An Analysis on Severus Snape
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ย. 2024
- Was Professor Severus Snape good, bad, or something in between. An in depth analysis where we look at every major scene over the seven books and discuss possibly the most controversial character in the series.
Harry Potter Playlist: • Playlist
WHERE TO FIND ME:
► My Patreon: / merphynapier
► Twitter: / merphynapier
► Goodreads: / merphy-napier
► Instagram: / merphynapier
► E-mail: merphynapier@gmail.com
► Mailing Address:
PO box 22
Science Hill KY 42553
While discussing your perspectives on Snape in the comments, please remember that this is a *discussion* not a *fight* . We're discussing something very interesting and easy to feel passionate about. But we're also discussing fiction. So please be kind to each other.
Childhood 2:45
Book 1 10:45
Book 2 14:25
Book 3 15:50
Book 4 24:30
Book 5 25:05
Book 6 29:50
Book 7 39:05
Final Thoughts 45:55
Merphy Napier can’t wait!
I do not hate him neither love him but he just choose the wrong friend group and separated from Lily, who was a good influence. 💞
It's crazy how much effort you put into this video, props!
Hated him too.
My favourite analysis thus far of Snape! Completely unbiased and you read the books trying to change your initial perspective and you deserve so much respect for that.
when you said he spent his life "protecting the physical state of Lily's son while harming the mental state of James' son"... it all just clicked. that's the PERFECT rationale behind Snape's contradictory actions (especially towards Harry) and it shows what kind of internal conflict he must have had for all those years.
leif audrey I thought the same thing
yes!
That's not a conflict, that's a white mutiny (everything2.com/title/White+mutiny) on the same level of guys who go "women are equal? So that means I can punch them". It's at best a self image defense where he's lying to himself that he's still following her wishes.
Well said 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
This summary really popped for me too.
“That’s a theme with Snape, he is constantly trying to get these kids expelled, even though he’s also constantly trying to save Harry’s life”.
I know of a certain house elf who empathises with this worldview.
Dan202903 Snape is an angry house elf, Illuminati confirmed
@Echo Skye Snape has heard the prophecy, so he knew that one day Harry would have to fight with Voldemort. In this case, Harry should be as powerful as it is possible. So he needs KNOWLEDGE. Nah, Snape didn't want to protect Harry in this way.
Well, my bad.
However, the protection of Petunia’s house would fade away just in the moment when Harry turned 17, so idea is not very good anyway
He's protected at Hogwarts though
Александр Зиновьев I think he was just in two minds. He never really wanted Harry Expelled. He might have made a show of it. But I don’t think he would have allowed that if push came to shove.
Snape feels like a real person. He's full of contradictions. His motivations aren't pure, and sometimes he does horrible things. I think he's a fascinating character.
Yes!!!
Yes definitely...
Only thing I disagree with is the fact that his motivations were pure (his love for lily) but he had his flaws like a real person
He's a fascinating character, but I still hate him. Becuase he once had a crush doesnt forgive the fact that he was a straight up bully to his students and a ton of other people too
Katarina Rose to be fair he lost the one person in his life that he cared for and loved of course he would be cold and emotionless
I've always said this: loving Snape as a CHARACTER doesn't mean I actually LIKE him or am content with his behavior.
I agree with you! I actually liked Snape as a character since I was in elementary school. As a character he was interesting to read amd watch in the movies. However, it still dosen't mean I accepted or approved the things i he did and said.
Thiiiiss!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
Well said.
I wholeheartedly agree. I love Snape as a character, but I’m neutral about him as a person.
He's brilliantly written! We need to give Rowling that (and much more).
Sirius: there's so much of James in you Harry
Snape: you're just like your father, Potter! Lazy, arrogant...
Snape and Sirius refusing to see Harry as who he is🤝
Sirius definitely is at fault for seeing Harry as a sort of reincarnation of his late best friend. When he told him that he should have risked both of their safeties because James would have done it? Just horrible
That's something I'm kind of bummed Merphy didn't touch on: the allusions between Severus and Sirius and how neither of them saw Harry for Harry but just as James 2.0. Remember how suddenly cold Sirius got when Harry told him not to come visit and to keep himself hidden; he said something like, "Maybe you're not as much like James as I thought; the risk would be what made it fun for him." So, even as an adult, Sirius still just wanted to dick around and break the rules - he wasn't worried about his own or Harry's safety; he just wanted to pal around with James, again.
Similarly, Severus only saw the worst in Harry and saw him James 2.0; before Harry had ever showcased any of his father's traits, Snape assigned them to him and attacked him for it. To be fair, Harry was the most famous person in their world and you could expect him to be a stuck-up shit with delusions of grandeur - especially if he was James' son - but that was still totally unfair on his part. No matter what his history was with James, he shouldn't have held it against Harry. It wasn't until he was dying that Severus and Harry truly saw eye to eye: Harry saw that Snape was more than just an asshole and Snape saw that Harry was more than just a kid who looks like James.
