you're a Ministry official. Like, I have the blood of Salazar Slytherin in my veins. We have his locket in the house. We have the ring that belonged to the Peverell brothers. You are nothing to us. And so again, without having to actually give them anything to make them feel good, right? Like at least the Malfoys have money. The Weasleys have at least enough status to be able to function in society as like a known pure blood family without like at least the reputation of kind of being outlandishly inbred and broke, right? Like they're just poor with a whole bunch of kids. That's different. And they're receiving the tangible benefits of Arthur being able to work at the Ministry and bring home a check. And so I think that, you know, what's so fascinating about Marvolo and Morfin is that their reliance. And I want to focus particularly on Marvolo in this case because I think Morfin is just along for the ride. And they don't want anything. They don't want anything else. They don't want to be more than what they are. There's no ambition, which is ironic because I'm sure they obviously would have been Slytherins. And so it's fascinating that they have absolutely no ambition. There's no desire to do anything better. There's no cunning, there's no, none of that. Right? They are missing all of those things because they don't think they need it. They're like, we have his blood. We are his descendants. We don't need to do any of those things. It also highlights for me the reality that a lot of what it means to be in these houses is socialized at Hogwarts. Because we can assume that Merope and Marvolo did not go to Hogwarts because what we find out in the kind of Ilvermorny lore is that, you know, Gaunt Auntie, that's what we'll call her, Gaunt Auntie of Yesteryear didn't send her niece to Hogwarts because they allowed Muggle Borns to go. And she was like, we're above that we're not doing that. And so we can assume the same mentality was true and probably passed down from generation to generation. So, right, like the socialization of what it meant to be a Slytherin, that we understand. Right? The cunning, the doing whatever it takes, the Lucius Malfoy of it all is not even applicable here. And we don't see it and we don't. And so they are just kind of these like very brash, angry people, but they're not really even angry at the right people because it's like other purebloods are doing just fine and you're not even mad at them. You're not mad that the blacks and the Malfoys are out here probably reaping a ton of benefits and you're getting nothing. Instead you're mad at Muggle borns and non magical people who have nothing to do with anything about your circumstance. That's how pure blood supremacy is maintained. Because the enemy has nothing to do with your status. The enemy is like fabricated. And you are allowing that to make you feel superior so that you're not asking any other questions. There is a parallel that we could draw here. I'm going to let you all draw it. It's one that people talk about all the time. And after this most recent election it feels very real to me, which is probably why I don't want to bring it up, because it feels very real to me. But it's giving very much. 20, 25. It's explaining a lot of the circumstances in which we find ourselves now. But I think that it's fascinating because when we look at these two, it's crazy that they're not asking for more of the other people like you all are descendants of one of the most prominent pure blood families. And yet like that line ostensibly ends with you, that name is gone with you. And to make matters worse, you all end in a way that is your greatest fear, which is by like a half blood child who admittedly adopts so much of your own ideological lean and a lot of your language and all of the other things, which is crazy because it's like how did Voldemort even get all of those things? But at the end of the day that pure blood, all of the things, all the inbreeding, all the whatever, is all gone and all that you have left is this person who you would not even respect. Let's talk about that Also in the Patreon post episode chat. Like, do you think that if Tom Riddle had risen the way that he did and The Gaunts were still a thing, that they would have respected him, that they would have given him the allegiance that we see the Malfoys and the Blacks give. Right. Like, do you think that if they knew that he was half blood that they would have done it? I'm not even going to tell you what I think. You just tell me what you think. What's hilarious is I actually had no intention of this being a long episode. I just wanted to give us a bit of a primer. I missed you all. I wanted you all to have something to just like get you. Get you really ready, right. Get prepared for the Merope episode. And it turned out to be pretty much on average, which is embarrassing and means that I probably just talked too much. So I apologize in advance. I know that this was an episode that's a little bit different than our normal design, but I wanted to give you all something and you all said you wanted to hear about Morphine and Maravolo. I just didn't think we had enough for a full on survey and I didn't want to do an extra long survey because I felt like that would have just been like too, like it just doesn't work as well. I think people, there are people who really enjoy just kind of answering the questions. They don't write anything and the longer it is, the less likely they are to finish it. And it's just, it's bad serving methodology. And so I thought this might be a good way to do that and to just give you all an episode that kind of sets us up. It's like an alley oop situation. I don't know much about sportsball, but I do know that. Okay. I know that there are many people who are cringing right now. I'm not sorry. I am not sorry. Anyways, we did it. I think this episode really did open my eyes to a number of things, particularly about like Pure blood supremacist, like ideology. And looking at Marvolo and Morphine really just shined a light on a number of things for me. I am ecstatic about the idea of coming back on our one year anniversary to talk about Merope. I know it's going to be chaotic because the discussion even leading up to how we were going to set up these episodes already had chaos and madness. If you are not on Patreon, but you like chaos and madness, please sign up. You can sign up for free and go check it out. Because when I tell you I was clutching my pearls and I don't even wear pearls anyways, thank you all so much for listening, y'all. This was. This was fun. I enjoyed this, and I think I might do it for other characters that, like, we don't know much about. And just, like, I can rant and I can rave, and then we can set ourselves up for other conversations about characters that are related to them. This feels like a solid model. Let me know what you think. Yeah, just share your thoughts with me about how this went for you. If you were like, I missed everything. I'm sorry. I swear. It'll be back. It'll be back. Next episode. We're back. January 22nd. We're back. This has been another episode of Critical Magic Theory. I'm Professor Julian Womble, and if you liked today's episode. First of all, thank you. Please feel free to like, like, rate. Subscribe. Do all the things where pods are cast, y'all. The Merope survey is coming out tomorrow, so. Or Wednesday, so today. Today. Anyways. Get ready to bop. Get ready to bop. Okay, it's coming. It never gets old. I'm so sorry. It never, ever, ever gets old. Thank you all so much for listening to this episode. Special thanks to Mark Miller and Niles Luther for this music, y'all. I can't wait to discuss more Opry with you all. Until then, be critical and stay magical, my friends. Bye.