So today we're going to talk about Snape.
Honestly... this is hard. Writing for an audience when the topic is one of your favourite fictional characters is always difficult, because there is always someone who will disagree with your judgement and you can get a little NO THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS PERSON IS LIKE HOW DARE YOU about it all. When your favourite character is this complex and debated by the fandom this much, it just gets worse. We'll see what happens though, won't we?
I have to say though, I'm not going to jump on either the Snape-hate or the Snape-love bandwagon here. I'll go into more detail later, but in short, I think Snape is complicated enough that it's not really possible to be one-sided on this without ignoring large parts of his story arc and therefore dismissing some of Rowling's best work. I find it disrespectful. As much as I would totally be Snape's friend ~on the astral plane~ I still want to punch him sometimes, and that's how he was written. So let's get on with digging a bit deeper!
[Spoilers ahead for anyone who is three years behind, which I doubt if you're reading this]
Snape, Snape, Severus Snape (<-clicky for joy)
Severus Snape was born in about 1960 and attended Hogwarts at the same time as Lily and James, Harry's parents, and the rest of the Marauders. We don't know much about his upbringing, except that his mother Eileen was a witch and his father was a Muggle, and that his life at home was probably quite unpleasant (at best, they were poor; at worst, he was possibly neglected). Snape teaches Potions and is head of Slytherin house at Hogwarts. He is rude, seems to deliberately make an effort to look scary and picks on children he doesn't like- i.e. all of them. He is not a fair teacher, or a nice one, and holds an irrational grudge against Harry Potter.
And yet, he ultimately lays down his life for Harry. He lives his life and leaves it knowing that the rest of the wizarding world hates him, but he makes his sacrifices anyway. Snape may not be nice, but he is good.
Snape's motivation, as we all know by now, was his love for Harry's mother Lily. They had been friends when they were young, but his interest in the Dark Arts had driven them apart. She later married James Potter, who had constantly clashed with Snape at school, while Snape himself ended up a Death Eater- a Death Eater who informed Voldemort of a prophecy involving his future. On learning that Voldemort was going to hunt down Lily, James and their son Harry because of this, Snape switched sides and turned spy for Dumbledore. Unfortunately, it was too late- Lily was killed trying to protect Harry. However, over the years Snape continued to work for Dumbledore in her memory, keeping Harry safe despite their mutual hatred.
Some people say that this makes Snape a selfish man, because he only did good things for Lily. I would disagree with that- he certainly didn't want to be a good person for her when they were at school, and if his motives were purely selfish he would not have asked Dumbledore to protect the whole Potter family. Snape would rather have Lily alive and happy with his enemy than lose her forever. He had already lost her once, but if she died there would never be any chance of reconciliation. I don't see that as selfish- how is it selfish to let the person you love go and live their life without you?
That's not to say that Snape was perfect, of course. He should never have called Lily a Mudblood, he should never have joined Voldemort in the first place, and he shouldn't have spent his career intimidating children. I can't defend these things. I can explain them, and understand them, but I can't defend them.
The explanation I have for this is that Snape never really had a chance to be anything other than what he was. Dumbledore says that our choices are the most important part of who we are, but we have to remember that our past does inform what we do in the future. In this case, I think the sorting is partly to blame- this isn't particularly Snape-centric, but it's a general theory I have that applies to him.
Being sorted into Slytherin basically means you're doomed to acts of random nastiness for the rest of your life. Your qualities of ambition and self-preservation may be used for good, but they get you placed in a group of people who are reviled for it. Slytherin is notorious for churning out the dark wizards and blood purists, and so becoming part of that group alienates you from all the others at Hogwarts. It seems perfectly reasonable for a little boy of eleven to want to protect himself and prove himself if his own father doesn't like what he is (as in, doesn't like that his child is magically talented). Unfortunately, since Slytherin is so insular due to its reputation, there's a vicious cycle where anyone who could change the house for the better pleads with the Sorting Hat to be sent elsewhere and you're stuck trying to fit in with the racists. I think a great deal of Snape's issues stem from the fact that Hogwarts was yet another place where he was disliked. It's no wonder he stayed so withdrawn and became such a bitter adult. It's also not surprising that he got so involved with the Dark Arts- an intelligent kid surrounded by that stuff and feeling the need to lash out at somebody might very well end up going down that path.
Again, I don't defend him for all the things he did as a result of all that. Plenty of people have awful lives and don't make the choices Snape made as a young man. Harry himself is a shining example of that within the Potterverse; he has been through the most horrible things, more than anyone else in the wizarding world, and yet he can still be kind and loving. If Harry can do it, anybody can. I think Snape should have grown a pair and stopped wallowing in his own misery, to be perfectly honest.
