Random musings about Harry, Snape and Voldemort
Tuesday, 13 September 2005 05:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
siguneThis mini-essay is entirely the fault of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lunafish, who triggered these ramblings by half a sentence at Mugglenet Fanfiction Forums... She touched upon the similarities between Snape and Harry, and I threw Voldemort into the mix.
In HBP, Snape has been carefully set up as a kind of carbon copy of Voldemort. He had a Muggle father and a pure-blood mother, just like Tom Riddle. We have been led to assume that Eileen Prince's marriage was unhappy, like Merope Gaunt's. Snape grew up in straitened circumstances, just like Tom the orphan. From childhood onwards, Snape had an inclination towards Dark Arts as is evident from the fact that he famously knew a lot of curses when he arrived at Hogwarts aged eleven - again a tendency that the future Voldemort also possessed. And then there is their shared love of fake noble titles: Prince and Lord.
In previous books (most notably Chamber of Secrets), Harry has realised how much he has in common with Voldemort. It is not a coincidence that the Sorting Hat would have placed him in Slytherin if he had not objected against the fact. There is Parseltongue, and Harry's inclination to ignore rules and be economical with the truth; but there is also the start of both their stories. Harry and Tom both had unhappy childhoods, orphaned, unwanted and unloved as they were. The revelation that they were wizards came upon them as a surprise, and Hogwarts seemed a sort of paradise - both of them are loath to leave the school for the holidays and return to a 'home' that does not really welcome them. As far as we know, Snape was not an orphan when he arrived at Hogwarts; but it is very likely that the school of wizardry filled him with the same sense of wonder and excitement as it inspired in Harry and Tom. There was certainly very little by way of magic in the mill town where he grew up. Now, being suddenly exposed to this brave new world can easily lead to a young wizard or witch getting a bit carried away, and I daresay that is what happened in the case of Voldemort, and arguably also Snape. But what about Harry, who had the same set-up?
Snape says in Chapter Two of HBP that many Dark wizards were expecting Harry to become the new Dark Lord. Now why didn't he turn out to be just that? Dumbledore supplies the answer: Harry will never turn towards the Dark because of all he has suffered at a Dark wizard's hands. How can he sympathise with a man, a movement, an ideology that is responsible for the death of his parents and thus the cause of all the misery of his early life? Since he was a baby, Harry has lived the harm that Dark magic can do. He is not about to embrace it.
In this, Harry may seem very different from Snape, who is truly passionate about the Dark Arts. And yet: I wonder if he would have felt the same about them if he had been exposed to the kind of things Harry experienced. Snape has never, as far as we know, been a victim of Dark magic; indeed, it is what has empowered and sustained him. And we may very well ask whether Harry would not have enjoyed it just the same if Voldemort hadn't killed his parents.
Look at it this way: Snape and Harry hate each other. When Snape looks at Harry he sees a smaller version of James Potter and relives a schoolboy history of mutual harrassment; as such he never gives Harry a chance. Harry, on the other hand, takes up his father's legacy and refuses to see in Snape anything else than a nasty teacher, a Dark wizard and Death Eater; in his turn, Harry never gives Snape any credit. But look what happens when he stumbles upon Snape's annotated Potions textbook without knowing who the previous owner was: he likes the Half-Blood Prince.
The Half-Blood Prince's book bears all the hallmarks of Snape's personality. There are the meticulous annotations in a cramped handwriting, the sarcastic comments ("Shove a bezoar down their throats"), the cleverness, the ingenuity and usefulness of spells like "Muffliato", the nastiness of "Levicorpus" and the darkness of "Sectumsempra". Harry is charmed by the boy in the book. He recognises mischievousness and a somewhat nasty sense of humour, and he likes it. It is Hermione, not he, who gets upset at the less-than-nice side of the Half-Blood Prince; Harry thinks of him as a trusted friend and keeps defending him even after his discovery of what Sectumsempra actually does. In fact, the reason why the Prince appeals to him is because they share this ambiguity of character. Harry isn't always nice. He can be quite brutal to people who he feels deserve it, and his own sense of humour contains its fair share of sarcasm. And when he is truly angry and hurt, he starts throwing things (remember his destruction of Dumbledore's instruments) and casting really serious curses (Cruciatus at Bellatrix, Cruciatus and Sectumsempra at Snape).
