{"id":12,"date":"2010-10-04T22:56:34","date_gmt":"2010-10-05T02:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/2010\/10\/04\/spoiler-alert-severus-snape-hero-or-villain\/"},"modified":"2010-10-04T22:56:34","modified_gmt":"2010-10-05T02:56:34","slug":"spoiler-alert-severus-snape-hero-or-villain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/2010\/10\/04\/spoiler-alert-severus-snape-hero-or-villain\/","title":{"rendered":"[Spoiler Alert!] Severus Snape: Hero or Villain?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HarryI'm fairly certain that most everyone has read Harry Potter, but if you haven't you should probably stop reading.\u00a0 The books are just too good to ruin!\u00a0 Even if you've been watching the movies – stop now before I give away the ending.\u00a0 I'm not kidding.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

For those who have read the books, we can probably all agree that Severus Snape has been a pivotal character in the Harry Potter series since the very beginning.\u00a0 However, even from the start, there was always some sense of mystery surrounding Snape.\u00a0 Early on in the series, J.K. Rowling crafted him in a way that lead readers to instantly dislike and distrust Snape – portraying him as dark, greasy, and cold.\u00a0 Snape openly dislikes Harry and his friends from the very beginning, which leads Harry to question Snape's loyalties early on in the first novel.\u00a0 This suspicion remains a theme of the novels until the very end.<\/p>\n

In the very first book, it appears that Snape is attempting to kill Harry but it is later revealed that Snape had been attempting to save Harry.\u00a0 But why?\u00a0 Why would Snape try to save the boy that he so openly loathes.\u00a0 Snape becomes the lightning rod for all of Harry's suspicions in the next three books.\u00a0 Every time something goes wrong, Snape appears to have a hand in it.\u00a0 However, Dumbledore again and again expresses that he trusts Snape implicitly.\u00a0 Snape's abysmal behavior toward Harry prohibits him from understanding how Dumbledore could possibly trust Snape. Aside from Voldemort, Snape was the seemingly evil contrast to Harry.\u00a0 He was a bully, spiteful, and at times just flat out mean.<\/p>\n

We learn all sorts of nasty things about Snape.\u00a0 Snape and Harry’s father were enemies in school.\u00a0 Snape was a Death Eater.\u00a0 Snape is the Half-Blood Prince who had a habit for writing nasty spells in his potion’s book. Snape is the one that relayed the prophecy to Voldemort that would eventually lead to the death of both of Harry's parents.\u00a0 But the mystery still remains because there are patches of light that indicate that Snape may be loyal to the Order of the Pheonix after all.<\/p>\n

And then Snape does the unthinkable: He kills Albus Dumbledore.\u00a0 At this point it seems fairly conclusive that Snape is a villain with zero heroic potential.<\/p>\n

However in the final book J.K. Rowling presents what is arguably the greatest twist in the series.\u00a0 In Snape's dying moments, our entire perception of him is changed.\u00a0 The first important revelation: Snape didn't murder Dumbledore.\u00a0 Dumbledore had actually asked Snape to kill him for two reasons.\u00a0 First, Dumbledore had less than a year to live due to one of Voldemort's curses.\u00a0 Second, Dumbledore didn't want Malfoy to have to live with death on his conscious – Dumbledore wanted Snape to protect Malfoy by acting in Malfoy's stead.\u00a0 This revelation makes it obvious that Snape's loyalties do lie with the Order and the \u20ac\u02dcgood' side, but what are we to make of him now?\u00a0 This by no means elevates him to \u20ac\u02dchero' status.<\/p>\n

\"trustBut this wasn't the only revelation made in the moments just prior to his death.\u00a0 J.K. Rowling still had an ace in the hole. Snape had been in love with Lily Evans Potter for his entire<\/em> life. \u00a0This causes us to reevaluate all<\/em> of Snape's past actions in this new light.\u00a0 Snape's hatred towards Harry may have been a misguided self-hatred.\u00a0 Harry was the physical embodiment of Snape's past mistake that lead to the death of the woman he had always loved. It is also revealed that this is the reason that Snape had kept Harry safe throughout the series, even though his actions were mostly behind the scenes.\u00a0 The hints had been carefully plotted throughout the series, but never pieced together until this crucial moment.\u00a0 Snape's love for Lily is what lead him to switch sides and to risk his life time and time again to help Harry triumph over Voldemort.<\/p>\n

Snape is undoubtedly one of Rowling's most complex characters, something that Rowling has admitted in multiple interviews. But were his motivations selfish<\/em> or selfless<\/em>?<\/p>\n

This now raises the important question – Does Severus Snape deserve the title of hero?\u00a0 He showed unquestionable bravery and loyalty to good and it is arguable that his contributions are directly responsible for Harry's triumph over Voldemort.\u00a0 Can we overlook his flaws and prior actions in the face of this revelation?\u00a0 Was it enough to both redeem himself to the point of heroism?<\/p>\n

Both Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore thought so, and in the end that's more than enough for me to grant him the title.\u00a0 But the debate rages on amongst readers: did Snape find redemption and die a hero, or will he forever be a villain?<\/p>\n

Below is a completely non-educational yet somewhat entertaining rendition of Snape's story in rap form.\u00a0 Once you get over the slightly chipmunk-esque voice, it's actually pretty funny.\u00a0 Be sure to read the lyrics!<\/code><\/p>\n

[kml_flashembed movie=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/o-L5eg26htA\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\" wmode=\"transparent\" \/]<\/code><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I'm fairly certain that most everyone has read Harry Potter, but if you haven't you should probably stop reading.\u00a0 The books are just too good to ruin!\u00a0 Even if you've been watching the movies – stop now before I give away the ending.\u00a0 I'm not kidding.\u00a0 *** For those who have read the books, we … Continue reading [Spoiler Alert!] Severus Snape: Hero or Villain?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1349,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1267],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-claire"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}