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Tweak says, "Manech aime Mathilde!"

Queen of the Castle (qotc) wrote,
@ 2008-02-20 19:37:00

Entry tags:

meta, severus snape

Snape's completely selfish, and that's what ultimately makes him the most interesting HP character
Upon my first reading of DH, I have to admit that Snape's 'love' for Lily really annoyed me. That wasn't to say that I was surprised by it. It made some degree of sense, and it had been hinted at. It was more that it seemed to tie everything up a little too neatly, and seemed too much like a last ditch effort to humanise Snape so that Harry could forgive him for all that had passed.

Upon my more recent second reading of the book, I'm still annoyed at the idea that Harry's belief that everything Snape did was for love of Lily could make Harry immediately forgive Snape for every perceived wrong, and could even bring Harry to name his kid after Snape (though don't get me started on how morbid it is for all the next generation to be named after dead people).

However, I've come to accept the unrequited Snape/Lily plotline on its own. I don't believe for a second that Snape was truly in love with Lily. To really love someone is to care for them regardless of whether you'll be benefitted by that emotion. Snape didn't love Lily. He was obsessed with her. Every feeling he ever had for her and every action he took in relation to her was selfishly motivated.

In fact, as I came to realise upon re-reading DH, almost everything Snape does in canon is almost purely selfish. And that just made me love him more.

It's almost confusing to track Snape's progess through the books as (from Harry's POV) evil, then good, then evil, then good. Snape is neither evil nor good. But despite appearances, he's neither Dumbledore's man nor Voldemort's. Though it seems that he's on one side one second and another the next (is there such thing as a quintuple agent?), in the end he's not really on anyone's side but his own. And, to me, there's nothing more interesting than a character that does both good and terrible things because they are completely selfishly driven.

Joining Voldemort was for Snape's own benefit. Trying to get both Voldemort and Dumbledore to save Lily's life was for Snape's benefit (he wanted to possess her, and failing that he still wanted her to stay alive and well because it would devastate him for the possibility that she might one day be his to vanish entirely). Snape spied for Dumbledore and protected Harry because it was the only way to keep whatever connection he thought he had with Lily alive.

Snape does the right thing for the wrong reasons (e.g. trying to save Lily's life, helping Harry, etc). But then, he also does the wrong thing for the right reasons (e.g. killing Dumbledore). In fact, in the entire series, Dumbledore's murder may be the only thing he does regardless of the fact that it will in no way benefit him personally. Even though I also find it very sad, it also tickles me a little that murdering the only man who ever really gave him a chance was Snape's most selfless act.

It makes me somewhat glad that Snape was killed in such a pointless way (if you actually believe that he died, which most of his fans seem to deny to the death). I don't think I could have bought it if he'd selflessly sacrificed himself to save Harry or so that the wizarding world could go on without Voldemort. It would have been too Gryffindor. And hey, that's clearly what Harry's for, right? ;-)

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ariadneelda
2008-02-20 12:38 pm UTC (link)

Even though I also find it very sad, it also tickles me a little that murdering the only man who ever really gave him a chance was Snape's most selfless act.

Yes!

I love that Snape remained a bastard to the end. I would have been very disappointed if he'd turned out to be all nice. And I don't think I would have bought it either. Of course, a good fic and good characterisation can convince me that he might not be entirely selfish, but even then, I like him to remain a bastard. ;-)

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qotc
2008-02-22 02:36 pm UTC (link)

Yes, of course, good fanfic can make me believe pretty much anything. Hey,

pir8fancier made me believe 100% that Snape was living in America as a bald magicless fry-cook. I lost my scepticism as to the wonders an author can work around about then.

But then, it wouldn't exactly take a miracle to convince me that Snape isn't totally selfish. After all, even with the Pensieve memories, we never really get to see any of the books' happenings from Snape's POV, taking into consideration his thoughts and feelings. An action that looks selfish to us may be completely altruistic. I somehow doubt it, but I could be convinced.

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roedhunt
2008-02-21 06:22 am UTC (link)

You have no idea how much I bow down before you! Everything you pointed out I completely agree with you. For months and months I've wanted to express my views/opinion on DH, but never had the time.

Like you, the two things that truly annoyed me beyond belief was Snape and his selfish reasons for protecting Harry and Harry naming his kids after dead people. The dead are alive again! I wondered (sarcastically) if the next generation would be named after Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

That said, the thing that angered me the most (I almost stopped writing HP stories because of the EWE) was the name Albus Severus for the exact reason you said. I'd like to add that I feel sorry for the kid. I mean I think of the day that he asks Harry about Severus and what he was to Harry.

"Well, son, I despised the man and he despised me, but he loved your grandmother and that's why I named you after him because that over-rides my hatred of him."

"Er, so I'm named after a man who hated you and whom you hated?"

"But it's ok, son. Everyone hated him too."

Poor kid...

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qotc
2008-02-22 03:05 pm UTC (link)

Ah, well, at least Albus Severus isn't alone.

James the 2nd: Well you see, son, my father's name was James. He was a very good man. Or so everyone tells me. I never knew him, myself, and I still know next to nothing about him. Of course, what I do know is that he was a bullying prat who I'm thoroughly ashamed of. He may have forced my mother to marry him, come to think of it. But he died for me. Well, really he died to save my mother, but I was so there as well. So he's a good man. Really.

Lily the 2nd: Why, you're named after my mother, of course. She's dead. Yes, it's my fault, really. But I have her eyes! Well, no, I can't really tell you stories about her. I never knew her, and I still don't know anything about her. But I do have her eyes. Everyone made certain to stress that when I was younger, so that must be the important thing, right?

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	roedhunt 2008-02-24 06:13 am UTC (link)
	That's brilliant! I'm sure we could go and on. laughs What did you think of Harry & Ginny? I know it was no surprise for me that they would hook up, but I thought that the chemistry between them was nonexistence. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

qotc
2008-02-24 07:23 am UTC (link)

My thoughts exactly. Harry/Ginny seemed inevitable from very early in the series, Harmonian shipper craziness aside. So I was hardly surprised. But I was disappointed in how it was written, even apart from Harry's chest monster disaster. You'll notice that Ginny was never really Harry's main concern, even when he was suffering from jealousy over Dean and even when they were actually together (for those whole two or so weeks). It makes sense to some extent, considering that Harry has to deal with prophecies and Dark Lords and whatnot. However, Ginny also ranked under Ron and Hermione and Snape and Malfoy and a whole host of other people.

And, to be honest, the relationship wasn't necessary to the books, and so instead served only to slow things down. Ron and Hermione's thing was necessary because the extension of Ron's jealousy over Harry (which has been prominent throughout the whole series) to his insecurity over Harry and Hermione was the breaking point that made him leave in DH. I personally don't think it JKR should have written that section, considering that that was probably the slowest part of the whole book (which is saying something), but that doesn't change the fact that the Ron/Hermione relationship was necessary for what JKR did write. Harry/Ginny wasn't similarly necessary. It was, in fact, just there for the sake of giving Harry a love interest (because every hero has to have one, apparently).

I wouldn't have had a problem with the Harry/Ginny in the books if it was some two-second high school romance (as it looked like being after HBP), because those don't really impact your life all that much anyway. JKR could have told me that Harry only wanted Ginny because suddenly he couldn't have her (because she was finally dating someone else) and I would have happily believed that. Harry is, after all, only a teenage boy. I can't, however, bring myself to believe that the relationship as it's depicted in the books could possibly have evolved into marriage.

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