[HPforGrownups] Snape's turn to DEs (Re: The Prince interpreted)

[AnitaKH]

No: HPFGUIDX 173238




                                  Carol wrote, (in brief):
 His despair caused him to join his "friends" because he felt he  had not other choice  [followed by positing that Lily had already written him off as having joined his DE friends].
 Jen countered with:
 > But my main objection to the above interpretation is the idea that 
 > Lily holds even an iota of responsibility for Snape's choice to 
 > join the DEs.  [snippnig and pruning]
 
 > In fact, my understanding was Lily was the only thing tethering 
 > Snape to a different path, and her awareness of that fact was one 
 > reason she made a point of talking to him about his friends and 
 > defending him to others.  
 
 SSSusan agreed with Jen:
IMO, these scenes from Snape's memories were included by JKR to 
 provide **just that evidence** that Snape HAD been drifting towards 
 his 'little Death Eater friends.' [chopping and cutting]
 
 Rather, it appears to me that what Jen has stated is the case -- Lily 
 appears to be all that's tethering Snape to a different path.  It 
 appears to me that Snape simply didn't have the courage (or 
 interest?) to choose that different path!  Even with how much 
 he 'loved' her.


 akh finally gets to her point:
Weighing on the side of Jen and SSSusan, I read the scenes much as they did, that Snape was going to have to choose between his DE friends and Lily.  Again, that "choices" theme is central to the trajectory of Snape's life.  I also think this is a test of courage that was foreshadowed in PS/SS when Neville attempts to stop HRH from leaving to find the Stone.  Dumbledore awards Neville for having the greater courage of standing up to his friends.  We see the consequences of the failure of such courage in Snape, which might also explain why he's so sensitive to being called a coward, especially when it comes to actions associated with Lily.  He WAS once too cowardly to stand up to his Slytherin friends, and he paid for it the rest of his life.
akh, who's awed to be contributing, however briefly, to a discussion among three of her favorite posters!







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