Snape's Psychology: WAS: More thoughts on the Elder Wand subplot - Owner?

[julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 187451


> > 
> Beatrice:  I, too, see the death of Snape as justice, although in a different way.  First, the way he dies is horrible and I wouldn't wish that on anyone, even Petunia...lol.  I see Snape's death differently.  Snape is unable to move on with his life.  He is consumed from a small child until his death with Lily.  He torments the children and read this as plural, when does he really show kindness to anyone?  Maybe Dumbledore, maybe Malfoy, but how much of his care of Malfoy is simply part of his orders? Just like Petunia, Snape protects Harry, although I use the word protect loosely here, because of a memory of Lily.
> 
> Snape's death, for me, isn't really about punishment; it is about reward.  Snape hasn't been able to "move on" in this life.  I see his life as a blessing, hopefully he will see Lily again and be able to "go on" as Dumbledore puts it.  Snape's dying is terrible, but having Snape live would be more cruel.  I hope that Snape will be able to "go on."


Julie:
I have difficulty seeing death as a reward. And as I mentioned
in my last post, I think if Snape had lived he might well have
been able to move on with his life. Snape's lived his adult 
life in service, playing a role first for Voldemort, then for
Dumbledore, never being his own man. Yes, his life was cruel
in many ways (most of which he brought on himself, which he
acknowledges), but that doesn't mean it would continue to be
cruel once he'd paid his debt to Lily and was truly free for
the first time in his tortured adulthood.

And if his life isn't cruel any longer, Snape himself might
be less cruel. Doing something *he* wants to do, be it as a
researcher, spell inventor, or whatever pasttime gives him 
some measure of satisfaction and peace, he might become if
not a nice man, at least a reasonably decent one ;-)

I do see your point, and I strongly suspect Snape will be
at peace in the afterlife. But I also think JKR took the 
easy way out, killing Snape as a way of "rewarding" him for
his miserable life of atonement, rather than letting him 
live and for the first time take control of his own life.
It's quite possible, even realistic that a still young 
man (at 38, I believe?) like Snape will change his outlook
on the world, overcome his bitterness and find a strong 
measure of meaning and purpose over the course of the many
years left to him, dying a very different person, maybe 
even one with a very different view of one Harry James
Potter. Much, much stranger things have happened ;-)

Julie, still sad for Snape's lost potential.