This is not the Snape we wanted. Can we still love him?

[inkling108]

No: HPFGUIDX 134395

I don't want to argue here about pros and cons of the various 
theories put forth about why Snape killed Dumbledore.  That's 
already being done very articulately all over the list.  This post 
takes for granted that Snape's betrayal of Dumbledore was real, that 
when JKR calls him "culpable," she is referring to that betrayal 
(see part three of the interview on mugglenet).

So, if you don't agree, fine, but let's not argue that one just 
now.  If you do agree, or you are undecided, you are asking 
yourself, as we all are, what does this mean for the conclusion of 
the series?

The first thing we need to accept is that the Snape we thought we 
knew doesn't exist.  The sour and even mean but noble at heart 
Potions master with the venomous wit -- we all loved this guy.  But 
it turns out he was a creation of collective imagination, seduced of 
course by JKR and all the reassurances she put in Dumbledore's mouth.

The real Snape is not that person.  He is somebody else.  Who, 
exactly, we don't know; we just know he is capable of great evil, 
and with less excuse for it than Voldemort.

Many people think that this must make him boring, compared to the 
Snape of our imagination.  But just because someone is capable of 
great evil doesn't mean they are completely evil for all time, that 
they are beyond redemption.  It just means they stand in great need 
of it.

(this is my problem with the ESE designation -- nobody is truly ESE, 
even those who have done the foulest deeds)

JKR has spoken of a redemptive pattern in connection with Snape.  
And I think (#132930) it fits the psychological and spiritual logic 
she has set up for Snape to be redeemed.

For Snape to attain redemption from where he stands at the end of 
HBP would be for him to make a huge journey.  Someone who could make 
such a journey would actually be a very interesting person.

I guess what all this is trying to say is that it is too early to 
give up on Snape, or to conclude that this is going to turn out to 
be a black and white, good vs. evil story.  But we do need to let go 
of the Snape we thought we knew.

Inkling