Sin/Redemption & Snape / Christianity in HP

annemehr annemehr at yahoo.com
Mon May 2 13:51:51 UTC 2005


No: HPFGUIDX 128403

> > lealess said:
>  <snip>
> > I do have trouble seeing the whole redemption angle, with reference to
> > Snape.  It seems to me that redemption has to be granted, in a
> > Judeo-Christian tradition, by some sort of god.
<snip>

I think, in discussing a fictional character, it's the reader who
grants (or does not grant) redemption.  In the past, for example,
there have been fervent arguments about whether Barty Crouch Sr. had
redeemed himself in his struggle to get to Hogwarts to warn Dumbledore
about his son and LV.  Neither side budged, as I recall. ;)  But when
it comes to a character's final judgement, unless the author usurps
the position (Dante, C.S.Lewis), the reader is the god.

As far as what's beyond the veil in the Potterverse, what exactly is
the "Next Great Adventure," I personally doubt that JKR will get
specific.  It is probably enough for her that she's written the
existence of the afterlife at all.

As for the ghosts, I can't help wondering what happens if they go
through the veil.  In a tiny fanfic for a Leaky Cauldron contest, I
sent a triumphant Myrtle through it to the Other Side.

Annemehr









More information about the HPforGrownups archive