Thoughts on Snape from a non Snape Fan (uh-oh)

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 175950

Adam (Prep0sterous) wrote;

> It's complicated, I guess. Why doesn't Snape work for me?...  

Montavilla47:

Adam, I just want to say that I found your answer really well
stated and very interesting.

I loved your story about that "guy" on the television shows 
that every girl falls in love with.  I know just that you're 
talking about, and any character that becomes cliche is
really frustrating to me, too.

So, although I don't see Snape as "that guy," I totally 
sympathize with you dislike on that basis.


Adam:
> You know what was much more powerful for me?  Dudley.  A caricature,
> really, and I liked his character arc more.  The glimpses we saw of
> him growing up.  Wow.  That's what I wanted, and didn't get, in Draco.

Montavilla47:
That's one of the way cool thing about these books to me.  There's 
such a wealth of characters, that we can take any of their stories
and enjoy them.  I liked Dudley, too.  Even before he was nice to
Harry.  

Why?  No good reason.  I just found him funny.


Adam:
> Look at Dumbledore – I've noticed he is getting a really hard rap on
> the board, and I think it's because he's never been someone most
> SnapeFans would be drawn to, and he's also turned away people who
> wanted him to be better than he was.  I don't know how I feel about
> him, but if Snape is a moral lesson that not all that seems gross is
> evil, then Dumbledore is the opposite – that not all that seems
> perfect is truly flawless.  In fact, why wouldn't Dumbledore appeal to
> SnapeFans?  Sure, he was bullied, and he isn't a copy of Snape
 but
> this brilliant man, with terrible memories of his childhood
 he made
> bad choices which may have hurt those he loved, he used to be
> arrogant, and he turned his life around, fought for good most of his
> life.  He was manipulative, secretive to a fault, lonely, arrogant,
> and he puts people in harm's way for what he sees as good reasons – of
> course, he also is willing to sacrifice himself for his cause as well.
>  But with all that, a complex character with a checkered past who
> fights for good while keeping secrets of his own
 can we really not
> see Snape in that?  What is it that SnapeFans like in Snape, but not
> in Dumbledore?  My personal theory: he's nice.  

Montavilla47:
This isn't intended as an argument, but simply my response to 
Dumbledore.  I loved Dumbledore, "nitwit, tweak, blubber," and
all.  I loved him because he was kind, and smart.  I thought he
was the sort of person who would make the hard choices, but 
also understand those who couldn't.

When we started to find out that he wasn't as spotless and 
noble as we'd assumed he was, I loved that, too.  It made 
perfect sense to me that he would have made a lot of 
mistakes in his life--and that was what had given him wisdom.

And you know what made me really wild about him?  That
he was willing to risk so much for Draco in HBP.  After 
OotP, we knew there was a reason for him to care about 
Harry.  We sort of knew it in PS/SS, because there was
this mysterious connection between Harry and Voldemort
and obviously that was going to be important.

But then, in OotP, with the prophecy, we knew that 
Dumbledore was taking all this time with Harry in 
order to destroy Voldemort. That all made sense.

But, when Dumbledore was willing to risk everything
to save Draco--unpleasant, unimportant, son-of-the-
guy-who-tried-to-get-him-fired Draco--then I 
thought Dumbledore was truly magnificent.

So, what bugs me?  Partly, it's that I always imagined
Dumbledore welcoming Snape back to the "right" side
with an extended hand--like the hand of God in the
Michaelangelo painting.  Now I know that it was with
wrath and a demand for payment.

But mostly, it's that line, "Sometimes I think we sort
too early..."  Which says to me that Dumbledore 
valued Snape to the extent that Snape emulated the
qualities of Gryffindor, rather than for his value as
a Slytherin.