Strangely enough, although Harry did recognise the parallels between himself and Voldemort, he has never acknowledged those between himself and Snape. Indeed, as soon as he understands that the Half-Blood Prince is really Snape, he is embarrassed and angry at having been charmed by him. And it is doubtful that he would have followed the book's instructions, even, if he had known the identity of the previous owner. Personally I would be very interested to know what Snape would have thought if he knew to what extent Harry cherished his book and the boy who wrote it...
To my mind, there is really a greater similarity between Harry and Snape than between Harry and Tom Riddle, or even Snape and Voldemort. Voldemort is a psychopath; Snape isn't. Voldemort has no sense of humour, and he believes his own lies. He has never shown the least bit of compassion for anyone or respected anyone except himself. He has tried, and pretty much succeeded, to escape his humanity. I realise there can be quite a lot of discussion about Snape when it comes to compassion and respect, and HBP has certainly caused a lot of confusion; but one thing we can say with certainty: Snape has never gone as far in the Dark Arts as Voldemort has. He is still human and appears to have no desire to dehumanise himself. If you ask me, he is very much what Harry would have become had he been sorted into Slytherin.
lunafish, who triggered these ramblings by half a sentence at Mugglenet Fanfiction Forums... She touched upon the similarities between Snape and Harry, and I threw Voldemort into the mix. In HBP, Snape has been carefully set up as a kind of carbon copy of Voldemort. He had a Muggle father and a pure-blood mother, just like Tom Riddle. We have been led to assume that Eileen Prince's marriage was unhappy, like Merope Gaunt's. Snape grew up in straitened circumstances, just like Tom the orphan. From childhood onwards, Snape had an inclination towards Dark Arts as is evident from the fact that he famously knew a lot of curses when he arrived at Hogwarts aged eleven - again a tendency that the future Voldemort also possessed. And then there is their shared love of fake noble titles: Prince and Lord.
In previous books (most notably Chamber of Secrets), Harry has realised how much he has in common with Voldemort. It is not a coincidence that the Sorting Hat would have placed him in Slytherin if he had not objected against the fact. There is Parseltongue, and Harry's inclination to ignore rules and be economical with the truth; but there is also the start of both their stories. Harry and Tom both had unhappy childhoods, orphaned, unwanted and unloved as they were. The revelation that they were wizards came upon them as a surprise, and Hogwarts seemed a sort of paradise - both of them are loath to leave the school for the holidays and return to a 'home' that does not really welcome them. As far as we know, Snape was not an orphan when he arrived at Hogwarts; but it is very likely that the school of wizardry filled him with the same sense of wonder and excitement as it inspired in Harry and Tom. There was certainly very little by way of magic in the mill town where he grew up. Now, being suddenly exposed to this brave new world can easily lead to a young wizard or witch getting a bit carried away, and I daresay that is what happened in the case of Voldemort, and arguably also Snape. But what about Harry, who had the same set-up?
Snape says in Chapter Two of HBP that many Dark wizards were expecting Harry to become the new Dark Lord. Now why didn't he turn out to be just that? Dumbledore supplies the answer: Harry will never turn towards the Dark because of all he has suffered at a Dark wizard's hands. How can he sympathise with a man, a movement, an ideology that is responsible for the death of his parents and thus the cause of all the misery of his early life? Since he was a baby, Harry has lived the harm that Dark magic can do. He is not about to embrace it.
In this, Harry may seem very different from Snape, who is truly passionate about the Dark Arts. And yet: I wonder if he would have felt the same about them if he had been exposed to the kind of things Harry experienced. Snape has never, as far as we know, been a victim of Dark magic; indeed, it is what has empowered and sustained him. And we may very well ask whether Harry would not have enjoyed it just the same if Voldemort hadn't killed his parents.
Look at it this way: Snape and Harry hate each other. When Snape looks at Harry he sees a smaller version of James Potter and relives a schoolboy history of mutual harrassment; as such he never gives Harry a chance. Harry, on the other hand, takes up his father's legacy and refuses to see in Snape anything else than a nasty teacher, a Dark wizard and Death Eater; in his turn, Harry never gives Snape any credit. But look what happens when he stumbles upon Snape's annotated Potions textbook without knowing who the previous owner was: he likes the Half-Blood Prince.