@Charlotte Quill the fact that harry named his own son after an abuser who psychologically tortured everyone around him was complete bull. reason #573 why anything from the epilogue forward did not happen
I really appreciate the time and thought you put into this. Even though the character is fictional, I believe this is a very important discussion to have. We tend to see characters in fiction as though they have to fall into categories. But Rowling proves that's not the case. People who sympathize with Snape's sad life, may feel that he never got the redemption he deserved, and end up making a lot of assumptions in his favor about things we simply don't see. The truth is, as in life, he has motivations that are completely his own, and people can't be broken down into simply good and bad, or even bad guy turned good. Not every story can be about total redemption. People are more complicated than that. Rowling created one of the most human characters I've ever read in Snape. I don't think he was good OR bad all the way through, and I don't think his story was about redemption. But I do think he was necessary... and above all, he was human... :-)
While I completely agree with the comparison, what I will say about Sirius is that I think a big part of why he sees Harry as James 2.0 was because he never got the chance to grow up. Sirius (who, I might add, had a crappy life from the get go and was quite clearly unstable because of it long before this), at the age of what, 21? Realised that his best friend had indirectly been killed by his other friend- and then his life stopped for twelve years. He was sent to what is basically hell on earth, forced to relive the worst moments and feelings of his life over and over and not able to feel or experience anything else. There's no progress there! No room for growth or maturity, only over a decade of mental torture. So I can't exactly blame Sirius when he comes out of that, looking like a deranged 30-something but, in his mind, essentially being the same inexperienced young man as before, only ten times more damaged. I don't excuse everything he did, but I can't fully blame him when he fails to grasp the concept of Harry being a separate person, when he resembles his father much more than the baby Sirius last saw him as, and I can't blame him for treating him as an equal with the same level of physical and mental strength as James. It's wrong of him, obviously, and the comparisons between him and Snape are really interesting, but I do feel like Sirius has more of an excuse.
"He never viewed Harry as his own person. He only viewed him through the lens of his love for Lily or his hatred of James."
SO GOOD!
Please, please consider doing another deep dive video on Dumbledore, who I think is equally complicated? 🎉
@Umamaheswari G Yeah, Dumbledore certainly has his problems, but some people are way too hard on him
He never loved Lily. Had he truly loved her, he would never have treated Harry so abominably. He was obsessed and fixated with owning Lily. Snape is utterly incapable of experiencing love.
@@MonCappy You don't think Snape is capable of loving or caring for others? He's not Voldemort.
@@anatoldenevers237 I don't.
Love this and I totally agree.
As much as it pains me to admit this, Sirius is guilty of this as well. He saw Harry more as his old friend James.
I think Stannis Baratheon said it best; “A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good.”
On the contrary, there’s Melisandre’s philosophy: “If half an onion is rotten, it is a rotten onion. A man is either good, or he is evil.” (Something like that)
God I love asoiaf
Black Posydon same
That's the excact Stannis quote I thought of when listening to this video. If Stannis was in the Harry Potter universe you know he would've Sectumsemprad Snapes fingertips for his crime of being a Deatheater while also making him his right-hand man for defecting to the good side.
@Tom Ffrench I’m not saying I agree with that quote it’s just another interesting philosophy from an A Song of Ice and Fire character
Snape probably hated Neville because Neville was the other possible boy born at the same time as Harry. If Voldemort had gone after Neville, and killed only that kids family, Lilly never wouldn't have died, at least in his own mind.
Finally! I was looking for a comment that mentioned this
This is true J.K confirmed this
Let's not forget that it was Snape's ex-friends, the Lestranges who tortured Neville's parents, one would expect Snape to feel bad for him, or even guilty, but being the psychopat he is, he tries to bully their son into suicide. Snape is an asshole.
No I disagree.Neville was awfully bad at magic and potions and even McGonagall used to constantly shout at him.And for all of them saying J.K confirmed this, I must ask if you too believe in Hermione being black
@@utube9627 McGonagall may have yelled at Neville, but she never insulted or bullied him. He wasn't bad at all magic. He was quite good at Charms and Herbology. Transfiguration was a legitimately bad subject for him, but he was actually decent at potions without Snape giving him abuse. He was only bad at potions because of Snape.
A point that struck me: when he tells phineas not to use the word "mudblood".. it really shows how much he regrets that moment.. when he calls lily a mudblood. That moment, to him, was the moment he lost her friendship forever.
Right? It's like he's saying:
"Don't use that word!" - I did once, and I deeply regretted it...
He called it out of anger
but did he say that because he now understands it’s wrong and hurtful or bc he seeks and craves lily’s approval so much to the point he was ashamed and almost traumatised by how lily reacted to him saying it, that he feared displeasing her ? read that again
@@faithdean9267 what? lily has been dead for almost 2 decades, she cant give him any approval? why is it impossible to think snape actually come to regret his actions? just because the memory of his best friend from childhood motivated him to do so?
@@RosaDiaz-cl9yr well, in Harry POtter there's an afterlife, so maybe he wanted to win her approval for the day he died.
Side note: The fact that Snape was Neville worst fear in the world and yet he still showed up to class everyday and attempted to participate as well as he could speaks volumes of his character as well. It's so brave to face his fear every single lesson and go through it continually without an end. Neville deserves more credit.
Also I really don't get how Lily ends up with James. If she was so ready to get rid of Snape for what he's done why was she so forgiving of James???
The part I don't understand either is why on earth would Harry then name his child after him??? I understand Severus was a complex character but to Harry he was never good. Calling his child after him didn't feel authentic and really it felt like Rowling trying to speak through her charcaters
Edit: wow I did not expect this many replies or interaction and fully see your points. James was trash but I was just interested in wondering whether she was willing to forgive him because she must have liked him. Severus is a whole other story and honestly Lily deserved better.
