Harry and Snape's redemption

[Renee]

No: HPFGUIDX 150956

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Sherry Gomes" <sherriola at ...>
wrote:
Sherry:

> As Alla said in a previous message in this thread, I can perhaps see
Snape
> committing some act that unintentionally helps Harry and then dying.
 But I
> do not see him as either a hero or anti-hero, who will risk his life
in the
> end, sacrifice himself to save Harry and thereby bring Voldemort's
downfall.
> The outcome of the ring is one of the great disappointments in
literature
> for me, that the ring is destroyed in such an unheroic way, and that
Frodo
> was defeated by it in the end.  I love LOTR, for the wonderful
characters,,
> not just Frodo, who is only one of several heroes in the story, but
the end
> of the ring was always terrible to me.  I wanted to see Frodo,
against the
> power the ring was holding over him, finally take it and fling it
into the
> fire.  I feel cheated every time I read and usually skip that part
now.  To
> have Snape kill Voldemort and take away Harry's final glory and success
> would feel like cheating too.
> 

Renee:
Making Frodo unable to throw the Ring away and having Gollum destroy
it unintentionally is Tolkien's way to depict salvation by grace.
Ultimately, Frodo can't save himself, let alone the world; it takes an
`act of God' (or Provicence, if you want) to destroy evil. Perfectly
in keeping with Tolkien's Catholic faith.
If JKR is a Christian, we may well see something similar at the end of
the HP series - though I see Wormtail in the role of Gollum, not Snape.

Renee