The Half-Blood Prince's book bears all the hallmarks of Snape's personality. There are the meticulous annotations in a cramped handwriting, the sarcastic comments ("Shove a bezoar down their throats"), the cleverness, the ingenuity and usefulness of spells like "Muffliato", the nastiness of "Levicorpus" and the darkness of "Sectumsempra". Harry is charmed by the boy in the book. He recognises mischievousness and a somewhat nasty sense of humour, and he likes it. It is Hermione, not he, who gets upset at the less-than-nice side of the Half-Blood Prince; Harry thinks of him as a trusted friend and keeps defending him even after his discovery of what Sectumsempra actually does. In fact, the reason why the Prince appeals to him is because they share this ambiguity of character. Harry isn't always nice. He can be quite brutal to people who he feels deserve it, and his own sense of humour contains its fair share of sarcasm. And when he is truly angry and hurt, he starts throwing things (remember his destruction of Dumbledore's instruments) and casting really serious curses (Cruciatus at Bellatrix, Cruciatus and Sectumsempra at Snape).
Strangely enough, although Harry did recognise the parallels between himself and Voldemort, he has never acknowledged those between himself and Snape. Indeed, as soon as he understands that the Half-Blood Prince is really Snape, he is embarrassed and angry at having been charmed by him. And it is doubtful that he would have followed the book's instructions, even, if he had known the identity of the previous owner. Personally I would be very interested to know what Snape would have thought if he knew to what extent Harry cherished his book and the boy who wrote it...
To my mind, there is really a greater similarity between Harry and Snape than between Harry and Tom Riddle, or even Snape and Voldemort. Voldemort is a psychopath; Snape isn't. Voldemort has no sense of humour, and he believes his own lies. He has never shown the least bit of compassion for anyone or respected anyone except himself. He has tried, and pretty much succeeded, to escape his humanity. I realise there can be quite a lot of discussion about Snape when it comes to compassion and respect, and HBP has certainly caused a lot of confusion; but one thing we can say with certainty: Snape has never gone as far in the Dark Arts as Voldemort has. He is still human and appears to have no desire to dehumanise himself. If you ask me, he is very much what Harry would have become had he been sorted into Slytherin.
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Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2005 03:40 pm (UTC)I like your comment about the Dark Arts empowering and sustaining Snape. My theory is that he was actually very unhappy at Hogwarts, picked on by the Marauders, always coming second best, and ultimately let down by Dumbledore over the prank. No wonder he's so bitter about remaining there as a teacher now.
When he left school, he turned to the Death Eaters as they comprised the only friends who had stood by him throughout school. Conventional means of proving himself failed - he was always outshone by Black and Potter and passed over unfairly (as he saw it) in favour of them (I bet he was very angry about James being made Head Boy too). So he turned to the Dark Arts and the service of Voldemort instead.
If you ask me, he is very much what Harry would have become had he been sorted into Slytherin.
An intriguing idea. Snape and Harry certainly share some of the same abilities, plus without the support of Ron and Hermione (which I imagine Slytherin!Harry would lose) he could easily have turned into a lonely oddball without many social skills. He'd only need to stop washing his hair...
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Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2005 04:02 pm (UTC)Either that, or we will discover that she really has only one mold from which she fashions all her true baddies :-D. What a disappointment that would be.
Amen to all you say about Snape's schooldays and Dark Arts. I keep wondering about Dumbledore letting the situation get out of hand like that. Sometimes I think that Snape can say in defense of his behaviour, "Hogwarts made me." Then again, JKR would say that he had a choice...
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Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2005 06:14 pm (UTC)That's exactly it. Harry made a choice early on. And so did Snape. Apparently, Snape chose to befriend Lucius Malfoy while Harry chose to reject Draco Malfoy's offer of friendship. Harry consciously rejected Slytherin when the Sorting Hat tried to lure him into Voldemort's house. Harry chose to befriend Ron and Hermione who, at the time, were not the most popular kids, he chose to protect the philosopher's stone, instead of making a grasp for it, and so on.
Snape on the other hand, chose to befriend a gang of Slytherins who were all heavily into the dark arts, and he chose to spend his free time inventing dark spells instead of applying his obvious great intellect to a more worthy cause. Kind of reminds me of these brilliant kids who have nothing better to do than to send computer viruses all over the world because they've had a rotten day.
HBP showed me that Snape chose to become Peter Pan gone sour. He is a man approaching forty who prefers to re-enact his childhood over life as a grown man, while Harry at sixteen is already leaving his sad childhood behind.
The potion book is an interesting twist. I don't see Harry's appreciation of the person who wrote in its margins as proof for his kinship with Snape. Rather, I see the book as a lesson for Harry to understand the difference between choosing what is easy and choosing what is right. Had he known from the start that Snape had written the book, he would not have been lured by the easy choice, and instead of following the book's instructions would have sat down and brewed his potions the hard way. He would not have learned the lesson he needed to learn.