It also shows you the depths of Snape's terribleness. Neville is more scared of Snape than he is of the people who tortured his parents into insanity.
Forgiveness is much more easily given to those we already have positive feelings toward.
Maybe because we know James from Snape’s point of view. If we know James from his own perspective, we would understand why Lily chose him over Snape. (like Jaime Lannister from Ned Stark’s POV and from Jaime’s POV himself. It’s provides a huge difference on how we see his character).
Stevarooni and probably James is hot
I can’t believe what I’ve read ~🌚💔
- Neville worst fear isn’t Severus Snape,it’s being useless, and being around Severus or his grandma he’s not afraid of Bellatrix, he’s angry with her.
- good point, maybe she chose him because he’s a safe way compared to Severus complicated world.
- why shouldn’t harry James Potter named his son after him ?!
After saving his life a million times ~🌚
So harry names his son after Severus out of respect for this man sacrifices and bravery, because he deserves to be remembered!
“Do not pity the dead Harry , Pity the living, and above all those who live without love”. I genuinely think that’s a nod to snape’s arch. He’s never known real love
I disagree, this is a nod to Voldemort. Snape loved Lily, whilst it was never reciprocated in full by Lily, he always loved her and turned him bitter against James and Harry because they had what he didn’t.
Dumbledore spoke of himself as well. But he mostly spoke of Tom Riddle.
That’s because he refused to let go of his obsession with lily and move on with his life
One can pity Snape while still acknowledging that he's a bad person. A bad person who had a troubled childhood is still a bad person. A bad person who felt unrequited love is still a bad person.
No, I'm pretty sure Dumbledore meant those who live without feeling love (or even being able to feel love), not those who don't receive love. While Snape's infatuation with Lily was a little creepy in some aspects, Snape clearly was a person who could feel love. Dumbledore meant Tom Riddle and people like Tom. Snape was already dead by the time Dumbledore's ghost said this, so he couldn't even have been counted among "the living".
"Harry was mentally tormented by Snape because of his hate for James, but physically protected by Snape because of his love for Lily" - I loved this conclusion!
I only fell in love with Snape because he loved lily and was willing to protect Harry only for her and not for james
@@gdas4092 What a horrid reason to love a character. Snape is a disgusting villain and Rowling did a disservice to her audience by having Harry name a child after the two architects of his miserable childhood.
@@MonCappy he is the best villain
@@MonCappy then there is no reason to love lily and James or Harry's parents as a charecter... because the reason is very bad
ITs accurate as well
I think it's important to acknowledge Snape's home life pre-hogwarts when analysing his character. His father was a neglectful and abusive alcoholic, who had an extremely unhealthy relationship with Snape's mother, thus depriving Severus of positive examples of healthy love and attention as a child. This shines a lot of light on Snape's unhealthy behaviour toward Lily: he is starved for love and attention and fixates on her as the object of his affection but doesn't understand how reciprocal love and respect even work. Cases in point: he stalks her, shows no care for the people she loves (Petunia, and later Harry and James), and therefore her happiness, only that she pays attention to him. To Snape, Lily represents the IDEA of love and attention, but he does not view her as an actual person because he never learned how.
Snape's father was also a muggle. This is important because it is easy to see how he would form extremely negative associations with other people like his abusive father -- and revere people like his abused mother. This and his extremely self-absorbed understanding of how love works make him an obvious Slytherin (which, in canon, is typically an inherently negative thing) and extremely susceptible to Voldemort's pureblood supremacy indoctrination.
When Snape arrived at Hogwarts at age eleven he was already extremely damaged. His being in Slytherin house with all the other supremacists, and being bullied by James and Sirius, shaped this unhealthy child into an adult filled with hatred, with very few and skewed morals, and still a complete lack of understanding of how to love and be loved. His actions post-Hogwarts make so much sense when viewed in this light (note: the fact that they make sense does not make them okay in any way). It follows that he would have no moral qualms about killing and torturing muggles until the person who singularly represents all his unfulfilled need for love and attention is affected. Lily is so much more than a person to him; It makes sense her death would be enough to make him change sides.
Snape has lost his symbol of love, and instead found someone else: Dumbledore. In a way, Dumbledore is the father figure Snape never knew he needed. He treats Snape with the respect he never got. Say what you will about Dumbledore's morals, I think we can attribute all of Snape's burgeoning goodness to him. With this in mind, it makes a lot of sense that all of Snape's "good" acts serve Dumbledore's particular brand of goodness: "The Greater Good." And I think it says a lot about Dumbledore as well as Snape that Snape's character development only reached his sense of greater good and never changed the way he treats other people in his day-to-day life. He was still filled with hatred and took it out on everyone around him, especially Harry (and Neville), in an unquestionably abusive way. It is a shame that Dumbledore, who clearly was able to be a positive influence in Snape's life, was not a better person himself. I think if Dumbledore had cared, he could have helped Snape learn not to treat others poorly. But alas, we all know dumbledore is extrememly morally grey.
But ultimately, Snape's behaviour is on him. He is an adult, and though one can analyse and understand the reasons behind his actions (and love his character for its complexity!), it does not excuse them in any way.
> But alas, we all know dumbledore is extrememly morally grey.
Nah. He's just outright terrible. Sure, he fights Voldy. But I don't think there is any bonduary Dumbledor wouldn't cross to get rid of Voldy. Sure, he sacrifices himself and all that. But he would sacrifice anyone else too. He's… the best you can call him is "extremely utilitarian".
