"Look at me" and hidden identity [was: The picture of Lily and Harry]

[zeldaricdeau]

No: HPFGUIDX 175232

> > McJuels again:

> > I also believe that Snape chose the memories for Harry to view in
> > an effort to make some amends, though a bit late. When Snape 
> > asked Harry to "Look at me!" I choose to believe that Snape was 
> > finally forcing himself to look at Harry and see him for who 
> > Harry is and not who his mother and father were.

> houyhnhnm:
 
> The enmity between these two who should have been friends 
> is one of the tragedies of the series.  

zeldaricdeau:

Agreed absolutely 100%. I've been a "Snape loved Lily and tipped off 
DD" believer since after GoF. There were so many times in the series 
when it broke my heart to think that there is this potential tie in 
the pasts of these two terribly lonely people but both of them (and 
here I do reserve most of the blame for Snape) keep destroying 
chances to make anything of it. Perhaps Snape's role as a spy would 
have prevented any form of friendship even if he weren't a git half 
the time, but it's still a tragedy.

> houyhnhnm:

> I agree that Snape's request to "Look at me" may not have been in 
> order to see Lily's eyes but to see Harry in order that they might 
> say "thou" to each other one time before it was too late.

zeldaricdeau now:

On the topic of the "Look at me" line (which I get chills just 
typing!) I've generally been of the opinion that in life people often 
do or say things for more than one reason and that in fiction it's 
often more interesting to have people do or say things for more than 
one reason. Perhaps it's the actor in me, but I think that, 
specifically in writing, packing as much information and shades of 
meaning into a single sentence makes for better dialogue. 

I'm not JKR of course (I wish), and I have no idea what her views are 
on the matter, but isn't it possible that when Snape says "Look at 
me" we're meant to interpret it in several ways both on the level of 
what Snape is trying to say and on the level of what JKR is trying to 
say about Snape and Harry?

Personally, my first reaction was a relatively literal one. Snape is 
asking Harry to look at him. Snape is asking Harry to *see* him, the 
real him, the "heart on his sleeve" him for the first time in his 
life. Which, I think, goes along with his action just prior: the 
voluntary and literal bleeding of all those things he kept secret 
(including the memories he most hated for Harry to see) out from 
behind the mask and into Harry's hands.

Later I began to perceive the line as also meaning what some people 
have said here: it was a chance for Snape to see Lily's eyes again 
before he died, whether out of a desire for comfort, recognition, 
absolution, etc.. Which, I guess I personally don't really find 
creepy at all.

Then a couple days ago a read an essay where someone was arguing that 
the line meant essentially what is being argued in this thread or 
perhaps a variant on it: Snape wishes to *see* Harry for the first 
time and/or see the Lily inside Harry and not the James exterior 
(eyes being the window to the soul and all).

Each of these seems a perfectly valid and interesting interpretation 
of the line, but I think in this case limiting it to one or another 
is unnecessary and, potentially, takes some of the beauty out of it.

> houyhnhnm:

> I am with you on this.  There was no actual need for 
> Snape to include the early memories of himself and Lily 
> in order to carry out his promise to Dumbledore.  He 
> really only needed to show the memories of himself with 
> Dumbledore.  It was a gift, though Snape may not have 
> intended it as such.  It may rather have been his need to 
> justify himself to Harry, to make Harry understand him.

zeldaricdeau:

I agree here completely as well. The memories given were not random 
by any means; they clearly showed a logical progression and that 
progression showed far more than would be strictly necessary for 
Harry to learn what he needs to learn. So long as he knows that 
pensive memories are objective truth that can only be edited and not 
intrinsically altered then he really only needs to see the HBP era 
conversations with DD to learn the truth of things and get the info 
he needs (baring some form of faked situation with a polyjuiced Death 
Eater standing in for DD--not impossible but seems unlikely). In that 
light, I think the memories Snape gave lend credence to the "'look at 
me' as request for Harry to *see* Snape" interpretation.

> houyhnhnm:

> This need of Snape's to be seen and understood by Harry 
> strikes me as the other side of the coin from Harry's 
> wish to be friends with the Half Boold Prince.

[SNIP]

> That Snape's attitiude towards Harry is continuing 
> to evolve in DH is shown by the success of his plan to 
> deliver the Sword, though once again, as in HBP, he is 
> able to teach Harry only because his identity remains unknown.

zeldaricdeau:

I know I'm not the first DDM!Snape/LOLIPOPS supporter to feel 
vindicated by reading DH :-) but this one aspect made me quite happy, 
too. I remember arguing with a friend who was of the opinion that a 
DDM!Snape couldn't possibly be of any use to Harry post HBP, being so 
deep undercover, because Harry would never believe a word he says. 
Which I thought would be true if it hadn't been for the HBP's potions 
book storyline. I felt pretty sure that, knowing Harry trusted Snape 
implicitly so long as he didn't know it was Snape he was trusting, 
Snape would be able to find a way to contact him in DH. Of course, 
I'm sure the benevolence-radiating doe helped .... But it goes back 
to the theme of Snape and Harry never actually *seeing* the other 
person.

-ZR (Wow! Two posts in one day!)