Harry's Characterization (was: Satisfaction of the story to date )

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 163459

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" 
<dumbledore11214 at ...> wrote:
>

> 
> Alla:
> 
> MAHAHAHAHA. Who me? Lonely believer in the fact that Snape may not 
> be teaching Harry, but taunting him at the end of HBP?
> Lonely believer that Snape would be up for a big surprise at the 
end 
> when he will get to experience the power that forgiving heart can 
> weave?
> 
>

Not all THAT lonely.  I guess it all does end up with what you mean 
by the power of forgiveness.  

The problem with many scenarios put forward about this is that they 
turn on the idea that Snape really hasn't done anything to be 
forgiven *for.*  That is, that he is DDM!, that his relationship to 
Harry and Neville hasn't been abusive, and that he has already repaid 
any debts from school/DE days by his work as Dumbledore's agent.  
Thus everything comes down to Harry seeing he has been wretchedly 
wrong about Snape, he should let go of his petty enmity, etc.

Okay, but that is a story about truth, not about forgiveness, and not 
about Christian forgiveness in a clear form.  Recognizing that one 
has been wrong and correcting one's views is something any 
intelligent pagan Roman, Greek, or Egyptian of the ancient world 
could readily understand and agree with.  In that sense, such a 
storyline could as well be about Aristotelian Ethics or Stoicism as 
Christianity or Judaism.

In order for forgiveness to be meaningful, the one forgiven has to 
genuinely in the wrong -- the more clearly in the wrong, the greater 
the power of the forgiveness.  To drag in the example of Star Wars, 
Luke's love and forgiveness were powerful for Darth Vader because 
Vader was genuinely evil.  In LOTR, the power of forgiveness and 
mercy is clearly evident with regard to Gollum because even Gandalf 
agrees that Gollum deserves to die.

How this will all play out with regard to Snape -- who knows?  
Perhaps it will have something to do with Harry's eyes -- that in 
being looked at with the clear and forgiving (and green) eyes of 
Lily, Snape will experience a revelation.


Lupinlore, who really doesn't care whether Snape is DDM or not, as he 
has enough to answer for even without such issues