Why do readers love Snape? (and Draco/ Snape comparison)

[judyserenity]

No: HPFGUIDX 33370

> Eloise wrote:
> 
> > What really intrigues me, though, and perhaps some of you other 
> > Friends of Snape out there can help me out on this one, is just 
> > *why* do some of us have sympathy for this horrible man,
> > want to find excuses or reasons for his 
> > behaviour, whilst most of us seem to feel nothing but antipathy 
> > for Draco, who is after all only a child....

Anavenc replied: 
> I almost started answering to Eloise's post, but finally thought I'd 
> better leave it to people who are knowledgeable in literature and 
> theory of writing....
> However, I couldn't resist a temptation to throw in a very closely 
> related question which I have been asking myself for a while:
> Snape is not only sympathised with, but much, much more. A large 
> part of HP fandom consists of people who are simply infatuated with 
> him. Meanwhile, it seems like JKR so far hasn't planned on readers 
> loving him--at least not yet :). She keeps repeating in interviews
> that Snape is horrible...
> So, I guess, my question is: why readers so badly want Snape to be 
> different from the fellow we see in Rowling's books? 


Great posts, Eloise and Ana!  But, to answer the question "Why do 
readers love Snape?", you don't want to ask a literary expert.  You 
want to ask a psychologist!  I am happy to oblige. 

First, a confession.  I developed a huge crush on Snape by Book 2 -- 
or maybe it was by the end of Book 1.  And there I was, ashamed of my 
attraction to such an unappealing character.  Imagine my relief when I 
signed up here and found all these other people who were smitten with 
Snape!  So, when I saw this question, I gave it a lot of thought.

My answer is that JKR may have *intended* Snape to be a horrible 
person, but what she has actually written (so far) is a character who 
has a very unfriendly, sarcastic manner, but loads of positive 
qualities.  Just what positive qualities?

First, he's obviously brilliant.  No doubt about it.

Second, he's very skilled magically.  This isn't the same as being 
brilliant -- Muggles can be brilliant, and as Hermione says when 
facing Snape's potions puzle in SS/PS, many skilled wizards don't have 
an ounce of logic.

Third, he's very accomplished professionally, having become a 
Hogwart's teacher and housemaster at a young age.  Again, this is in 
addition to being brilliant and magical --  Lupin, Sirius, and Barty 
Crouch Jr., could possibly also be said to be brilliant and highly 
magical, but they got nowhere professionally. (I'm not dissing Lupin, 
people are prejudiced against him!)

Fourth, he's quite brave, risking death via Voldemort (or Fluffy.)

Fifth, and perhaps most important, Snape's meanness seems to be all 
style, rather than substance (as others here have pointed out.)   Most 
of his actions actually have benefitted others (protecting the Stone, 
protecting Harry from Quirrell, spying for Dumbledore, etc.)  Even 
when he makes a severe threat, he doesn't carry through -- he said he 
wanted to feed Sirius to the dementors, but instead he took Sirius to 
Fudge (and even gave Sirius a comfy stretcher, which is way better 
than Sirius treated the unconscious Snape.)  The closest he's come to 
physical violence is knocking Lockhart off his feet in the Dueling 
Club scene in CoS -- and dueling was Lockhart's idea in the first 
place.  Remember, this is in a story where the truly bad characters  
torture people for fun, kill random people for no real reason, and 
murder their own families.  By that standard, Snape has never done 
anything bad (that we've seen.) 

Given all that, it's easy to come to the interpretation that Snape is 
not, in fact, supposed to be a bad person.  I have certainly met 
people who said very nasty things -- either because they regarded 
insults as a sort of game, or because they didn't realize they were 
hurting people's feelings -- and yet were pretty decent people 
underneath. One can even try to justify his actions towards his 
students (not that I would want a real teacher behaving that way.)  
Maybe the nastiness is an act, to impress the Death Eater kids.  And, 
Neville is a hazard in class and probably shouldn't be there.  Harry 
has in fact done many of the things Snape has accused him of (used 
potion ingredients stolen from Snape, sneaked into Hogsmeade) without 
being punished. 

A lot of relationships start off with verbal banter and teasing, and 
develop into genuine caring.  I suspect that many people infatuated 
with Snape have that sort of relationship in mind.  And, plenty of 
people want a lover who plays at being dangerous, yet never actually 
hurts them.  Snape has been portrayed as perfect for this. 

Given all this, I was pretty dismayed when I heard that JKR had 
described Snape as a "deeply horrible person."  I guess I had better 
get over my crush before the remaining books come out, and we find out 
just how bad Snape is. 

Ok, now here's why I *don't* like Draco.  He has none of Snape's good 
qualities, or at least is not shown as having them.  Snape was already 
 noticably talented as a child ("knew more curses than half the 7th 
years"), while Draco is not (Lucius says Draco's grades had better 
pick up, or he'll only be able to be thief or plunderer.)  Draco is 
not shown as brave -- he will only confront Harry with Crabbe and 
Goyle at his side, he is terrified in the Forbidden Forest, he runs 
when Harry's cloak slips and reveals Harry's head. (As a teenager, 
Snape was brave, or at least reckless; he rushed into the Whomping 
Willow alone.)  Draco doesn't have accomplishments of his own -- his 
dad bought his way onto the Quidditch team.  Snape's insults are often 
clever, or at least creative, while Draco's are just cheap shots 
("Hey, Weasley, you're poor!") 

So, why do some fans prefer Draco to Snape?  I would guess it's age.  
Many fans are too young to think of Snape romantically.  Oh well, they 
can re-read the books when they're 30 and old enough to appreciate 
him. 

Let me just comment on two other theories that have been raised. (I 
don't have time to find the exact quotes, sorry.) 

1) Maybe people think that Snape can be redeemed by love.

Quite possibly.  I think many people have the idea that if they love  
someone who is very unhappy, lonely, and needy, that person will 
intensely return their love.  (Unfortunately, it often does't work out 
that way in real life.) 

2) Snape's appeal is that he's a vampire.

Not to me.  I never considered that Snape might be a vampire until I 
joined here. (I think he's more likely a bat animagus.  Maybe that's 
how he spied on MWPP and saw Lupin go into the Whomping Willow?) I 
really don't want Snape to be a vampire.  I want to fantasize about 
having a relationship, not about developing a really bad case of 
anemia. 

"judyserenity"