That's why I think that the book rather highlights one of the fundamental differences between Snape and Harry. Snape makes the easy choice. For fifteen years he hides behind Dumbledore and then, when his master comes back, he rushes back, because being in Voldemort's good graces and a valued member in Death Eater's circles is a whole lot easier than fighting them. Then there is Snape's utter lack of empathy which Harry has in abundance. Just look at how gently Harry treats Luna compared to Snape's treatment of Neville.
Luna and Neville (and Harry, of course) are both often bullied and publicly humiliated, either by teachers, grandmothers, other relatives or schoolmates, but none of them turns to the dark arts, as far as we know. Neville's childhood wasn't exactly sunshine and roses either. I do not see Hogwarts making Snape into anything. He is what he chose to be.
Dumbledore didn't interfere in the feud between the marauaders and Snape any more than he interfered when the entire school believed Harry to be the heir of Slytherin, when the Dursleys clearly starved the child he had placed in their care, or when Dolores Umbridge tortured students right under his nose. Apparently, Dumbledore, like many others in the Wizarding World, do not believe in interference before an unforgiveable is used. I don't like it, but I don't see that Snape has drawn the short stick or was treated differently than others in similar situations. When I look at the lack of serious repercussions for Draco and his croonies after they played at being dementors and caused an almost fatal accident for Harry, I can not see why Snape's almost encounter with Remus in werewolf mood should be so much worse that it entitles him to hatred and self-pity, even beyond his nemesis' graves.
I agree on Snape and Voldemort. They have a great deal in common but Snape is still human, even if he lives in a time loop. Snape does have some sort of conscience left. He didn't seem too happy with the Slytherin monster roaming Hogwarts and he didn't seem to be into outright murder of school kids, unlike the Death Eaters at the cemetery in GoF. This is really the best I can say for Snape at this point. Which pains me a lot because I used to think he had such potential.
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Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2005 07:14 pm (UTC)Well said! I get so tired of people holding up the "prank" as an excuse for Snape to be the way he is.
I also agree that there isn't much to recommend him at the moment. But he did show compassion and caring in his Vow to protect Draco. Misplaced? Yes. He would be better off convincing Draco to stay away from LV altogether, but no one that is completely self-serving would have entered into such a contract. JKR also said that he has been loved before, which makes him worse than LV in a way. But maybe, (and here's me hoping,) that is what will make the difference in the end--that he has been loved and has loved in the past. As you said though, it will come down to his choice.
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Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2005 09:22 pm (UTC)Apparently, Snape chose to befriend Lucius Malfoy while Harry chose to reject Draco Malfoy's offer of friendship. Harry consciously rejected Slytherin when the Sorting Hat tried to lure him into Voldemort's house.
I have some problems with this comparison. If Harry and Draco hadn't noticed each other before the Sorting Ceremony (and there were a lot of his yearmates to whom he didn't talk on the train), would he have reacted so strongly against Slytherin? How much did Snape know about Slytherin when the Sorting Hat proposed to place him there?
Quite apart from that, I would find it thoroughly irritating if Book 7 should confirm that Slytherin is really nothing more than "Voldemort's House" and every eleven-year-old sorted into it already carries rot inside themselves. I can't stand that kind of simplicity, and I don't mind saying that I was disappointed when Blaise Zabini seemed to confirm the Slytherin stereotype. I will persist in reading against the grain until there is no more leeway *evil grin*...
Snape makes the easy choice. For fifteen years he hides behind Dumbledore and then, when his master comes back, he rushes back, because being in Voldemort's good graces and a valued member in Death Eater's circles is a whole lot easier than fighting them.
I'll be ever so disappointed if that turns out to be true. Here is why:
- Snape was cleared by the Wizengamot. Cleared is cleared. That means there was no reason why he should be 'hiding behind Dumbledore'. If he didn't *want* to be at Hogwarts, then why was he? Voldemort hadn't stirred for more than ten years and everybody believed him finished - even Lucius Malfoy did, to the extent that he used the Diary as a kind of toy.
- What's so easy about being a Death Eater? Snape is always craving recognition and respect. Does he get that from Voldemort? Is he so stupid as to believe that, should Voldemort come to power, he will share it? Does the Half-Blood Prince prefer being branded with someone's mark to being a free man?
- Why save Dumbledore from Death By Ring Horcrux?
