Father figures or mentor or just plain teacher

[gwendolyngrace]

No: HPFGUIDX 38084

Greetings, All!

Carole bemoaned:
> >>>> why do we need to squish Snape into a father
>  figure role at all?  That is obviously not his intent and not
>  anything Harry would welcome in the least.
> <<<<
>

And Pippin replied:
> Because Harry is so emotionally engaged with Snape. (Snip)
> Likewise, Snape has a conflicted relationship with Harry:
> there are other students he bullies, but he hasn't done anything
> to save *their* lives.
>
> By Book 4, Harry's almost completely disengaged from Vernon
> emotionally, which proves that he *could* disengage from Snape
> if he wanted to. He doesn't.  That relationship is strong enough
> to have its effect on how Harry himself will behave as a parent.
>
> To be an effective
> parent one  has to be willing to endure some bitterness and
> some shrill yells of "I hate you!" without giving in or giving up.
> Who's modeling that behavior? Snape.

Following on that, let me point out that whether either Snape or Harry
*wants* this relationship to exist is actually irrelevant. IMO, much
of the process that creates familial roles in other settings is
largely subconscious. Harry's subconscious will fill in the gaps in
his psyche by supplying the behaviour roles of those around him, in a
position to influence his conduct, for good or ill.

Whether it is welcome or intended is not the point. The point is that
as a strong, older, male force in Harry's life, especially one who
represents authoritarian rule, Snape *will* make an impact and fulfill
one aspect of the father figure.

Human beings create family structures around them all the time. Work
is a common environment where people may respond to their coworkers or
bosses--subconsciously--as they do to members of their family. We
can't help but equate personality types to those we know at home.

Harry does that already, when Draco reminds him strongly of Dudley,
and this is one of the factors that puts him off young master Malfoy.
In the future, he may react to strong authority as if it were Snape,
even when it's not. Because he doesn't have what he thinks of as a
'family' anywhere other than school, he will subconsciously supply the
personalities of his teachers and friends in those roles.

He may never consciously realize that Snape fills one of the shoes
worn by a parent-figure, but nevertheless, it's there. [Side note:
anyone seen the movie "Father Goose?" There's a similar conversation
between Leslie Caron and Cary Grant that's been playing in my head as
a result of this thread. She comments that since he's the only man
that her charges (7 girls) will come into contact with, he will be
ipso facto, a father figure. He doesn't welcome that revelation,
either, but nonetheless, it's true.]

Now I must wreak havoc with Luke's really intriguing discussion questions.

Gwendolyn Grace