Harry had a shitty childhood too, but he didn't become an asshole or criminal
@@FelitiaLibrea-ni5rz I get that, but imagine the differences between the two in regards to love and affection. Harry grew up hated but not by his parents. At 11, Harry learned of a whole new world which loved him and found many examples of affection. Additionally, Harry learns from the start that his parents loved him so much that they died for him. Harry had a shit childhood but found love and learned the value of sacrifice in expressing that love. In contrast, Snape's own father hated him and represented an extremely negative presentation of everything non-magical, bullying and abusing both him and his magical mother. When Snape finds acceptance it's not at 11, it's during adulthood. He latches onto Lily without the object lesson Harry had in self-sacrifice and Hagrid's affability. He's introduced to magic in a house filled with cruel and unloving people, in contrast to Harry's loving friends. He's bullied and humiliated repeatedly, instead of Harry's (fickle, but appreciative) public image and immense social power. Snape did not have a father figure until Dumbledore and he's an incredibly morally grey one. Harry had Lupin and Hagrid and Sirius and the Weasleys and his idealized parents, many examples of affection and care that Snape did not receive. I agree with OP's opinion that Snape's actions and character are reprehensible and understandable but Harry's morality is also understandable because of the differences in their two lifes.
Dumbledore is extremely good. We read a very different series.
Like she said in the video the abuse makes you understand why it happens and why he is the way he is but it does not excuse the behavior of Snape against his own students. He is in a postion of power thats something that should never be abused.
Snape is one of my favorite characters - not because I think he's a good person, but because I think he's a brilliantly written and complex anti-villain.
Cannot wait to listen to this hour of analysation.
It has also LONG been my opinion that Snape never should have been assigned to work with children and (while he is of course responsible for his own actions as well) the responsibility for this ridiculous administrative decision must be laid squarely at Dumbledore's feet. Snape probably would have been fine teaching upper level students who were invested in doing well in their OWLS and NEWTS, but he was never going to have the patience or understanding to teach beginners. Dumbledore made some DEEPLY questionable decisions in his ultimate quest to win the war, and this was one of them.
Yeah one of the reasons that I used to think Snape wasn't that bad of a teacher, is because he basically bullied everyone (except his own house of course), and because Dumbledore and all the other teachers knew what he did in classroom and what kinda person he was, it didn't seem like a big deal. Because the faculty didn't treat like a big deal.
I thought it was one of those "British boarding school" elements JK clearly wanted to write about. You know, like mean, stuck-up teachers who'll wack your hands with a ruler of you break some arbitrary rule.
I'm still not sure how much Snape's character was supposed be like that and what was suppose to be clear abuse of power and the students.
@@atinity6749 Agreed. She did seem to really lean into the cruel boarding school teacher archetype for Snape before going on to really develop his backstory.
@@elizabethashley42 Eh, you often get at least one teacher similar to Snape in Europe and not even in a boarding school.
Considering how students were all vocal about how Snape treats 3/4 of the students, you would think that if it was so bad Dumbledore or at least the other Heads of the houses would have reprimanded him or cancelled some of the unfair points and detention. Not to mention that Slytherin's wasn't the only house with pure blooded lines, some of the parents of the abused students would have wanted a word or two with him. So either Harry and Neville got the brunt of majority of Snape's nasty behavior, their parents weren't in a position to help them for obvious reasons and McGonagall never bothered to correct his behavior or he was abusing everyone equally to Harry and Neville and the whole staff, including Dumbledore, enabled and ignored it. I can see Dumblefore ignoring it but I like to think that at least some of the staff would be repulsed by such behavior and would have done something about it if it was a major issue for multiple years.
Same here
For me the real "redeeming" quality of Snape, to a degree, is not the obsession with Lilly, but the amazing devotion for Dumbledore plus the huge toll of being a double agent. I still see him more as a horrible person that is reluctantly heroic, rather than a hero with a troubled past. I can see, however, the other side of the argument
He wasn't remotely heroic. He was a villain allying with the heroes to extract revenge against a greater villain.
@@MonCappy I wouldn’t call him a villain either. He’s too much of a protector to be a villain. What I mean by that is this- regardless of motivation, he still played an important role in keeping Harry alive and bringing Voldemort down. Protecting Harry during Quidditch, alerting the Order to the DA’s journey to the Ministry, spying for Dumbledore, protecting Draco all throughout HBP, protecting Harry in general…all of these actions hold Snape back from being a full-blown villain.
That being said, Snape is also way too much of a bully to be a hero. As a teacher, he behaves unprofessionally towards his students all the time. He is not a nice person.
In my mind, he is the quintessential morally grey character.
@@MonCappy If that was the case why would he sacrifice his life and his mental state if he didn't care about anyone besides himself? ust for revenge? Makes zero sence. He didn't liked dumbledore just for revenge. He didn't listen to dumbledore advise just for revenge. He did bad things with good and bad intentions and good things with bad and good intentions. Ultimately he had a way more positive impact on the world than negative. He literally saved millions of lifes. I think that's more positive than being a bully to a bunch of kids, even if he sometimes had bad intentions.
@@paulogaspar8295 Yes. Exactly for revenge. Hate is a powerful motivator. Voldemort agreed to spare Lily and then didn't. Snape hated him for that. After all, he wanted to possess Lily for himself. Also, his turning "spy" was to protect Lily only. He didn't care if her son and husband died and Dumbledore had to make Snape make an unbreakable vow to protect the son. Snape is no more good than the average Nazi.
