The resolution of Snape (was Re: Harry mastering his emotions in

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 118350


Naama wrote:
> > For me, it's almost a given that Snape will die. This has been 
> quoted many times:
> > 
> > Q: There's an important kind of redemptive pattern to Snape
> > A: 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. (found in www.quick-quote-quill.org, from a 1999 
> interview).
> > 
> > Not that she's explicitly saying, "he's going to sacrifice himself 
> to save Harry's life"... for me, though, it's as good as. 
> > 
> 
> Hannah: That's an interesting interrpretation. I really, really hope 
> you're right, because I'd rather have dead!good!Snape than living!
> evil!Snape.  As a Snape fan, I felt sick when I first read this 
> quote. I'd been fervently hoping up till then that Snape would turn 
> out to be a good guy in the end, and maybe even end up getting on ok 
> with Harry.  I'd undergone mental contortions to excuse his 
> behaviour up till now.
> 
> But this, and a couple of other quotes, have left me thinking that, 
> much as I would like to see redeemed Snape, it's not going to 
> happen.  I think JKR is trying to tell us that Snape isn't going to 
> be reformed, isn't going to turn out good.  I've never seen it as 
> meaning he'll sacrifice himself for Harry, I've always thought of it 
> as meaning he'll turn out bad in the end.  To me, Snape giving his 
> life for Harry's would be completion of the very 'redemptive 
> pattern' that JKR seems to be debunking when she says this.  But you 
> give me new hope! <snip>


Carol responds:
Funny. I didn't think JKR was "debunking" the redemption theory. I
thought she was confirming it, and I took comfort from that quote. To
me it indicates that the fan was right, that there *is* a redemptive
pattern to Snape, and that JKR was "stunned" that the fan figured it
out, after all her efforts to make the readers doubt Snape's loyalty
to the Order and his motives regarding Harry.

First, the quote clearly indicates that Snape will survive HBP, and
second it indicates that she has something big planned for him for
Book 7, a scene that will determine once and for all which side he's
on. I see it as suggesting that Snape will finally succeed in saving
Harry, a feat he's been attempting since Book I only to be thwarted
every time. I don't think that he will necessarily die in the attempt;
he'll simply (IMO) make it possible for Harry to fight (and win) his
final battle with Voldemort. I trust JKR to pull it off credibly
without having Snape slip out of character. At least that's what I'm
hoping for. Granted, a good dead Snape is better than an evil Snape
(dead or alive), but a good live Snape is best of all, at least to me.

One thing I don't doubt: The questions that Harry asks near the end of
GoF regarding Snape (Where did he go the night Voldemort returned? Why
does Dumbledore trust him? etc.) will eventually be answered. And
Ron's question about Snape's "first chance" will, I hope, be answered
as well.)

Another small point for those who believe, as I do, that Snape is the
one that Voldemort believes has left him forever: Voldemort states,
with unjustified confidence in his prediction, "He will be killed, of
course." But he also believes that he's about to kill Harry. Voldemort
is not a seer, and his plans gang oft aglay. I don't think we need to
believe that Snape will die. In fact, Voldemort's prediction actually
reduces the chances for his death, IMHO.

Somewhere, at a convention for which the Internet record is long lost,
JKR indicated that yes, Snape was the one who had left LV forever, and
when the Snapefans present expressed their dismay, she countered with
something like, "You don't need to worry about Snape. He can take care
of himself." And so he can, or at least he has done it so far.

Carol, who has no doubt that Dumbledore has excellent reasons for his
confidence in Snape and hopes that Snape will survive Book 7 with his
courage, his loyalty, and his sarcasm intact