Snape's Purpose And Why It Might Be Safe To Trust Him - (was Snape's Purpose)

[AyanEva]

No: HPFGUIDX 128165


> Potioncat wrote:
> Well, to a certain extent, Snape is the best there is. Here's a 
> man who is loyal to DD who was once part of LV's organization. He 
> appears to be a powerful wizard himself (open to debate, I know). 
> He has some rare gifts and inside knowledge. He seems determined 
> to protect Harry. He's one heck of a jerk, and a terrible teacher.
> He appears to have taken on this role out of obligation/duty 
> rather than because he wants it. Snape seems to be willing to go 
> against his natural inclinations for the good of the Order. (At 
> least he tried, I think.) (Appears to, seems to...very nurse-like 
> charting here.)


Oh! You know I can't resist a Snape discussion where I can ramble 
on philosophically.

I was half asleep (or maybe completely asleep) last night and I had 
a sudden epiphany about Snape. Or maybe it classifies more as one 
of my characteristically ambiguous and obtuse ramblings. By the 
way, that's obtuse as in the secondary definition of the word 
meaning, "difficult to comprehend: not clear or precise in thought 
or expression." My picture's right beside that definition.

Anyway, my epiphany was this: Snape, whether Rowling intended it or
not, reminds me of a Van Gogh painting. Particularly, Van Gogh's
"Wheat Field With Crows." You can see a reproduction here, sorry 
it's smaller than I'd like:
http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/artists/vincent_van_gogh/index_van_gogh.html

I'm not sure how to explain this comparison, although I had it all
worked out in my sleep. But I'll give it a go. We'll do the painting
first. Keep in mind that art history is really subjective, so this, 
as always, is just how I read the painting. We put a little of 
ourselves into each work of art that we look at anyway.

The painting just looks like a pretty view of a field at first 
glance, but take it apart first and then put it all together again, and it's overwhelming. The painting is really a journey, not just a landscape. Here's how: You're being sucked into, and smothered by, 
an endless field, swamped by a flock of crows, and the night sky is 
so oppressive, you think you're going to be crushed by it. BUT if 
you look hard enough, there's an opening and a point of light all 
the way at the end. It's the focal point of the painting. Actually, it's the whole point of the painting. Not the field, or the road, 
not the sky, or the crows. It's the end goal, that little opening of light, which signifies the end of the journey.

That's how I see Snape. I'm not paying particular attention to all 
of the unpleasant bits, which at first glance, make him seem absolutely hopeless. Those parts are like the elements of the painting that make it seem as though you're going to be crushed by 
it all. It seems as hopeless an endeavor to try to pass through to the end of the wild vortex, as it is to think of Snape beyond his visible and immediate actions/characteristics. 

But once you wade through all of the unpleasantries, you reach the endpoint, that tiny little bit of light, which seemed so impossible to reach when you started off. You realize that he is an honorable man where it counts the most, in an odd sort of way. At the end of 
it all, he has worth because all of those things that you said of Snape are true, Potioncat. Just like when you wade through the wheat field and everything else and once you've made it that far, you realize what was most important was the end. Not negating the 
journey itself, but you can't let yourself be distracted by trials; concentrate on the endpoint. Don't get distracted by Snape's idiosyncrasies; concentrate on what's really past all of that. 

The importance of the journey is, like always, if it wasn't so hard,
would you appreciate reaching your goal as much? 


AyanEva (untying her brain from the knots she just put it in)