*a horrible person
Or are you Frog I mean French and don't pronounce the "h"?! :'D
If anyone doubted Merphy’s fandom, let this video silence all doubts. She went above and beyond for this. Amazing stuff.
the amount of effort she puts in is insane
Who would doubt it though? Lol
This is gonna be one of those really high viewed videos.
Ah, someone can "doubt another's fandom" . There's so much gatekeeping in fandom culture
There's still big mistakes dough. Like saying that Neville is taking potion class in book 6...
Snape when Voldy kills Lily: "'I never thought leopards would eat MY face,' sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party."
i think the problem with snape was that he was always looking for power in his life because of the powerlessness he always felt as child. death eaters targeted him for a reason as a child and often times protected him from james. it messes people man. he was still awful though.
He also set Remus' class an essay on how to kill werewolves so Remus would have to read an essay by the son of his best friend about how vicious and evil he is and how to kill him. Lovely.
Sophia 123 bit of a gangster move tho
@@DG-tm2tn yeah if Remus was a bad dude I would applaud him.
I think he did it for Harry's safety. Cause after transformation they don't remember anyone. So he was giving them hints. And Hermione got it.
Not on killing werewolves, identifying them
@@DG-tm2tn okay that was actually the funniest comment I've ever read about Snape :'DDDD
"The human heart in conflict with itself is the only thing worth writing about." --George R.R. Martin
Wasn’t George quoting someone else when he said that? I think it was Faulkner.
@@bradymiller5006 He might've. I don't know. All I know is that if you watch a lot of Alt Shift X's videos on Game of Thrones you'll come across that quote saying it was from GRRM
@@KTChamberlain Nerd Soup too.
before you drive a crossbow bolt through it?
-writes about dragons, boobies, medieval softcore porn, ice zombies, incest, blood and guts-
Something I find really interesting about Snape is his worst memory-- in book 5, the chapter where Harry goes into the pensieve and sees him being bullied is literally titled "Snape's Worst Memory". We know that Snape has probably been bullied like this multiple times before, so what's different about this particular time? I think it's that he calls Lily a mudblood. We can see that he immediately regrets this, and this proof that he's capable of remorse really made him a much more gray character for me. But think about it. His worst memory isn't when Lily dies, which would make sense considering his obsession. The thing he regrets the most is when he hurts someone that he loves, which indicates to me that it was more than a one-sided obsession-- he really did care about her happiness.
I still think he's really not the best person, and there were lots of better choices he could have made. His motivations were still not justifiable, but I can really empathize with him when I think about this chapter.
Its the worst one cuz it happened with out prepare. Lilly ended the friendship even avter he tried to apologies which propably isen't easy for him.
When Lilly died it was athought that he had entertained for a while. He knew she was in danger. He traied to protect her from a distance but had no contact with her for years and years. So it definitly was horrible for him to finde her dead body, to see how he failed her. But I can see how this wasent saved by his subconcious as "the worst" he also was an adult and saw death many many times. While as a Kid he was more inocente in some way. More impresionable if you will.
The death of a loved one is ovten terrible and most of the times not a good memorie at all. But I find ppl deal with death easyer then with crualty and abuse. I think its cuz deep down we all know that death is part of nature no matter in what horrible ways it comes. While abuse and crualty, especialy towards one selfe, is much more disturbing to our psychy cuz it is man made and feels somewhat unnatural.
Thats what I think anyways. But you totaly have point, thanks for making me think about it!
Its also worth noting that Lily being the one to ''save'' him would have amplified his humiliation. I mean imagine what his fantasies would have been about, proving to Lily to he was worthwhile, that he was strong and powerful and a great wizard. Then look at what actually happened, not only was he powerless, helpless and humiliated, but the object of his affection has to rescue HIM and then he makes the mistake of lashing out at her in his pain.
It's the memory Snap knew it was the time he basically fucked up and was called out by her on his ball. She even pointed out to him that her own friends were questioning her about why she even bothers. The moment he found out what he was doing was getting her judged. Yet he didn't stop. This is the same guy who started the split between the two sisters that grow and grow even James didn't help. It's the thing with James and Snap one changed and one didn't. The one who changed got the girl they both wanted. James noticed what he was doing was wrong and the time he started to change Lilly started to like him. Snap never learned from that lesson. He was setting out to kill people like her along with his friends. It's like the saying about how you break a plate you can try to fix it but it will never truly be fixed. Yes Snap was bullied but doesn't change the fact he did have someone to support him but he broke that support.
He probably felt a lot of self loathing for hurting Lily. He probably thought he was just like his abusive father.
Josephine Tyler
There is no evidence that he killed someone before Albus .
Snape was a very broken person. Badly traumatised and very often on the edge of madness. He was eaten away of his selfhate and mirrored this hate into the outside world.
Therapy is so important.
It makes me curious how the story might have been different if Harry had been a girl. Would Snape have seen Lily instead of James in Harry? Would that have shifted his behavior?
That's very interesting. He definitely would have seen less of James in him (since Harry has such a striking resemblance to him as everyone says)
I've never thought about that before, and I would argue that it definitely would. Snape's obsession with Lily runs deep.
