[HPforGrownups] Why Snape is so interesting

[Peggy Wilkins]

No: HPFGUIDX 153798

On 6/13/06, Randy <estesrandy at yahoo.com> wrote:

Randy:
> I think the reason Snape is so interesting to the readers is due to
> his hidden motives.  We see the good side and the bad side.  He is
> described in images of bats, spiders, and dragons as someone else
> posted earlier.  I find it interesting that he is described by these
> images, and he is the focus of so many debates about his evil or
> goodness.
>
> Bats, spiders and dragons are sometimes represented as evil in
> mythology.  Other times these creatures are represented as givers of
> life, knowledge, and protection.  The study of these symbols in
> mythology leaves you in a quandary about the hidden meaning as it
> applies to Snape.

Peggy W:
Since you've pointed this out, I think it's interesting to also
consider Snape's self-given nickname: "The Half-Blood Prince".  Is
there any implication of good vs. bad in that?  If he's a Prince, he
is a hereditary heir to a ruler of some sort.  A Lord perhaps?  The
Dark Lord is also Half-Blood, also has a witch mother and a muggle
father.  Perhaps this moniker is suggestive that Snape could be the
Dark Lord's heir.

Perhaps it's no accident that Snape's mother is named Prince.

-- 
Peggy Wilkins
  who has an interesting moniker, too: an anagram of my name, "Wise
King Gylp" -- Wise is my mother's family name; King: I am a Leo; Gylp:
Old English for boastful speech...