The Jedi *don't* believe that one can Turn from the Dark Side, and thus Anakin believes he's irrevocably doomed.
Oh, God, yes. The poor man. He so desperately needed someone to believe that he'd tripped but could get back up again, and the Jedi thought that once you'd fallen, you were down for aye and for all.
It strikes me that Peter Pettigrew has a similar problem. The wizards of the Potterverse believe that once a wizard turns Dark, nothing and no one matters to them any more. I can see a young wizard (and he would have been young, according to the series' timeline--no more than twenty) being turned through torture or deception or both...and suddenly having no one he could turn to for help. (I don't think that Snape had changed sides in 1980, so Peter couldn't have had that precedent to rely on.)
Voldemort says it himself: "Your loyalty is mere cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go."
Which indicates to me that if Peter did have somewhere else to go--if he could return to the light--he probably would. His fear and the wizarding world's belief that once you turn evil, you stay evil are his biggest obstacles. (And doesn't that belief of the wizarding world contradict Dumbledore's statement that "our choices determine who we are"? Choices. Plural. Not one permanent irrevocable choice. People continue to choose throughout their lives. They can change their minds.)
I genuinely hope that somewhere along the line, Peter will get redeemed. No, he doesn't deserve it. He's a traitor and a murderer, and he's done some horrible things. But Anakin didn't deserve redemption, either. He needed redemption, and that's a different thing altogether. I think Peter needs it as well.
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Oh, God, yes. The poor man. He so desperately needed someone to believe that he'd tripped but could get back up again, and the Jedi thought that once you'd fallen, you were down for aye and for all.
It strikes me that Peter Pettigrew has a similar problem. The wizards of the Potterverse believe that once a wizard turns Dark, nothing and no one matters to them any more. I can see a young wizard (and he would have been young, according to the series' timeline--no more than twenty) being turned through torture or deception or both...and suddenly having no one he could turn to for help. (I don't think that Snape had changed sides in 1980, so Peter couldn't have had that precedent to rely on.)
Voldemort says it himself: "Your loyalty is mere cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go."
Which indicates to me that if Peter did have somewhere else to go--if he could return to the light--he probably would. His fear and the wizarding world's belief that once you turn evil, you stay evil are his biggest obstacles. (And doesn't that belief of the wizarding world contradict Dumbledore's statement that "our choices determine who we are"? Choices. Plural. Not one permanent irrevocable choice. People continue to choose throughout their lives. They can change their minds.)
I genuinely hope that somewhere along the line, Peter will get redeemed. No, he doesn't deserve it. He's a traitor and a murderer, and he's done some horrible things. But Anakin didn't deserve redemption, either. He needed redemption, and that's a different thing altogether. I think Peter needs it as well.