mmoa_writes

A bit slow to start off with, but having read some of the responses to a particular character...



One of the main things that has been an issue for so many people who loved the character of Severus Snape, is that as JKR showed us how much Severus loved Lily, Harry's mother, it suddenly transpired that Severus was either not as noble or good as they thought he was or indeed not good at all. For many, it seemed that Severus' motivation had been entirely selfish and that he had not truly seen the error of his Death Eater past, but merely the failure on his part to save the life of Lily Potter.

I will confess that this interpretation left me somewhat befuddled. It has long been agreed within the 'Severus Snape appreciation' communities, that his outer nastiness and mean-spirit disguises a man who is essentially good and brave. What seemed strange to me was that with that interpretation being accepted (as it was, in truth, the only way his behaviour to some of his students and his apparent loyalty to Albus Dumbledore could be reconciled) many of the same people were again only considering the driving force behind his motives that had been explicitly mentioned, rather like those who did not like Severus Snape at all were seen to only be accepting the one-dimensional portrayal of the Potions Master through the then immature eyes of Harry Potter.

As you can no doubt tell, I do not think that Severus' motives make his eventual actions any the less purer, partly because when we hold him in comparison in this respect to other characters who Harry immediately takes a liking to and who are, in a sense, the true white hats of the series, I do not find him wanting. However, I also do not agree that his love of Lily was his sole motivation regardless. To me, his love of Lily acted as the catalyst and almost enabled him to be able to care for others and be a 'good' man.

The comparison, I will focus on later in this post but first I want to examine some of Severus' behaviour throughout the books.

First, it is far easier for us to enter this with no illusions: Overall, Severus Snape is not a nice man. Aside from Draco Malfoy, he has no sympathy for or willingness to appreciate those students whom he does not like. This is evident in his treatment of Harry Potter and then, almost by association, of his friends. However, that pales in comparison to the way he treats some of his other students - his deliberate focus on a student with a thinner skin ie, Neville Longbottom reveals a sadistic streak. He certainly knows how to antagonise and frequently relishes in this power.

Draco Malfoy is the obvious exception. In the early days, when Harry Potter was all about the fun and trials of boarding school and growing up with a dash of magic thrown in for good measure, Severus' treatment of Draco was generally dismissed as merely a student currying favour with a teacher and the biased teacher responding in kind. However, by the end of the sixth book we see another side to this at first stereotypical relationship between a pet student and their teacher. As they take flight from the Lightening-Struck tower, in this time of battle, it is Draco's escape that seems to take priority over Severus' own, and that in itself suggests that Draco is more to Severus than simply a student who toadied up to him throughout his school career or with whom he has special links with his father. It almost seems as though he cares about him.

But let us go back further. It is one of those unfortunate things that the story is told only from Harry's perspective. Not so much because his view clouds our own perceptions (we can analyse our way through that) but because we are only presented with the issues that he deems important. Whilst we readers struggle to discover the agenda of our preferred characters, Harry continues to deviate and allows us no such pleasure. Thus, he does not spend his entire school life following Severus Snape around the school (if only!) and thus we are left with little evidence of what Snape is like around non-Harry/James related persons.

The first thing that struck me was Dumbledore asserting in PS that Severus made those attempts to save Harry's life due to a life debt he had to Harry's father. In light of what we know now, how much truth is there in that statement? Knowing Dumbledore, about a 6:4 ratio, probably (!). Severus is capable of having more than unrequited love as a motivation. There is a sense of Justice as well.

One of the most revealing incidents takes place in the second book, when it has been announced in the Staff room that a student has been taken captive by the Basilisk. Severus' reaction is the first hint we will ever get that he actually seems to care about his students. Liking them is another matter, but as he 'gripped the back of a chair very hard' he reveals himself to have the same concerns of any other teacher.

Although there is little in PoA that demonstrates any care Severus might have towards his charges, it does serve to demonstrate the sore contention between Severus and Harry: that of his relationship with the boy's father. That is interesting to me as it serves as a parallel between him and various other characters which I will explain more fully in the comparison.

