[HPforGrownups] Does Snape Favour the Slytherins/Snape's Motivations

[shane dunphy]

No: HPFGUIDX 47313




Wendy wrote:
>Actually, I'm not sure we can conclude that Snape does actually favour 
>Draco

Agreed.  I don't believe that any intelligent reading of the canon could 
conclude that he does.

Wendy again:
>Our first canon mention of Snape favouring the students comes from Ron 
>earlier in the same chapter I quoted earlier (PS Chapter 8: "They say he 
>always favours them"), and strikes me as being of the same flavour as 
>Percy's statement that Snape wants the DADA job - often, something that 
>"everyone" knows to be true is just the opposite, especially when talking 
>about the opinions of school-aged children!

I think that this is an excellent point, and worth expanding on a little.

  In schools, children are inclined to create very black and white 
characterisations of what their teachers are like: so-and-so is great fun, 
so-and-so is cross, so-and-so is evil etc.  In Hogwarts, we experience 
everything from Harry's POV, and therefore vicariously from Ron's, 
Hermione's, Neville's etc.  Therefore, we see Snape as they do.  However, 
we're able to reason things from an adult perspective, and can see that 
Snape is much more complex than that.  Snape has an in-built sense of 
honour, as we have seen throughout the canon (PS, in which he attempts to 
save Harry from death during the Quidditch match; again in PS when he makes 
a concerted effort to stop Quirrell from getting the stone; in GOF when we 
hear that he was in fact a spy for Dumbledore, and when he heads off to do 
the famous task).

  Snape's behaviour appears to be driven by some internal compass.  He seems 
to be driven by motivations that we cannot understand - yet!  There has been 
much speculation as to what these motivations are: everything from love of 
Lilly to being a vampire.  I believe neither to be true - they are, after 
all, just assumptions.  It seems to me that Snape has a lot of demons, and I 
believe that many of them are deeply personal, possibly familial in nature.  
We know nothing about his childhood or how he grew up, but it seems to me 
that his behaviour, his inability to make deep lasting friendhsips and his 
cruelty towards those over whom he has power (his students) is 
characteristic of an individual who has experienced an insecure attachment 
to a parent or significant adult, or who has suffered abuse or even neglect 
during the formative, developmental years.  It would be very much in 
character for Dumbledore to possibly have "rescued" Snape from just such a 
situation, and attempted to give him a new beginning at Hogwarts.  His 
initial attraction to the Dark Arts would have been a typical response to 
having spent early childhood feeling powerless, a defense mechanism if you 
like, and his subsequent career as a DE could also be put down to this.  
That he eventually cmae full circle and returned to Dumbledore, to serve him 
in the extremely dangerous role of double agent says a lot about his true 
nature, his conflicted personality, and his feelings of devotion to 
Dumbledore, his "surrogate father".  Of course, similar to the Love of Lilly 
and Vampire theories, this is also speculative, but I feel that it answers a 
lot of outstanding questions, and fits the facts as we have them quite 
nicely.

I'd love to hear other listie's thoughts.

Shane.

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