Twist JKR? (was:Re: Dumbledore's pleading...)

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 141722

 
Jen wrote:

Personally, I like this reading from houyhnhnm:
> What I've been  coming around to is a view of Snape in which he is
> both OFH and DDM.  That is to say, there is an underlying loyalty to
> Dumbledore which has  been in conflict with his alienation and
> anti-social personality  throughout the six books, but at the end of
> HBP, he makes his choice.  And it is for Dumbledore.





Julie:
I like this interpretation too. We continue to debate whether Snape is 
ESE, OFH, or DDM, but it's not a simple choice between these very
specifically defined models. There is a continuous spectrum of  models
that could define Snape, from DDM who faked every mean or hateful 
remark/action and has nothing but Harry's best interests at heart,  all
the way to ESE who has always been on Voldemort's side and fooled
Dumbledore for 16+ years while eagerly awaiting the moment he can
watch Harry Potter die horribly at Voldemort's hand (or his own)--and
every combination of DDM/OFH/ESE inbetween. 
 
My definition of DDM is similar to houyhnhnm's, that Snape made a
choice to remain loyal to Dumbledore, whether he stayed with that
choice from the moment he came to Dumbledore about the prophecy,
or he made it definitively at a later point, perhaps on the Tower as
houyhnhnm suggests. 
 
DDM does *not* define how "good" Snape is as a person, only that
he is loyal to Dumbledore's goals. My opinion is that Snape made
some sort of promise to do whatever Dumbledore asked, whether
he liked it or not (similar to Harry's promise in the cave). That  didn't
stop Snape from disagreeing with Dumbledore, as he has  frequently
throughout the books. It doesn't stop him from thinking Dumbledore's
abiding trust in Harry's ability to save the WW is optimistic at  best,
and perhaps delusional at worst. And it doesn't stop him losing  his
temper, nursing his bitterness, or taking petty actions to assauge
his own sense of insecurity (verbally abusing students, etc). I.e.,
he still indulges in his OFH side by acting on his own desires and
in his own best interest when such actions don't directly conflict
with Dumbledore's orders (in POA for one example). 
 
Bottom line, Snape can be loyal to Dumbledore, whether it's personal
loyalty, or driven by vengeance (if Voldy did something to his  family)
or by principle (being unwilling to take his own prejudicial views to  the
level of Voldy's murderous insanity), *and* at the same time he can 
still indulge in all the nastiness that defines his generally  unpleasant
personality. The two aren't mutually exclusive at all, IMO.
 
Julie 


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