If harry looked like lily then I think snape would be a lot more like little finger from GOT
This combined with the fact that Tim Burton thought Alan Rickman was an amazing choice to play the blatant predator Judge Turpin in his adaptation of Sweeney Todd (he wasn't wrong, he was gr8 in that role) makes me super concerned for the hypothetical girl Harry. 0-0
If Harry was a girl and looked exactly like Lily... I wonder...😳😬
I find it so interesting how J.K. Rowling created a character that we the readers can hate so much (she's good at creating those types of characters) but then show that he is more nuanced than the stereotypical villain, even by going so far as to make some readers change their minds about how they feel towards Snape. Whether you love or hate Snape, he is a fantastically written character. You don't just hate him, like Vernon Dursley or Umbridge. You hate (or just extremely dislike) Snape for the horrible way he acts, but you can also feel sorry for him.
Merphy, your review made me realize that "making Snape good" or giving him layers was not just a plot twist the Rowling threw together in the last book. There were hints of Snape's depth throughout the series.
Vernon wasn't that bad either. I think he and Harry made some kind of peace. Snape was much worse to Harry than Vernon and Harry forgave Snape, although that may be due to working against Voldemort afterall. Umbridge was obviously worst.
Zac Clark I like how the fandom seemingly despises Umbrige even more than Voldemort. Who was basically a wizard version of Hitler lol
Yeah, I know right? The more personal it becomes for Harry, the more emotion the readers feel towards that character. At least that is my assumption.
Zac Clark Yeah that’s probably true.
I mean with Umbrige her cruelty seems more immediate, intimate even. Because you’re seeing it up close and done to people who you’ve so far become very attached to. You might forgive Snape but still condemn his treatment of Harry and Neville.
With Voldemort, I mean yeah we all agree that he’s a horrible person. But it’s more (for lack of a better word) academic. Like when you’re in history class learning about an atrocity. Sure you feel sympathy for the victims. But if you see your friend suffer some sort of crisis, you feel that tragedy more acutely. And Voldemort’s the big bad. So it’s like he has to be an evil douchebag. But Umbrige seemingly doesn’t need to be a bad guy. She probably doesn’t even care about magical supremacy all that much. She only likes it when it gives her power over others. But she still chooses that path.
The best villains are those we can understand. He's evil, but he's pitoable
Most unbiased and neutral analysis on Snape I've watched so far... You did a great job. Would really like to know your views on Dumbledore
Yesssssssss! 🙌🙌🙌 He is very complex, too.
I've always wondered how Snape would've acted had Lilly had a daughter who looked just like HER, but with James' ego and bullying habits. Would he have been more partial to such a student?
Woah! I would totally read a rewrite of hp with this premise. (I think Snape would still come off kinda creepy tho)
So we'd have Ginny Weasley as the main character
@@SpaceandGoats When was Ginny a bully? She even went out of her way to make friends with Luna (who was bullied) and stand up for her. And Ginny didn't have an over-inflated ego either. She was confident, but not arrogant. Also, in what way does Ginny look like Liliy, other than general good looks? Your comment makes no sense.
@@rhiannonmcdaniel2313 She didn't say anything bad about Ginny, she just said that if Lily and James had a girl similar to Lily we basically would have Ginny as the main character. Her and Lily in some aspects resemble each other (and they're both redheads lol)
@@tiredb3an I completely forgot that Lily was a redhead. Thank you for pointing that out.
However, I disagree on your point that she didn't say anything negative about Ginny. The original comment mentioned a character with Lily's looks and Jame's over inflated ego and bullying habits. Then she replied that that character would be like Ginny, which implies that Ginny has a massive ego and bullying tendencies. Both of which are negative things.
Even though we disagree, I do want to say thank you for taking the time to reply. :)
“That’s a theme with Snape, he is constantly trying to get these kids expelled, even though he’s also constantly trying to save Harry’s life”
Given the safety regulations this school has, I say getting expelled and staying safe go hand in hand!
Lol very true 😂
Dobby is the sanest character. Change my mind :p
yeah, to be the most safe place in the wizarding world, it isn't very safe.
Snape’s trying to chase students off so they don’t break their necks on those damn moving stairs. Lol. Once he got acquainted with Neville, “Yeah, this kid’s gonna die for sure.”
YOU COPIED A COMMENTER
Its almost like you could say that Snape is the most realistic character in the entire series. An extremely conflicted person with contradictory motives and horrible habits that stem from a mixture of his own ignorance and selfishness mixing with real trauma to cement it all. Then even through this, he switches sides, becomes pivotal and dies without cleaning any of his messes. Like him or not, from a psychological perspective, he is the golden gem of the series.
He's perhaps the most human character in this entire franchise.
Dobby once told Harry something along the lines of how he knew Harry was great, but he never realized that Harry was so good. Those are two different qualities. I think Snape has a ton of great qualities but very few, if any, good ones.
Nick T Exactly. Lestrade says about Sherlock that “Sherlock Holmes is a great man. And one day, if we’re very, very lucky he might be a good one.” I think the same goes for Severus.
I fucking love rhododendrons
Yeees!!! Same like the sorting hat tells Harry in the first book that he could be a great wizard if he gets sorted to slytherin!
Also I find Snap a some what unredeamable character and feel like J.K.R did that on porpus cuz it realy majes you ponder about forgiveness.