Ah, I still think he's brilliant though. The man is sassy. Sassy. I love it when people are rude in hilarious ways, I can't help it.
Ahem. Anyway. Moving on.
Something that I absolutely love about Snape's story is that we never get the full story, not really. I don't think we'll ever know whether he just did everything for Lily or whether he genuinely changed his beliefs- it seems to me that he did, with his actions to protect the students during his year as Headmaster of Hogwarts. If he only cared about avenging Lily, he wouldn't have promised to look out for so many other people. I don't think Rowling will ever tell us any more about his life either. I would love to know, but at the same time I have this idea of Snape in my head and if it turned out to be completely wrong I would be rather upset :P I like that he remains ambiguous enough for us to continue discussing him. What the hell would I do with my time without this? (see the bottom of this post for the Snape in my head, by the way- I don't want to stick it here in case you all disagree with me and send hate mail, haha)
Right. Let's move onto the TERRIFYING PIT OF DOOM that is the fandom reaction to Snape.
What the devil is going on here? That's absurd! (moar clicky-based joy)
Yeah, that's pretty much it. There's no way to describe it other than "LOLWUT I DONT EVEN".
I dunno, I have some issues with the way the fandom treats old Snaperdoodle. There's a lot of love for him, which is nice, but at the same time... it's kind of creepy. People excuse his douchebaggery, and that's not right- by all means laugh at his mean jokes, but don't excuse all the shitty things he's done because you feel sorry for him. (I hope I haven't done that here!)
My main issue is the same issue I have with attitudes to Draco Malfoy, and dare I say it, Twilight. I cannot stand it when people fall in love with fucked-up, broken guys (even fictional ones) and act like they're perfect or believe that all they need is sexytimes from a HAWT GAWFIK GURL. It's unrealistic, and to some extent I blame Twilight for making it acceptable to be an idiot. I don't have a problem with anybody being attracted to a character like Snape- I admit that I am too. Long-haired dudes who like books and snark are totally my type. Where I differ from the nutty fangirls is that I learned from experience that you really don't want to be in a relationship with somebody that broken, especially if (like Snape) they are unwilling to let anybody in. Anecdote for you: in my first year of university, I used to hang out with this guy who was clearly a little messed up, but he seemed very sweet. He was smart and gothy and my other friends thought it was pretty obvious that he liked me. We did go out on a couple of dates, but then the crazy set in. Turns out he was paranoid and bitter, and pretty much scared me off. One night he got very drunk and told me he loved me- we had known each other for maybe six months max and been on two dates. I freaked out and didn't speak to him for about a year, because I could not handle somebody that intense.
That's the thing- guys like that (and girls of course) really aren't what you want or need. A pretty face or an air of mystery won't change that. These people need help, and they need to get that from a professional before they're ready for a healthy relationship.
Plus, you know, it totally ruins badass characters if you start writing self-insert fanfiction about how they are soooo in luuurve. If Snape was real, he would hate you all for doing a Draco In Leather Pants on him. As it stands, you're probably already giving Alan Rickman horrible nightmares.
On the other hand, the healthy fandom reaction to Snape is the most adorable thing ever. There are comics, fan art, the good kind of fanfiction (in-character Snape? No way!) and all manner of parodies. The parodies are pretty much universally affectionate, recognising the inherent silliness of a character who is TOTES NOT EVIL OR ANYTHING YOU GUYS but mopes around in a dungeon hiding behind his hair and wearing nothing but black and being represented on screen by Alan Rickman, Professional Campy Villain. This side of the Snape-love is actually great- it shows just how well Rowling writes her characters, since the grumpy anti-hero turns out to be the source of a million jokes based on the hilarious drama of his very existence without anything turning nasty. I don't think I'll ever stop finding this stuff funny and cute, just like I will never stop finding Hermione Can't Draw funny even though Hermione is scarily like me when I was younger. It's not mean, it doesn't come from some fucked-up relationship dynamic, it's just... fun.
Fun, like spending your Friday night talking about somebody who isn't even real :/
And on that note, we'll finish the main post and I'll leave you with the Snape From Gemma's Brain. I hope you enjoy it, and that it's not tainted by my overanalysing and rage!
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Inside my mad brain, Severus Snape is quite tall, skinny and about average-looking, although he looks worse because he always looks so pissed off and won't tie his hair back. He drinks a lot of coffee and complains to Minerva McGonagall that her students give him migraines. He swears to himself and sometimes 'accidentally' lets Hogwarts students overhear the more inventive cursing. He thinks it's funny to freak out the first-years. I have this image of him drinking with Lucius Malfoy, and they're both bitching about how much they hate everyone and how hard it is to find a decent clarifying shampoo in Diagon Alley.
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