Snape, the "Deeply Horrible Person"

[mnaper2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 94420

Jen Reese:
> I'm re-reading JKR interviews and ran across this one at Quick 
> Quotes:
> 
> Q: Who's your favorite character besides Harry Potter?
> 
> A: It's very hard to choose. It's fun to write about Snape because 
> he's a deeply horrible person. Hagrid is someone I'd love to meet. 
> 
> http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/quickquotes/articles/1999/0999-
> familyeducation-abel.htm
> 
> I'm not a huge Snape fan and this quote has probably been analyzed 
> to death. But the comment caught my eye and I wanted to hear other 
> opinions.
> 
> This seems like a *very* strong negative characterization to me. It 
> also doesn't seem particulary consistent with the canon we have so 
> far. Snape is presented as complex, bitter, angry, etc. But I've 
> never seen his behavior as "deeply horrible" in the way of, say, 
> LV's behavior.


Ally:

In that same interview, doesn't she say that Snape is deeply horrible 
BUT that there is more to him than meets the eye and that we should 
keep an eye on him?  Because she has said all those things about 
Snape in one early interview.  Then, in a later interview after OOTP, 
she says "you shouldn't think him too nice" and, again, "he's worth 
keeping an eye on."

I think she's being fairly cagey about Snape, b/c the "you should 
keep an eye on him" could be construed fairly positively in the 
context of "there's more to him than meets the eye" and less 
positively in the "you shouldn't think him too nice" context.  So, I 
don't put a ton of stock in her quotes on his character, except to 
conclude that Snape will play a big part in the next two books.  

I believe she does think Snape is horrible because he abuses his 
position of power over his students, doesn't seem to have any 
positive emotional attachments and is generally mean-spirited.  Will 
he be redeemed?  If you mean, will he change his personality and 
become a kinder, gentler Snape?  I think not.  If you mean, will he 
turn out to have been working for DD all along, I think yes.

To me, Snape turning out to be a good person but not a very nice 
person is most in keeping with the kind of emotional complexity JKR 
likes to show in her characters.  I think he can remain a "deeply 
horrible person" and still help the Order win the war.
   
Ally