@MDarina Loyalty says nothing about how good a person is. Who they are loyal to and why is what says that. All of Snape's loyalties are linked to the abuse he suffered as a child. His loyalty to Lily was because he was starved of affection (which bled into then becoming his loyalty to Dumbledore) and his loyalty to Voldemort and the Death Eaters was because he was starved of acceptance. At least, that's how I see it.
@MDarina Fair enough, I did misinterpret what you were implying then. I still disagree however, that loyalty is necessarily good (whether I'm disagreeing with you or the general concensus is another thing).
I do think Snape was loyal at first, his loyalties changed later, but he wasn't that easily swayed. Even when Lily called him out on how evil the Death Eaters were, he stayed with them and that loyalty cost him his only real friendship. Then again, you can easily debate that so maybe I need to think about it more.
Snape is the reason why Hogwarts needs a counselor. Both for him and the students he abused.
Really, most of the wizarding world would benefit from counseling.
Counseling on schools is cynical bullshit. Instead bullies should be punished. Being bullied and then send to a counselor as if you just had some difference of opinion is nothing short of mockery.
@@MrCmon113 Too many underlying causes of bullying for simple punishment to solve the problem, but I understand why school counseling doesn't appeal. School counselors are often underpaid and overworked, at least in US schools, and don't have the tools or resources to actually get results.
I like to think that Neville, realizing nothing has changed within the magical world with taking care of the mentally insane (hearing about Ariana and then realizing about his own parents) and lack of tutoring system, would start to bring up change.
He’d focus mostly on setting up a tutoring system in hogwarts to help students like him that could’ve benefited greatly from people like hermione devoting some time to tutoring him. Using his position as head of gryffindor, he’d eventually also start to build a counseling system and though he might not be in charge of it, he’d certainly oversee as gradually he expands over the years from his tutoring to his school counseling and eventually, to the wizarding world and helping the mentally struggled.
Over his life time he’d become renowned for his deeds maybe even becoming deputy headmaster/ headmaster. It’d work because all these problems, he’s experienced in some way and can relate.
@@ex-holdenlindsay840
It doesn't solve the problem, but it at least adresses it. Offering "counseling" in such a situation is pathologizing the victim rather than helping her.
Another scene from book 7 that shows his good side is when he gives detention to Harry's friends by sending them to Hagrid. While the Carrows were using the Cruciatus curse, Snape chose instead to give them an escape from their very difficult life at Hogwarts that he was forced to create.
One aspect that I wish was covered was how useful he actually was to Dumbledore and the Order by getting information about Voldy and the death eaters. Not much is talked about his usefulness as a double agent.
Yesssss
THANKS THANKS THANKS. I've never heard someone mentioning this but it is so IMPORTANT. He even not only saved them from the Cruciatus curse (which i think he would do always, because he never really tried to hurt a student physical and he promised dumbledore) but he also not gave them a annoying work or something like this. I think earlier Snape would maybe given them detention with him or tasks they really don't like. But he did not. He send them with Hagrid, clearly knowing that this wouldn't be an punishment for them. I think he even knew that it would maybe be a bit fun for them.
@@sophie29 he tried to kill Nedvilles toad(book 3, "The boggart), was going to poison one of them to test their antidotes(book 4, "weighing of the wands"), threatened to poison harry with virtuiserum and have him tell all his darkest secrets in the Great hall durring a dinner(also book 4) and when Harry was struggling to cast noverbally(book 6) decided to demonstrate _by jinxing him_ and expecting him to repell it in silence.
Which, as I noted, Harry was struggling to cast silently at all, let alone on something as reflex dependant as pretego.
@@the_last_ballad I don't know what you wanna tell me. I didn't say I think Snape was friendly towards his students. I actually think his behaviour was horrible for the most time and he definitely bullied his students. I just said he didn't intentional hurt the students physical. That of course does not make the mental abuse in any way less awful. For the last part it's important to tell, he didn't do anything of that, when he could have punished Neville, Luna and Ginny. He had every possibility. If he wouldn't have changed his behaviour towards students at all, he would have punished them different (done something like you wrote in your comment). I don't think Snape is a friendly character but he did develop towards the good, beyond just saving Lily's Son. To the End I really think he changed truly to the good side (not just for lily) and would also have changed his way of treating students.
The scene with Snape that made me hate him most was actually the one in Book 4 where Hermione was cursed to make her teeth grow absurdly long and Snape says, "I see no difference."
Idk why, but for some reason, that scene was the scene that really made me hate Snape for a while. I know, objectively, it's not the worst thing he's ever done, but nothing else inspired nearly so much anger in me. No idea why.
I must be a horrible person then because even though I knew what he said was horrible, I actually laughed.
I also could never get this scene out of my head, and I think it has to do with him targeting something about a teenager’s self-esteem that she’s already self-conscious about, at least for me
I never saw this scene as that bad. It was a mean joke, certainly, but it was objectively harmless. I'd say Neville got it a lot worse than Hermione ever did, but that Harry got the worst treatment from Snape. Still, all of that said, I don't think Snape was that bad of a guy. He's definitely an asshole, but he means well; like Red Forman. I've just always seen him as a no-nonsense, "tough love" kind of guy and I've known a lot of them growing up so I never really hated the guy.
Hans Ollo “Objectively harmless” is a ridiculous statement as psychological damage can’t be quantified like that. Furthermore, Hermione literally changed her own teeth after he made that joke about her. It arguably traumatized her so badly and made her hate her body so much that she transmogrified it.
because it was so unnecessary and just pure evil...
