A question of loyalty (Re: Snape's canon opposite)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 140330

> Alla:
> But I am going to try and clarify again . No, prior to HBP I did
> not think of Snape as evil of the same caliber as Voldemort of 
> course. I think HBP broadened my horizons significantly though.
> 
> You know, I think that maybe I am arguing semantics since I am 
> thinking of the concept of Evil in Russian and I tend to think of 
> mean person as a bit more of " annoying", something which could be 
> overcome quite easily.
> 
> So, I guess the best way to describe what I felt about Snape as a 
> teacher would be using "everyday evil" expression ( thank you,
> Nora). But I also felt that he was loyal to  the Light, so I
> thought of him as evil person with redemptive qualities, with at
> least some ability to do the right thing.

Jen: I get it now and it wasn't what you wrote Alla, just my own 
misunderstanding about the 'everyday evil' issue.

This also helps me understand where we differ. In analyzing the 
Snape question, I find it less a morality question of good & evil 
and more a question of loyalty. Who is Snape loyal to? I wonder and 
puzzle over that. The choices seem to be himself, Dumbledore, 
Voldemort or no one (I think we can safely say the MOM is out of the 
question, lol). Snape's choice of where his loyalty lies, as he 
demands of Quirrell in PS, is certainly more important to Dumbledore 
than the lesser questions of behavior, personality, etc. And to call 
on the debate about choices, resolving the question of who Snape is 
loyal to will resolve the question of what Snape has 'chosen to make 
of his life' to paraphrase Dumbledore in GOF.

One thing I love about Potterverse is the many magical ways to gain 
insight into a person's essence. JKR has hidden these from us 
carefully in regard to Snape. We don't get to see his greatest fear, 
or what he sees when looking into the Mirror of Erised. If he has an 
animagus form, we don't know what it is, and his patronus form is a 
mystery. We don't know anything about the wand that chose this 
particular wizard, or what it was good for. She is hiding Snape's 
essence from us in a way she does with no one else in Potterverse.

So, we continue to debate his behavior and personality, hoping for a 
clue about motives, I suppose. I don't find an answer for myself in 
these debates, even though engaging in them makes me think an 
epiphany could strike at any moment <g>. I feel pretty certain 
Snape's loyalty is crucially important to the ending of the story or 
we would have much less page time devoted to Snape's personality, 
teaching methods, and hygiene and much more on the really crucial 
question of who he serves. 

Last thought, the Unbreakable Vow. First read-through made me think 
this was a clear choice proving Snape wasn't loyal to 
Dumbledore. "If he's willing to kill Dumbledore, he's not loyal to 
him, end of story." Then questions arose as the plot progressed, 
several events muddied the water for me. One was why Dumbledore 
didn't act concerned when Harry brought up the UV to him after 
Christmas. We see him later turn white when Harry confronted him 
with Snape being the eavesdropper, so he IS capable of being 
surprised by information, but he wasn't surprised to hear about the 
UV. Second, the fight in the forest which Hagrid interpreted wrong, 
given the timeline of the story. Last was the scene of Snape running 
out of the grounds and the reaction he had when Harry said "kill me, 
like you killed him, you coward-" (chap. 28). I *really* think Snape 
was reacting to Harry's demand to 'kill me', even though his comment 
was about the coward part. All of these scenes made me wonder about 
the origin of the UV and how it may or may not have fit into 
Dumbledore's plan.

Jen, hoping to get her thoughts together for the Snape/Harry 
coincidence thread tomorrow :).