Snape's Role

[allthecoolnamesgone]

No: HPFGUIDX 176451

Ted:
> I have found the many discussions of Snape on this forum to be
> very interesting, and I'd like to add my two cents...
>
> There is no doubt that Professor Snape is an interesting and
> complex character.

Absolutely and there is so much really good stuff here and elsewhere
about him.

>> Still, Snape's love, however imperfect, is enough to start
> the cycle that leads to Voldemort's demise. It is his grief,
> a powerful and purer expression of love, that galvanizes Snape
> and gives him the courage to play his role. Snape's courage
> throughout the story is also an expression of his love for Lily.
> He is immensely brave, and this give a scope of the depth of his
> love for Lily. His bravery is the fulcrum that balances the good
> and evil in the story and allows the story to progress.

I came across an essay on exactly this subject a few weeks ago on
livejournal. The author has gone to some trouble over it and it was
published by 26/7/07 which was quick work. In summary he says that an
initial reaction to the end of book 7 could be

'Snape Did It All For Love. God how...trite'
but he then goes on to demolish that assertion and show how Snape
changed and developed throughout the series.

He finishes with

'The great thing about Snape is that he struggles. Harry's a good
person - there's never any doubt. Snape on the other hand is a
horrible person who fights and claws his way into goodness..... Snape
changes, fundamentally. Painfully. Snape healed crook and they had to
break him and reset him.....that's what I love about him.'

The full essay is at

http://rexluscus.livejournal.com/254445.html

Ted:
> I still can't see Snape heroically, but I can acknowledge his
> importance. It is readily apparent that he is capable of love
> which is an accomplishment, considering that he didn't have
> the happiest childhood. It is difficult to overlook his other
> behavior, but one should also be careful to judge too harshly
> one who is capable of love. After all, none of us has been able
> to express love perfectly.
>
>

Even some of his other behaviour is capable of other interpretations
if it is re-examined. I don't think Snape was aware of how bad a
childhood Harry had had and he could only see the face of the boy who
had bullied him at age 11 and remember all that that led to. He
should have been able to rise above that and be a professional
teacher but he couldn't, that too is part of his tragedy. Many
teachers I had when I was young were unpleasant. He was not a 'nice'
person but he did the job he had been given, to protect Harry from
harm and be a Spy for the Order. The Spy role 'locked' him into his
cover story as there were other DE's such as Lucius Malfoy still
watching how he behaved and to have 'turned' totally to the 'light'
would have destroyed any hope of a return to 'Active Service'
undercover at the end of GoF.

I read another essay on this, 'But Snape is Just nasty, right?' only
last night. It was written pre DH but it looks at Snapes behaviour
through the first six books. I found it a fascinating read as it
looks in some depth at how he behaved and considers what might have
caused that particular behaviour at that moment in the story. I felt
I could understand a lot more about why he acted the way he did when
I finished reading. Not always excuse it, but understand it a little
better. It is at the link below for those who wish to read the full
essay

http://cj_whitehound.madasafish.com/Fanfic/good_or_bad_Snape.htm

Snape didn't express love in anything approaching perfection but in
the words of Martin Luther he could be said to be 'simul iustus et
peccator' 'At once righteous and a sinner' .

allthecoolnamesgone.