How should Harry deal with Snape?

[desastreuse]

No: HPFGUIDX 107687

Pippin writes:
> 
>  JKR has said that Harry's glasses are the key to his 
> vulnerability. What would happen if Harry lost his glasses at 
> some critical moment and had, not only to trust Snape, but to 
> avoid the behaviors that have confirmed Snape's poor opinion of 
> him?
> 

Cynthia responds:

Very interesting comments.  I was struck, particularly, by the 
reference to Harry's glasses near the end of your post.  The 
symbolism of corrected vision/flawed vision should not be overlooked 
when considering Harry's shortcomings and vulnerabilities. 
Harry's "sight" is significantly flawed, both figuratively and 
literally.  We see this in his decompensation at the end of OOP 
during which time he fixates his anger, grief, and frustration on an 
undeserving Snape.  His inability to see Snape clearly at this point 
compounded historically with his rather clouded vision at other times 
recalls the trope of blindness and obstructed vision in Golding's 
Lord of the Flies.  

Indeed, it would be an interesting development to have Harry 
dependent at some point upon Snape's vision.  During this plot point 
Harry not only must trust Snape for the first time but also develop a 
clarity in his own vision of Snape, and in so doing, simultaneously 
develop insight into his own flawed outlook.