Jane Holland
Active Member
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2010
- Messages
- 25
I see there was an earlier thread on Snape, but it's from early 2009, so here's a new one, if that's okay.
Spoiler alert for those who, unthinkably, have not yet read the last book. Stop reading now!
What really peeved me about Rowling's treatment of Snape in the last book was that surely the big pay-off for Snape in emotional terms would be for Harry to discover that he'd been on the goody side all the time and to feel suitably chastened by his horrible treatment of Snape from Book One onwards.
Instead, Rowling writes those last scenes with Snape almost numbly, and Harry barely reacts to his death, except for a few lines at the very end of the book where he comments on Snape having been the bravest man he'd ever known, or something along those lines. But it's a sop, frankly. Snape was, in general terms, a braver man than Harry, and a far more interesting one, walking a tightrope without a safety net for nearly two decades and being almost universally loathed by everyone on both sides. And for what? So he could salve his guilt over Lily's death by protecting her son. A boy who hated him and made poor and rash decisions at every turn.
Don't get me wrong. I love the HP stories, and root for Harry all the way through. But I felt personally betrayed by her brief and almost dismissive treatment of Snape's death. I wanted to read the scene where Harry finally realised his terrible error, and apologised for it, and recognised Snape for who he truly was. And it just doesn't exist.
That annoys me. Does it annoy anyone else? Or is it acceptable within the grand scheme of the HP stories, because most kids are not going to care about Snape's fate anyway, having too long identified him as a villain to perform that complex a volte-face at the eleventh hour?
Spoiler alert for those who, unthinkably, have not yet read the last book. Stop reading now!
What really peeved me about Rowling's treatment of Snape in the last book was that surely the big pay-off for Snape in emotional terms would be for Harry to discover that he'd been on the goody side all the time and to feel suitably chastened by his horrible treatment of Snape from Book One onwards.
Instead, Rowling writes those last scenes with Snape almost numbly, and Harry barely reacts to his death, except for a few lines at the very end of the book where he comments on Snape having been the bravest man he'd ever known, or something along those lines. But it's a sop, frankly. Snape was, in general terms, a braver man than Harry, and a far more interesting one, walking a tightrope without a safety net for nearly two decades and being almost universally loathed by everyone on both sides. And for what? So he could salve his guilt over Lily's death by protecting her son. A boy who hated him and made poor and rash decisions at every turn.
Don't get me wrong. I love the HP stories, and root for Harry all the way through. But I felt personally betrayed by her brief and almost dismissive treatment of Snape's death. I wanted to read the scene where Harry finally realised his terrible error, and apologised for it, and recognised Snape for who he truly was. And it just doesn't exist.
That annoys me. Does it annoy anyone else? Or is it acceptable within the grand scheme of the HP stories, because most kids are not going to care about Snape's fate anyway, having too long identified him as a villain to perform that complex a volte-face at the eleventh hour?