Snape and Redemption (was: JKR's best interview)

[Emily Rose]

No: HPFGUIDX 75616

"John, C" <c.john at imperial.ac.uk> 
(quoting from interview)

> 2. About Snape

> 
> Q. There's an important kind of redemptive pattern to Snape
> JKR. He, um, there's so much I wish I could say to you, and I can't because
> it would ruin. I promise you, whoever asked that question, can I just say to
> you that I'm slightly stunned that you've said that and you'll find out why
> I'm so stunned if you read Book 7. That's all I'm going to say.

This is my first post.  I've only been on the list 2 days and there's
already over 10 digests in my mailbox!  I skimmed through them and didn't
see anything a long these lines so hopefully I'm not restating what has
already been said.

The above quote from the JK Rowling interview echoes something I've been
thinking about lately.

Until book 5 I was never very fond of Snape as a character.  He seemed to be
there as yet another way to make Harry's life miserable.  But after reading
the end of Book 5 I suddenly realized that Snape and Harry are in the same
boat when it comes to Voldemort and that makes some of Snape's actions in
the earlier books much more interesting.

We know that Snape was a Death Eater and he betrayed Voldemort to become a
spy for the Order of the Phoenix.  We also know from Book 4 that Voldemort
knows that Snape isn't coming back and he's pissed off about it.  It makes
me think that Snape's name is probably second on Voldemort's "People to Kill
when I come into Power List" right under Harry's.

And since Snape is now a member of the Order again, he is once again putting
his life on the line to protect Harry and fight the man he betrayed.
(Rowling still hasn't said why Snape switched sides though.  Hmmm...)

But, we also now know that James tormented Snape in school and so his
feelings of animosity towards Harry based on the treatment by Harry's father
are fairly justified.  So, could you imagine what was going through Snape's
mind during say Book 1 when he was trying to save Harry from Quirrell's
broom jinx?  It could have been Dumbledore or McGonagall who tried to save
Harry, but instead it was Snape.  He probably wanted nothing more than to
watch the offspring of the school bully hit the ground from 50 feet in the
air, but instead he protected him.  I know it was a plot point to make it
appear as though Snape was the bad guy, but given what we know about Snape
now, it gives the act new meaning.

Even so Snape isn't a good guy in bad guy's clothing.  He still pits Harry
against Malfoy at Lockhart's dueling session well knowing that they were
going to try and rip each other apart.  I'm sure he enjoyed watching it too.
Plus, he wasn't exactly willing to listen to reason in the shrieking shack
at the end of book 3.

So Snape has now become one of my favorite characters.  The duality he shows
in regards to Harry and Voldemort (like how he still calls him the "Dark
Lord") is just fascinating.  I have a feeling that in the next two books
we're going to see some really interesting things from Snape and I'm very
much looking forward to it.

(But I'm not even going to speculate what those things may be.  Rowling's
got way too much stuff up her sleeve for me to even bother anymore.  I'm
just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.)

By the way - this is a great list.  I love the ideas of adults reading and
talking about Harry Potter books.  Rowling's world is way too rich for it to
be just another kid's franchise from Warner Bros.

-e