Bats (was Clues to Snape's Loyalties)

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 170894

vmonte:

> > When a writer (correct me if I'm wrong) 
> > writes that a person is spider-like and bat-like, 
> > the images I should get are of someone that has 
> > similar characteristics.

zgirnius:

> So why should I conclude that Snape being batlike 
> means Snape is malicious? This could have another 
> meaning. For example, bats are nocturnal, and Snape 
> seems to be too. He is active at night, we can think 
> of tons of instances of this: PS/SS, the meeting with 
> Quirrell in the Forest, PoA, the Shack scenes, GoF, 
> the 'pajama party', HBP "Spinner's End", his argument 
> with Dumbledore in the forest, and probably more.

> Bats do have an unsavory reputation in Western 
> mythology, being associated with vampires, etc, but 
> this is in contrast to their true natures. (This is 
> not universal, in Chinese culture they are associated 
> with longevity and good fortune). The European bat/
> vampire link, ironically, is older than European 
> discovery of the three species of bloodsucking bats, 
> which only live in Central and South America. No 
> European species have this characteristic. If Snape 
> is DDM!, this would make bat imagery *perfect* for 
> him: he seems/is believed to be 'evil' but isn't, 
> just like the bats.

houyhnhnm:

Some very superficial research led me to a number of 
web sites that described  the symbolism of the bat in 
terms of change and transformation, death and rebirth, 
entering the dark on the way to the light, etc.  It 
struck me that this is similar to some interpretations 
I've read of the Tower card in Tarot.  I don't know 
anything about Tarot myself, but it seems to me that 
as Snape is tied to the scene on the Tower, he could 
also represent long established patterns and assumptions 
that Harry must finally break through in order to see truly.

I also found the following on a commercial site, so I 
don't know how valid it is, but it did make me think 
of Legilimency, and therefore of Snape:

"Bats as totems represent an ability to discern the 
hidden messages and implications of other people's 
words. Listen as much to what is not being said. Trust 
your instincts. The nose is the organ of discrimination, 
and with its sonar located in its nose, the bat reflects 
the ability to discriminate and discern the truth in 
other people's words."

Finally, I found this interesting tidbit at the 
University of Michigan Fantasy and Science Fiction 
Dictionary of Symbolism:

"It has qualities of both the bird and the mouse, 
rendering this animal a symbol of ANDROGYNE"

Now I don't know much about alchemy, either (at least 
not the mystical part), but I know the concept of the 
androgyne is important.  I don't really understand the 
role of the androgyne in alchemy.  In fact I get kind 
of bogged down, trying to read about esoteric mysticism 
in general, but there is abundant evidence that Rowling 
is into it, so I would conclude that the bat imagery 
surrounding Snape has something to do with the impotance 
of his role in the Great Work.

I hope it doesn't mean that Snape is going to turn out 
to be a literal hermaphrodite.  That would be extremely 
yucky (but it would explain Rowling's insistance that 
the idea of Snape in love is a horrible one).

houyhnhnm, sorry about the rambling and half-baked ideas.