Meaning and grammar of 〜されようと思う


> 幾人もの人間を殺してきた。
>
> 幾人もの人間を不幸にしてきた。
>
> 今さら **許されようとは思っていない** し、許されるとも思っていない。

I’m trying to understand the construction されようとは思っていない. Is it the same
construction as 外国に住もうとは思わない? If it is, why can the verb before よう be passive
form? I was taught that we should always use a volitional verb in 「〜ように思う」,
but 許される is not volitional. Using a verb in its passive form in
the「〜ように思う」construction is a bit strange to me. Could you please explain the
meaning and grammar of 「〜されようと思う」?




～ように思う is a different construction entirely that bears little similarity to
～ようと（は）思う. See: [ように思う what is the exact
meaning?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/61489/%E3%82%88%E3%81%86%E3%81%AB%E6%80%9D%E3%81%86-what-
is-the-exact-meaning).

The よう in this instance represents a volition, not a state of being or
appearance, which takes the forms of ～ようとして, ～ようと思って, or simply ～ようと. There is
no rule that says it cannot be used in passive form. A similar example:

> 彼は党首に選ばれようとは思っていない．
>
> He will not seek election as leader of the party.

(From Longman English-Japanese Dictionary)

It may sound odd, but the speaker is still acting on a volition to have said
specified action happen to them (or not). And in this case here it simply
means that they show no intention (as the recipient of the action) of being
forgiven; i.e. they won't go around asking for forgiveness. A possible
translation: "I am not looking to be forgiven, nor do I think I will be."

