The Continuing Tragedy of Severus Snape: Will Snape live or die and why?

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 164629


> Quick_Silver:
> While I generally lean towards Snape/Lily as an explanation of 
> Snape's remorse, etc. I would argue that the life debt is an 
inherent 
> part of Snape's greater regret/switching sides/spying/bringing 
down 
> Voldemort because it reveals his character. To me the fact that 
Snape 
> can acknowledge/understand what he owes James (i.e. the life debt) 
> speaks to some sense of underlying morality and concept of 
> honor/ethics. This is in contrast to Peter Pettigrew who 
apparently 
> disregards his life debt to Harry and is thus shown as having 
> apparently no underlying sense of morality. 

Magpie:
Oh, I agree it all comes together in Snape--it's the way he always 
is all the time. I didn't mean to imply that he saw the Life Debt as 
something to get around or get out of the way Peter does. I think 
the distinction I was making was just to realize that the way Snape 
feels about James now read to me as more of a hint about his greater 
personality rather than the main motive, if that makes sense. Like, 
rather than the Life Debt being something that might trap Snape 
later (the way it seems to be with Peter, who's somebody who 
wouldn't naturally care about owing someone) it's something that 
says something about Snape's personal code. Even long after James is 
dead it still bothers him and he wants to make it right.

Alla:

LOL. There are plenty of reasons because of which Harry can be gone
at the end of book 7 ( I do not want him to, but he certainly can
be), but orientation to the past is not one of them.

I cannot speak for LL, but here is what I mean when I am thinking
about character oriented to the past. Let's put aside Harry who, I
obviously like and look at Draco, whom I cannot stand. I do not
think that he is oriented to the past at all, he has an issue of his
allegiance to resolve and life to look forward if he does.

And I think all kids are.

Now before book 6 I thought Lupin is a goner, since all his friends
are gone, nothing to look forward, etc ( of course it is simplistic
for RL - person can still find something to look forward to, but for
book purposes it does symbolise to me the character is past
oriented).

When JKR gave him a girlfriend, that to me is one of the strongest
signs that Lupin may survive, because he has something oriented to
the future, if that makes sense, something he has to look forward to
after war is done.

Magpie:
I admit, that's the way I lean as well. Snape seems like a character 
whose directed in one particular way to make up something from the 
past, and while I can certainly imagine him doing something with his 
life if he lived (he's still intelligent and skilled and could be a 
valuable person to work for others) I feel like storywise death 
might be the way JKR feels he should go.

Lupin/Tonks had the same effect on me about Lupin--I expected his 
death way more before that happened. If there is a character that 
orients Snape towards the future it is Draco--though of course 
that's still older generation protecting and guiding the younger.

-m