- Am I to believe that a reasonably intelligent double agent on the point of defecting from one master tells that master he's fed up with helping him?
Then there is Snape's utter lack of empathy which Harry has in abundance.
I agree with Vanityfair here. Snape empathises with Draco, and possibly Narcissa too. All right, I don't like those two, but it is a clear case of empathy. Even if you argue that Snape healed Draco as part of keeping up the Vow, nobody told him to be concerned about Harry's curse leaving a scar. That's the kind of worry *Draco* might have; Snape anticipates it. And he doesn't have to.
There is no way I want to argue Snape's nobility or essential goodness of heart, because I think he has no such thing. But until JKR disappoints me no end, I will highlight the bits of text that leave ambiguity and suggest that, however he may feel about it and however poor a job he makes of it, Snape is forcing himself to do the right thing and fight Voldemort. :-)
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Date: Wednesday, 14 September 2005 06:52 am (UTC)~~~I believe! And I happily take the blame for setting you off but, of your excellent arguments, I can only say, "I concur!"
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Date: Wednesday, 14 September 2005 06:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Thursday, 15 September 2005 07:09 pm (UTC)Hagrid had told Harry that many Slytherins supported Voldemort. But Harry was also unhappy at the idea that he might be Hufflepuff, when Hagrid told him about the different houses.
How much did Snape know about Slytherin when the Sorting Hat proposed to place him there?
I thought Snape's mother was in Slytherin? Anyway, one of Snape's parents was a wizard so he would not have been quite as ignorant as Harry about Hogwarts and the houses.
I think that Slughorn alreay showed that Slytherins aren't all bad. I didn't find Blaise Zabini "dark" or "bad" either, just a snob.
Snape was cleared by the Wizengamot. Cleared is cleared.
This is what I have a problem with. Snape was cleared solely because Dumbledore testfied for him. E.g. Mad Eye Moody never believed in Snape's innocence. Looking at Sirius, who was convicted without trial, at Barty Crouch jr who was convicted because his father denounced him, at Lucius Malfoy who pretended to have acted under Imperius, I am not impressed with the Wizengamot.
What's so easy about being a Death Eater? Snape is always craving recognition and respect. Does he get that from Voldemort? Is he so stupid as to believe that, should Voldemort come to power, he will share it?
Yes. I believe that is so stupid. Spinner's End was the key for me. He gloated and boasted about how the Dark Lord trusted him, believed him, how he did this and that upon the Dark Lord's special orders and how the Dark Lord wanted him to carry out the deed he had ordered Draco to perform. Snape spoke solely about himself all that time. Narcissa very cleverly picked up on it, stroked his ego,said how totally the Dark Lord trusted him, told him how he would be honoured beyond all others - and Snape signed his death warrant. After the vow he was as bound as a house elf. Just like he bound himself to Voldemort. He could have been a free man. Instead he chose to accept a brand and servitude.
Snape empathises with Draco, and possibly Narcissa too.
He heals Draco's wounds because his role as teacher and head of house requires such things of him. It would reflect bad on him if he didn't. Dumbledore knows how effective a healer Snape is, after all.
I used to think that Snape was the most ambiguous and interesting character in JKR's world. After HBP I can't see him like this any more. But I am still willing to be convinced otherwise ;-)
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Date: Sunday, 18 September 2005 02:38 pm (UTC)Ha! Gotcha! This is your own inference; it never says in the book what house she was in.
I wish the other things (the more crucial ones, *sniff*) you said would be as easy to disprove *grins*... But, as ever, all you say makes perfect sense, and you do voice the thoughts I had upon first reading HBP. I guess I'm in denial and trying to worm my way out of all JKR has explicitated - if only because it would spoil all my fun in the series, and it would be such a shame if the intriguing character Snape has been so far can be explained in such straightforward and simple terms. I'm enjoying it while I still can. There *is* wriggling space yet ;-).
It would reflect bad on him if he didn't. Dumbledore knows how effective a healer Snape is, after all.
Possibly; but if Snape was so eager to get back to Voldy, why did he demonstrate his healing capacities to begin with? Why didn't he just let Dumbledore die from the ring curse? "Sorry Headmaster, this is clearly beyond my skill. Rest in peace." That would have made for a very clean solution.
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Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2005 11:33 pm (UTC)Kind of reminds me of these brilliant kids who have nothing better to do than to send computer viruses all over the world because they've had a rotten day.
