A Good Essay
As it seems everybody is awaiting the release of the last Harry Potter book, I am trolling the blogosphere for good reading that is NOT spoiling how the series will end (for those who did not peg me as a HP reader, I came to the series late, but willing and learned to rather like it). I came across this essay which meshes up rather well with how I think about one of the most controversial figures of the series (and my personal favorite) Severus Snape. I have my theory about how the seventh book will turn out, and it is not a pretty ending, but I think it is the correct one (in line with the central themes of the previous ones, that is, that great sacrifices must be made in order for good to prevail). I am curious to see whether I am right and after Saturday I'll let you know, my dear five readers...:-)
posted by Annamaria @ 1:32 PM
6 Comments:
Very interesting. I feel like I should go back and reread certain parts of the books from Azkaban on (particularly Half-Blood Prince) but it does seem that there's solid textual evidence for the Snape-as- unlikely-hero outcome. I'm not sure that I would place him so far into hero status as the essayist, but he is a very complex, grey-area figure and I don't buy for a minute that he betrayed Dumbledore. I guess we'll find out though.
I'm very curious about how Rowling will resolve all of this, although I have no doubt that whatever happens, it will be done well.
My wife doesn't buy that Severus is a traitor either but I think he's not a double agent either. Rather I think he's out for himself - an independent agent.
Look at the powerful book he put together and his title "half blood prince". Maybe he wants to rule in place of Voldemort, but he doesn't want to be under Dumbledore's shadow either.
I also will find out sometime next week after my wife is done with the book. I won't be able to read it until then.
Yeh, but remember, he was a student back then, and something happened after they graduated that might have changed his life forever...as I said, I have my theories and I hope they'll bear out. Of cours,e if they are totally wrong, I'll let you know.
Whichever way you slice it, he's still a greasy git who should never have been allowed to teach children. If I were Harry after OOTP, I'd have gotten my crap in order, gotten an attorney, figured out what I had and didn't have, and gotten the heck out of dodge unless Dumbledore did some massive revamping of how he dealt with things. Prophecy equals veto power. Unlikely hero or not, I'd have given Dumbledore one chance to fix Snape, and warned him that *any* deviation would result in an unstoppable dropping a dime on his playing spy to Voldemort. Trust him because Dumbledore says to? Hardly. That man's judgment has been shown to be horrible time and again.
Still I strongly suspect that we'll see Snape as loyal to Dumbledore in book 7, and that Malfoy Jr., while sucking as a villain, will probably end up free as a bird by the end. Of course, Harry will still be friends with that jealous, thickheaded prat Ron. Just my guess. :)
Goodness, Chris, that law school really shows...:-)
Honestly, I think law school only refined my personality. At 15 I was probably a bit more to the point. If I were in that position at 15 and discovered that I'd not only been jerked around by my relatives, but that Dumbledore had orchestrated a lot of it, as well as screwed over by the ministry, I'd have probably either started arranging for people to have 'accidents' or gotten competent at transfiguring bodies into inanimate objects that were easily destroyed. That or used my 'fame' and 'the ministry hates me and Dumbledore screwed me over' sob story to seek political asylum from a foreign ministry for myself and my friends, and gotten the heck out of there. Especially since Dumbledore knew from day one what the eventuality was, and didn't take any steps to actually provide useful combat training. Bleh. I'll just chalk it up to JKR not being a particularly logical writer, and having a love for deus ex machina intervention.
Post a Comment
<< Home