Harry's story , NOT Snape's (was Re: "An old man's mistakes")

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 139064

Merry Kinsella:
 

> Anyhow, the "love story" that mosts interests me where
> Snape is concerned is what I perceive to be his
> platonic love with Dumbledore.  Possibly the only
> healthy experience of love in his life, and a mere
> first step toward any other kind.  Sort of a parental
> need fulfilled, late in life.

I'm glad to see someone else say this.  I think it helps explain why
Snape came back to the good side and why he is loyal to Dumbledore. 
(Not the only reason necessarily.)  

Snape is also Searching for a Father. The only person who remotely
resembles a peer-friend in Snape's life is Lucius Malfoy, who is
several years older.  Valdemort was also a potential father figure but
proved unworthy in some way.
  
It also helps to explain why Snape can't separate Harry from James,
when his keen mind should have discerned long ago that they are very
different.  In one respect they are the same.  Dumbledore loves them
more. Snape is as jealous of Dumbledore's affection for Harry as he
was jealous of Dumbledore's preference for James.

I'm no expert, but doesn't Freudian theory say that every son has to
"kill" the father.  Oedipus!Snape  (and like the original, a puppet in
the hands of fate.)