It is also interesting to note some of the reactions of his colleagues when they hear of his murder of Albus Dumbledore. Most are still stuck in a sort of limbo - this is a man who they have worked besides after all, who Dumbledore trusted, who may not have been a pleasant man or a nice teacher, but was good enough that we never get any sense of real hatred on the part of the other teachers towards this scowling Professor. It is Professor Slughorn's sad little, "But I knew him," that captures it all. Nice he may not have been, but an evil cold-hearted murderer? His own colleagues have difficulty comprehending this, and that is a rather handy bit of evidence.

All this is very interesting, no doubt, but what of the issue that I am trying to address? Let me return to the point.

Severus' reasons for leaving the Death Eaters is made quite clear: Lord Voldemort refused to protect Lily Potter. Many people have snapped up on this instantly - the man has not seen the error of his ways, he only wants to save Lily, the selfish bastard.

And yet we are shown his reaction to Dumbledore's "you disgust me". He realises in that instant where he has actually gone wrong and I think that is when we can safely say he begins to think about others apart from the object of a failed romance.

I personally think the seeds of realisation sprouted earlier in his life. There is nothing like true recognition to shock one out of one's delusions. Severus was weak and foolish in regards to his friends like Avery, and unsurprisingly in regards to the Dark Lord as well. The Dark Lord refusing the life of Lily must have brought the shock Severus needed. It reminds me very much of the story of a half-Ethiopian, half-German man I used to know who surprised me one day with the fact that he had once been in the Hitler youth. To me, that seemed an astonishing tale from a clearly mixed-race person - surely he had been able to see, of all people, that the Nazi agenda went far beyond the 'Jewish problem'? But no, he said. He wasn't a Jew. He was a proper German. It had never occurred to him that he could be a target and it was only when he saw how the Nazi hate reached out towards non-Jews that he snapped out of his delusion.

The allegory is a little cliched by now, and perhaps has only served to turn what is essentially a fictional story into something more important than it actually is, but it seemed so strangely alike to the Prince's tale that I couldn't help but wondering where so many seemed to think that Severus' motivation being so personal makes his 'conversion' any the less genuine or worthy.

By the time Harry comes along, Severus has spied, been redeemed, worked as a teacher responsible for the well-being of his students. It seems wholly unrealistic to think that these experiences would not have broadened his motivations. That does not mean that the first motivation is any the less powerful, it clearly isn't, but perhaps it's strength lies in the fact that it was the first not the only thing that made Severus go over to the side of good.

But even if his unrequited Love is the only reason he joined Dumbledore's forces, does that make him so bad to have such a selfish motivation? Again, unless we apply the same condemnation to other characters, we will simply have to reevaluate our own picture about Severus.

So many of the adult characters have made terrible decisions and have only 'repented' or tried to solve the problems they have caused, through what could also be deemed as selfish reasons. Sirius, who first comes to my mind, escaped from Azkaban, not so much to support Harry, but to finish off the job he started: revenge for James' sake. The similarities go further: Mrs Weasley's accusation that Sirius too often merges Harry with James is starkly reminiscent of Dumbledore's warning that Snape also allies Harry and James to too great an extent, hindering his judgment of the boy. Like Snape with Lily, Sirius has never had the opportunity to ask Jame's for his forgiveness and goes on fighting, later, yes, for Harry and the cause of good, (but with as little grace as Severus it seems at times) but to begin with in memory of the friend he let down.

Dumbledore too, can be seen as only really snapping out of his own delusions of greatness with the first casualty of his pride: his sister Ariana. In a way, these two cases are the best parallels with that of Severus', particularly when one considers their characters: each can be unpleasant (well, Dumbledore in a more subtle manner - we would call it manipulative) to those they dislike, pleasant to those they do like, but aware of the need to serve the cause of good for more important reasons than personal satisfaction. The unholy trio certainly have their detractors and fans throughout the fandom: nobility seems to be truly in the eye of the beholder.

However, maybe that really is the case, and where some people see selfish desire, I see merely the beginning to the making of a greater man. That is the joy - as well as the chagrin! - of the numerous perspectives within this community of HP fans.