Greatest creation

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 173037



"justcarol67" <justcarol67 at ...> 
wrote:
>> Carol, wondering how JKR could fail to realize that Snape is her
> greatest creation


Jen wrote:
Ah you sparked me, Carol. I was totally taken aback by JKR's less-
glowing assessment of Snape whom so many idolize and love. And from 
your post, you too seemed to have gathered that she is much more 
situationally positioned in her ethics than previously realized. Snape 
was only a hero because of his great love of Lily. Had Harry been the 
son of another witch, he wouldn't have protected him. Ah. I feel 
somewhat disoriented now. Love as a bond is so subjective. It's almost 
as if she feels that the subjective quality of love can be the antidote 
for things such as "the greater good." 
Jen D. hoping at some point that Book 7 clears up more than it 
obscures...

>


Julie:
Is anyone really surprised that Snape wouldn't have protected Harry if he 
hadn't been Lily's son, given that Snape initially agreed to help Dumbledore
protect Harry *only* because he loved Lily and was eaten away with guilt
at her death??JKR's answer is?pertinent to that time period, IMO, and not to 
who Snape eventually became. Eventually he protected *all* the students
at Hogwarts, to the best of his ability anyway. But I totally see that he 
never would have come to Dumbledore?initially?for the sake of protecting
some?random child from Voldemort. 

I also agree that Snape isn't a hero in general sense of the word, though
he was very courageous. I loved Jen's idea that Harry is acknowledging 
that courage. But I also believe if Harry hadn't also seen that Snape *did*
evolve from that 21 year old young man who had NO concern for anything
outside his own needs to a man who while not truly heroic did incorporate
some of Dumbledore's values (evident in his agreeing to "kill" Dumbledore to
save Draco's soul, in his saving of Lupin-a man he hated, in his horror at
Harry being raised as a sacrificial pig--even if he didn't personally care 
much about Harry as a person, among other things), then Harry would never
have honored Snape merely for being "brave." Harry instead recognized that
Snape started out like Harry and Tom,?all "orphans"?in unhappy circumstances,
and while Snape?initially followed?Tom's path, he turned away from it because
of his love for Lily--Harry's mother, and devoted his life to the side of Good,
even if he only became a marginally better man along the way.

Snape is no hero, maybe he's an antihero at best. He's damaged goods, stuck
in the past and unable to move beyond it, but he?is a?different person, if not
a "good" person, still clearly more principled than he was when he first came 
to Dumbledore. 

Julie 





________________________________________________________________________
AOL now offers free email to everyone.  Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]