Juvenile detention centers have high populations of gifted, but misguided and misparented children. I've always contended that Snape was a gifted child. He clearly displays superior intellect, but his social skills are lacking.
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Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2005 11:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, 14 September 2005 12:56 am (UTC)I have to ask if Snape made a conscious decision to be friend Lucius Malfoy (who, at five years older, seems to hold the power in that dynamics)? After all, by the way Sirius Black speaks, Snape was an outcast long before the Hogwarts Express rolled into the Hogsmeade station. Or was a friendship with Lucius Malfoy more of aligning himself with someone who had power who could protect him? In which case, the James Potter and Sirius Black have some role to play in that decision?
Harry, on the other hand, aligned himself with a poor loner. And they in turn spoke badly of Hermione until Halloween, when she lied to protect them.
There were choices made, but everyone's choice affected somebody else's. If a fifth-year student had taken Hermione under their wing, which she has forgiven Harry and Ron for the way they deliberately added to her misery? After all, they were only reacting to her poor social skills -- bossy, know-it-all and, even worse for her, being right about it.
But to take this conjecture further, what would happen if Harry were trapped at Hogwarts, miserably, for whatever reason, and Draco Malfoy's son appeared as a student? He looks like Draco, he sounds like Draco and he acts like Draco, except perhaps he has Ginny's eyes, his mother's eyes
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Date: Tuesday, 13 September 2005 05:38 pm (UTC)A couple things I would add: I'm not entirely sure Snape saw Hogwarts as a place of wonder; after all, magic was not a new thing to him like it was to Harry. He already knew all those curses and was already thinking of magic in terms of power and evening out social inequalities. Magic was a weapon to him, not an object of delight. Of course, his fantasies of having greater control over his life, which magic no doubt provided him, were probably his sole source of delight as a child--and in this, he is not so far from Harry, who saw magic in part as a way of escaping his abusive foster family. So maybe I am not disagreeing with you at all here.
Also: I wonder what to make of Harry's rejection of the Half-Blood Prince once he learns his true identity. Is JKR casting that as a good or a bad thing? Should we be concerned that Harry is being judgemental and close-minded, or glad that he recognized the seductive evil at work in the textbook before he went too far with it? Is Harry being unfair to Snape, or quite fair after all?
I know you and I have talked about this already, but I continue to be obsessed with the question of, "yes, but where's she going with all this?" Is Snape a cautionary figure for Harry, a there-but-for-the-grace-of-god-go-I? Will he be an instrument of redemption for Harry, who must learn to somehow forgive him or feel compassion for him in order to master his own darker impulses? Will Snape be an exemplum to Harry of the dangers of trying to "use the master's tools to tear down the master's house," thus demonstrating Dumbledore's theory that only love, not more hatred, can destroy Voldemort? I'm trying to think in terms of JKR's moral logic, but I find that rather difficult, since it's so alien to the way I would ever go about telling a story.
Okay, I'm done clogging up your journal now. :)
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Date: Wednesday, 14 September 2005 12:12 pm (UTC)Yes, I agree; I know where the clues we have been given about Snape in the books would lead me, but I'm not so sure JKR is taking the same path. To me it makes perfect sense for Snape to be 'an instrument of redemption for Harry', and I would find it logical for him to respect Dumbledore, fight Voldemort and survive the war. I have written a story listing all the reasons why it is quite natural for Slytherins NOT to follow the Dark Lord while still upholding Salazar Slytherin's heritage. All this I cooked up with material from canon and without forcing anything. JKR has kept her options open, so far. I dread the moment she'll finally close them, because there are some things that will defy my willing suspension of disbelief, should they become canon.
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Date: Thursday, 15 September 2005 03:08 am (UTC)I believe too! (*waves her "Snape is good!" flag around*)
If you ask me, he is very much what Harry would have become had he been sorted into Slytherin.
Your whole essay is very convincing, and you do point out in just how many places Harry's character is ambiguous, and maybe even slightly frightening. The above line sums it up beautifully; there's as many similarities between these two men as there are differences.
*sigh* But I really, really do want to know for certain whether they're on the same side of the war or not. How unfair that getting my hands on book 6 has only made me twice as desperate to get my hands on book 7...
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Date: Thursday, 15 September 2005 08:12 am (UTC)I love Harry's ambiguities. They are the reason why I like him as a hero (even though I like Snape more, of course *grins*). I can't stand reading about perfect people, which is why right now I have a HUGE problem with Lily Evans. I hope she'll become human in the next book.