HBP Chapters 27 - 30 post DH look LONG SORRY

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 184483

 
> Pippin:
> Dumbledore never ordered Snape to kill him. "I ask this one great
> favor of you."  I don't see any bullying happening -- Snape is not
> threatened, only asked to consider whether it would harm his soul to
> spare an old man pain and humiliation. They both take some time to
> think about it and Snape doesn't answer immediately. He could have
> said no. It's not like he always does everything that Dumbledore 
asks
> of him.


Potioncat:
At the end of HBP I thought that DD's death was a literary version of 
JKR's mother's death. I don't know if JKR would agree. After DH I 
think it even more so. Again, I don't know if JKR would agree.

DD was losing the use of his arm all year. Then after the cave, he 
was rapidly losing the use of his body. Sounds a lot like MS to me. 
DD had anticipated the loss of dignity and a terrible death. He made 
a "end of life" decision. I'm not suggesting anything of this sort 
happened with JKR's mother but the type of deterioration is similar.

In DD's case, there is both a tactical reason and an end of life 
reason for asking Snape to kill him. Right now patients and (or) 
their families are making decisions. "Do I approve of life-prolonging 
treatments that don't improve the quality of life?" "If I don't allow 
this treatment, it means death."

To clarify, I think DD's condition resembles JKR's mother's MS. His 
decision and Snape's action may reflect some of JKR's own thoughts 
amd ideas about 'end of life' decisions. All of this wrapped into a 
plot about evil, death-fearing overlords.