Could Harry have saved Snape? (was Reacting to DH...)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 178040

> >  >>Pippin:
> > What's missing is the soul-searching the heroes went  
> > through to reach that conclusion.
> > <snip>
> > Harry,  of the "saving people thing" didn't even think of saving      
> > Snape. That's not repulsive, IMO,  it's tragic.
> >  <snip>
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> What keeps DH stuck in the mud of  repulsiveness rather than rising to 
> the level of tragedy (IMO) is that  very lack of soul-searching you 
> mentioned.  Harry *never* comes to  the conclusion that he should have 
> done something to help Snape.  I  don't recall any text where Harry 
> thinks he did  wrong. 

> Julie:. 
But when I read the book I   never had the impression that Snape 
*was* saveable (if that's a word!).

Pippin:
Oh, I agree there wasn't much hope for Snape once Nagini had
struck him. The trouble is, Harry knew that Voldemort was about
to kill, he could sense it. He even wonders if Snape can feel it too.
 
Several times he has a clear view of Voldemort. Though he couldn't 
have killed Voldie, he could have used expelliarmus or thrown a 
shield charm between Voldemort and Snape as he does later 
between Voldemort and Neville. 

I agree there isn't any text that shows Harry thinking he did 
wrong, or rather, did what was easy rather than what was right. 
All we have is "he did not know what he felt as he saw Snape's
white face, and the fingers trying to staunch the bloody wound
at his neck."

But this goes to solving the problem of Harry's change of heart 
towards Snape on our own, not by having it explained to us.
This might be considered a weakness in a novel, but it is the
strength of fairy stories -- they allow the unconscious to
suggest its own meanings for what has happened.

The explanation may change as the reader grows in understanding
of the story and of himself. That this is intentional is shown, IMO,
by the way  Harry's understanding of the Tale of the Three 
Brothers grows and changes through the story. 

"Adult intepretations, correct as they may be, rob the 
child of the opportunity to feel that he, on his own, through
repeated hearing and ruminating about the story, has 
coped successfully with a difficult situation. We grow, we
find meaning in life and security in ourselves by having
understood and solved personal problems on our own,
not by having them explained to us by others."--
Bruno Bettelheim, *The Uses of Enchantment -the meaning
and importance of fairy tales.*

Pippin