Snape the Control Freak (WAS: Official Philip Nel Discussion Question #2

[elfundeb at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 37699

In a message dated 4/8/2002 9:47:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
rusalka at ix.netcom.com writes:


> I think Snape's a control-freak.  What's worse, he's a control freak 
> whose life, in many important ways, is out of his control.  There 
> are a lot of people out there who have the power to destroy him on a 
> whim: Dumbledore, Moody, Voldemort, possibly other Aurors and DEs 
> who know his history.  But the one thing he *can* be in control of 
> is his classroom.  He's in charge, and making the students toe the 
> line is part of that.  He's different from Percy in that respect; I 
> don't think Snape loves rules for their own sake, or labors under 
> the illusion that as long as you follow the rules bad things won't 
> happen.  I think he just uses rules to assert his control.
> 
> That's possibly why Neville an Hermione make him so nuts, too.  They 
> both undermine his control of the classroom: Neville, by creating 
> chaos through his incompetence, and Hermione by conspicuous displays 
> 



I completely agree with your control-freak assessment. Moreover, I think 
that's the key to the answer to Dr. Nel's question "Who is Snape working 
for?" 

 I can't imagine any career less suited to Snape's temperament than being a 
Death-Eater.  Becoming a DE requires you to become completely subservient to 
Voldemort.  You must grovel at his feet like a "most devoted servant"  (look 
how Crouch Jr. grovels obsequiously even when Voldemort isn't around, not to 
mention every DE summoned to the rebirthing including the usually swaggering 
Lucius Malfoy who thanks Voldemort for his mercy - ugh!) and wait for 
Voldemort to reward or punish you at his whim.  I can't imagine Snape 
willingly engaging in this type of self-humiliation.  But he must've done it, 
at least for some period of time. 

Now, I do think that in exchange for their total obedience on important 
matters, Voldemort gave them powers that must have been intended to give them 
the illusion of control.  I think the Muggle-killings were part of this.   
While I think Voldemort masterminded and utterly controlled major strategies, 
as he did with his rebirthing, I suspect he gave them free reign over 
Muggles, who had no strategic importance in the WW (Arthur Weasley says half 
the Muggle killings were for fun, and Crouch Jr. speaks very contemptuously 
of Muggle sport), both as an act of bitterness over his childhood and father 
and in order to give them the illusion that they were in control.    Snape 
may have participated in this, indeed he may have been expected to in order 
to prove his toughness for the job (though I tend to envision him spending 
most of his time brewing Veritaserum), but he's too smart not to have 
realized very quickly that participating in pointless Muggle killings isn't 
any kind of control worth having.   No wonder he became disillusioned with 
the DE's. 

What amazes me, though,  is how he could ever have been persuaded to join 
them in the first place.  Could he not have known what it would be like, that 
their only purpose was to serve Voldemort?  Did Voldemort lure him with false 
promises?   Though I hold to the idea that it was general disillusionment 
with the 'good' side's apparent failure to adhere to principles that pushed 
him in the direction his Slytherin gang was heading (still confused as to the 
name of this theory), it must have taken an enormous amount of 
disillusionment - way more than the Prank could offer, or L.O.L.L.I.P.O.P.S., 
or both.  

There's undoubtedly tons we still don't know, but I'll throw out one other 
possible source of disappointment that I haven't noticed anyone else mention. 
 Might Snape also have coveted the Head Boy position that James got?  We know 
he was ambitious, and he was certainly smart (how else could he have known 
seventh-year curses when he arrived at Hogwarts?) so it seems logical that he 
would aspire to be Head Boy.  Based on today's posts he may be hopelessly 
lacking in some of the skills necessary to obtain the position, but he might 
have believed that top marks (at least in Potions) and toeing the line on 
rules ought to qualify one for that kind of position of authority, or at 
least give him the edge over an unrepentant rule-breaker like James.  I can't 
see the failure of Dumbledore to publicly punish James and Sirius for the 
Prank as the catalyst because he would've realized that there could have been 
private punishment, so I think that episode just festered in his memory.   
But giving the highest position in the school to James must have been, to 
Snape, an unmistakable signal that not even Dumbledore sets any store by the 
rules; instead, it's arrogance (as he describes James in PoA Ch. 14) and 
athletic talent and the right friends that win honor and recognition.   
That's the sort of thing that might make me listen to the DE recruiters, if I 
were Snape.

Oh, and IMO Snape doesn't want the DADA job, or at least he shouldn't want 
it.  Why would the Potions Master want to take on a reportedly jinxed 
position to teach a subject that involves foolish wand-waving?   The title, 
which IIRC has not been used to describe any other professor, or Dumbledore, 
indicates that he's a recognized expert in his field.  He is clearly not an 
example of "those who can, do; those who can't, teach."  But he probably 
knows a lot of things that could be useful now that Voldemort is back; in 
fact, even the simple Expelliarmus spell Snape taught them all has turned out 
to be quite valuable, so perhaps he'll find an opportunity to demonstrate 
those DADA skills regardless.  Maybe he'll give Harry tutorials like Lupin 
did.  I think I'd enjoy those chapters.


Debbie, realizing that there are probably as many Snape backstories as 
listmembers and proposing a file (an online file, not the cardboard thing I 
have stuffed with things like LOLLIPOPS and Big Bangs and a mysterious 
humanoid named George) containing summaries of all the various manifestos 
that have been developed over the last few months but that I could never 
catch up to





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