Power vs. Trust (was:The Possibilities of Grey Snape...)

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 143008


> Betsy Hp:
> But not to Snape.  In fact, I'd say Snape and Harry are also pretty 
> equal when it comes to wrong conclusions reached.  The rest of your 
> post is about Harry *finally* being right to distrust Snape.  So 
> does that mean you agree that the story structure leans more 
towards 
> the Snape/Harry relationship being about trust rather than power?
> 
>



Oh my, Betsy! :)  May we take it that you are admitting that Snape 
has been absolutely in the wrong where Harry is concerned and that 
you admit he must confess so, however humiliating that will be for 
him, and be punished for his abuse in order for his character arc to 
be complete?  Congratulations on achieving enlightenment! <big grin>

Actually, the theme of wrong conclusions seems to be a favorite with 
JKR.  Harry has been wrong on multiple occasions, as have every other 
character.  I do think it is time for Snape's wrong conclusions to be 
explained and take front and center, although I suspect we have more 
of the other characters' to be explicated.

Now, one thing I simply do not understand about the DDM position is 
the bedrock claim that people just cannot stand the idea of 
Dumbledore being wrong.  Why is that so very hard to swallow?  Why is 
it so much easier to think that Harry, who is after all the hero, is 
wrong and a fool (to put it at its strongest) than that Dumbledore, 
who after all is only a secondary character, is wrong and a fool?  
Harry is far from perfect (thence his charm) but Dumbledore is also 
far from perfect.  

It is true that Harry being wrong fits certain traditional patterns.  
However, Dumbledore being wrong fits traditional patterns as well.  
Many childrens' books feature foolish and incompetent adults (sound 
familiar?) who cannot or willfully refuse to see facts that are 
perfectly obvious to the children.  Harry being wrong fits one set of 
traditional patterns, whereas DD being wrong fits another.

Actually, as I've said, I find all this one very persuasive reason 
why Grey!Snape is a believable and likely outcome (regardless of 
how "good" an outcome it would be).  Of all the !Snapes, it is the 
one that allows JKR the most leeway to include expectations from a 
variety of different models (reversal, growth in multiple characters, 
several different morals of the story, karmic punishment, comeuppance 
and poetic justice, redemption) in one package.  It also has 
the "political" advantage of spreading the pleasure and disgust 
widely across the spectrum of fandom (that way JKR can be sniped at 
from all sides rather than just one). :))


Lupinlore