Given that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published on July 21st 2007 it seems insane that it's in the news once again today. J K Rowling was tweeting this morning about the confusion people have over Harry naming his second son Albus Severus. So I thought I would address my feelings on the subject.
I'm studying Green and Roman myth at the moment for my OU degree - my next assignment, due next week, is on Hippolytus and Phaedra; and from this I know the wicked stepmother stereotype was alive and well in 428BC. Obviously Snape was not Harry's stepfather but it's probably the most analogous relationship: Snape was deeply, irrevocably in love with Lily...he had a very difficult relationship with the son of another man. The expectation of "love me, love my kids" is frankly ridiculous. I have a good relationship with my stepdad (who came into my life when I was in my late 20s) but that's more in the line of a happy accident. Maybe it makes a difference being an adult child but so long as you're not at each other's throats 24/7 would it REALLY matter so very much? Children will grow up and leave.
Why is it so hard to believe that having seen Snape's memories in the pensieve he could be understanding and forgiving? Harry's the hero, after all, he rises above all the shit he's been dealt. Why shouldn't he see that his father had been a bully; that Snape had loved Lily from the outset and that Snape had lived and died trying to atone for his mistake? Snape didn't have to LOVE Harry for Lily's sake but he laid down his life to save the boy in his mother's memory. There is someone I love, someone I would die for...would I die for someone he loved? For his child? It's actually quite a big ask. Thinking as the single parent I am of a hypothetical relationship... Would I expect / ask my partner to love my children, treat them as his own? No, not really. Would I expect / ask him to treat them decently? Obviously. Would I expect / ask him to die for my children? No, I don't think I would; although it would be a terrible thing if my child died and he'd not taken a chance to try to save / protect them.
Snape is a very 'real' character. No one is all good, relatively few are all evil. Most people will have plenty of flaws and some redeeming qualities. Snape is no exception. He is bitter and twisted from his loss - Lily might never have been his but if her death didn't dim his feelings her rejection and marrying another man obviously didn't make him any less devoted. Believe it or not, some of us don't just get rejected and spontaneously recover; some of us suffer almost indefinitely - it's taken me a ridiculous length of time to get past my ex walking out on us. I get so pissed off when people bitch about Snape not getting over it.
However Snape IS a hero: he lived as a double agent betraying Voldemort up-close-and-personal; he killed his friend Dumbledore (at Dumbledore's insistence) in order to save Draco from irreparable damage to his soul. His actions kept Harry alive numerous times and made Harry's ultimate success in defeating Voldemort possible.
Sometimes you just have to do something because it's the right thing to do. Snape did what he did for Lily and because it was right, not for Harry himself whom Snape intensely disliked (largely because of his similarities to his father) but for the wizarding world as a whole. Harry perhaps had to forgive Snape because it was the right thing to do. And because we all want to be forgiven for our sins and mistakes.
People who act like Snape was unforgivable are going to have some serious issues with hanging on to grudges in the real world, I think.
No comments:
Post a Comment