More on Snape
Jul. 23rd, 2007 08:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
avevale_intelligencerAmplifying the comment i made earlier about his blatant favouritism as a teacher and how ImHO he had to do a lot more to redeem himself for that than he ever did, because i can see people saying (or maybe it's just me voices) "Well, you know, helping to save the world and all, jeez, cut the man some slack." Or words to that effect.
Well, not sure how much he actually did to help save the world, now that you mention it, but in any case, this brings us back to the point that was made (but strangely blunted) about midway through the last series of Angel. The gang are in charge of Wolfram and Hart, all being seduced by evil in their own ways, and one of those ways is keeping Angel focussed on the Big Picture, the apocalypse, Big Good vs Big Evil. "Don't sweat the small stuff," he says at one point. Individual clients can be sacrificed, small causes can be deliberately lost, as long as the big battle at the end is won (it's made very clear in the series that it can't be, but that's another issue). The point was blunted by the fact that all the causes we saw them lose are shown to be rewon in the last couple of episodes, but the point remains that when you come down to it everything is small stuff, the small stuff is all that matters. And in the small stuff, as we see, Snape fails to overcome his natural urges every time.
To a certain extent this is a failing of the books. i've not noticed anything from the people who kept saying "well, why didn't Gandalf fly the Ring to Mount Doom on an eagle, eh? Eh? Tell me that, you can't can you, eh? Eh?" and who might have wondered why Quirrell, since he was obviously under suspicion, could not simply have been grabbed back in book one, deturbaned (good heavens, this man is two-faced!), dosed with Veritaserum (which would presumably have affected Voldemort as well) and all the information necessary to defeat the Dark Lord obtained at the outset, saving countless lives and incalculable trouble. He/they could have just been shoved into Azkaban without trial, as the wizarding world seems so prone to do to its suspects, back when the Dementors were still under control. No Voldemort, no problem. This is what happens when you start out without knowing at that point precisely where you're going to end up: a lot of the journey, fun for us but less so for those who die along the way, is shown in retrospect to have been unnecessary, or at least unnecessarily roundabout.
But...it's all good, as i said. The fact that Snape was never, not even secretly, a good or a nice person, but was forced by his half-comprehended love for Lily Evans to work with Dumbledore and the side of nominal light, is about the best resolution i could have hoped for from JKR. i know other writers have found other resolutions that suit their view of the character better (and may well be better written), and that's good too.
Well, not sure how much he actually did to help save the world, now that you mention it, but in any case, this brings us back to the point that was made (but strangely blunted) about midway through the last series of Angel. The gang are in charge of Wolfram and Hart, all being seduced by evil in their own ways, and one of those ways is keeping Angel focussed on the Big Picture, the apocalypse, Big Good vs Big Evil. "Don't sweat the small stuff," he says at one point. Individual clients can be sacrificed, small causes can be deliberately lost, as long as the big battle at the end is won (it's made very clear in the series that it can't be, but that's another issue). The point was blunted by the fact that all the causes we saw them lose are shown to be rewon in the last couple of episodes, but the point remains that when you come down to it everything is small stuff, the small stuff is all that matters. And in the small stuff, as we see, Snape fails to overcome his natural urges every time.
To a certain extent this is a failing of the books. i've not noticed anything from the people who kept saying "well, why didn't Gandalf fly the Ring to Mount Doom on an eagle, eh? Eh? Tell me that, you can't can you, eh? Eh?" and who might have wondered why Quirrell, since he was obviously under suspicion, could not simply have been grabbed back in book one, deturbaned (good heavens, this man is two-faced!), dosed with Veritaserum (which would presumably have affected Voldemort as well) and all the information necessary to defeat the Dark Lord obtained at the outset, saving countless lives and incalculable trouble. He/they could have just been shoved into Azkaban without trial, as the wizarding world seems so prone to do to its suspects, back when the Dementors were still under control. No Voldemort, no problem. This is what happens when you start out without knowing at that point precisely where you're going to end up: a lot of the journey, fun for us but less so for those who die along the way, is shown in retrospect to have been unnecessary, or at least unnecessarily roundabout.
But...it's all good, as i said. The fact that Snape was never, not even secretly, a good or a nice person, but was forced by his half-comprehended love for Lily Evans to work with Dumbledore and the side of nominal light, is about the best resolution i could have hoped for from JKR. i know other writers have found other resolutions that suit their view of the character better (and may well be better written), and that's good too.
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no subject
Date: 2007-07-23 11:48 am (UTC)One of the best things about Deathly Hallows is that Snape remains the nasty, vicious, vindictive person he always was, and is not, as far as I can see, redeemed. He acted for completely selfish motives throughout.
Though, oddly, the only line that made me tear up was Harry's in the epilogue about Albus's second name....
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Date: 2007-07-23 12:45 pm (UTC)It's arguable that once Lily had chosen James and rejected Snape, his motives became something other than purely selfish...
no subject
Date: 2007-07-24 07:22 pm (UTC)I have nothing to add. I just wanted to admire this sentence some more.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-23 01:46 pm (UTC)"would you like me to do that now? Or do you need a few minutes to compose and epitaph?"
I found the backstory interesting as well. Although I'm finding it difficult to swallow that Snape never learned how to deny his emotions. He just doesn't seem the type to let a torch he's been carrying dictate what he does.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-23 04:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-23 04:43 pm (UTC)