I love Snape as a character. I hate him as a person. I identify with how hard years of abuse and bullying, and specifically the trauma that comes from that, makes being a good person. I understand how conditioning and indoctrination can twist a person and how difficult it is to overcome that.
But like you said in the video, that doesn't justify it. Snape made his decisions and if someone is willing to credit him for the good he has done, then they need to hold him responsible for the bad. And vice versa. Snape is one of the best fictional characters in almost any medium, but I'd still deck him in the face if I had the chance. 🤣
Exactly
I argree
Same. :)
I really like how you say that Snape is a good character and a bad person. In a writing sense, Snape is an amazing character, lots of hidden meaning, stuff like that. And I really like how Rowling made him seem gray in his morals.
But if I met him in person, I would hate his guts. Bullying children for no reason? That’s horrible.
People who hate him see from a ‘personality’ perspective. But I believe that he’s a great character
Another point; although he's not "evil", am I the only one who finds it kinda dumb that jk rowling decided to make Harry name his son after him?
I think the "Always" scene is always pointed too as him being obsessed. I think this moment is more sad than anything else and explains a great deal about why he is the way he is and why does what he does. I don't think people truely understand the patronus charm. To produce a full body patronus, you have to use your happiest memory as a kind of flame. And we almost know for a fact that he uses that memory of Lily that we see in the pensive from them being great friends when they were younger. That means this grown man hasn't had a single other sufficently happy thing happen in his life. Neither at home, school, work, nothing. He went through so much as a kid and never got any relief after making a bad decision that costed him the only person who ever made him happy. The man was a walking black hole, and honestly I understand how Harry saw him later in life as one of the bravest men he had ever known. After everything in this world that he loved or made him happy was gone. He still managed to find the strength to fight someone else's war for the good of the world. He could have just run away, abandon this all. As his deal with Dumbeldore was essentially over. He didn't manage to keep her safe like he promised to. It really does take a strength of character even if it was gained through less than good circumstances. I would also like to add that ofcourse his treatment of children is awful. But I doubt anyone could think he was treated any differently when he was younger and ofcourse scars run deep. While this man risked his neck to save the child over and over. He certainly wasn't happy that this was the circumstance he had to live in. Again, a walking black hole that has lost everything. Snape wasn't the nicest man Harry knew, just the bravest.
You made me realise how close snape and dumbledore actually were. Snape killing dumbledore would have been like killing a longtime close friend
I just wanted to point out an interesting similarity between Dumbledore and Snape. It's interesting to me that Dumbledore and Snape both only turned away from the Dark Arts when it cost them people they loved- and not only that, but after they themselves played a hand in said loss of loved ones. Snape with Lily, Dumbledore with his sister Ariana. They didn't make the choice to do better out of a burst of moral courage, but our of guilt and grief. I just think that's worth remembering.
That's exactly what it was. I believe Snape cared deeply about Dumbledore after serving him faithfully for a decade and a half
@@ajiththomas2465 Yeah but at least Dumbledore had actual compassion for those who were oppressed, like muggle-borns and house elves. So we can def say even though Dumbledore was flawed, he was a much better person than Snape at heart.
@@gabrielgray2345
And that was after decades of maturing as a guy over 100 years old. Before that, when he was Snape's age, he was very much in line with Grindlewald and the Greater Good of Wizard Supremacy. You also have to remember the differences in their upbringing playing a role in their personality, between Dumbledore and Snape. Dumbledore grew up in an affluent Pureblood family and was always praised and hailed as a prodigy growing up and attending Hogwarts, where he was most probably pretty popular there. Snape grew up in an impoverished socioeconomic background with a drunk abusive Muggle father and wasn't nearly as popular in school and often the target of bullies. His descent into becoming a Death Eater came about because according to Rowling, Snape just wanted to be in a group that accepted him and where he could belong and he mistakenly saw it in the company of future Death Eaters. If someone was there to have guided him and showed him a different way, Snape very well could've turned out differently.
People are often products of their environment, and when that environment is one devoid of love and also filled with the stress of death and war, it is not surprising that Snape is the product we get. Snape was treated very badly. He was never shown love. Not from his peers, his parents, or the authority figures put in place to protect him. The only love that he was shown was from Lily, but even that memory is tainted with overwhelming guilt and sadness. Now, this all leads the man Snape became. A bitter, rude, mean, caustic man who lashes out over his anger and old wounds. Now, he couldn’t very easily lash out at oh say Dumbledore, or the other teachers, or, god forbid, The Dark Lord/Death Eaters. So, he lashes out at the children. Once again, this is a huge flaw and it's something I can’t AND won't justify, but I urge you to look beyond just Snape’s actions and take into account the context of his background. That's not to whitewash over Snape's action but to simply understand the context.
I think one of the most profound characteristics of Severus Snape is how tragic he is and how if certain circumstances were different, he could've realizzed his full potential and not be dragged down by the past. The tragedy of Severus Snape is not “oh no, he didn’t get the girl.” The tragedy of Severus Snape is “he was fucking brilliant, but was never able to escape a cycle of psychological grooming and abuse; he could have transformed the Potions world with his discoveries, but his inability to deal with the people around him led to his discoveries being buried.” The tragedy is “in a fairer, better world, he would have naturally been an eccentric, but a better eccentric; he could have done so much good, and never saw it in himself that he could do so.”
These are one of the things that really upset me because he was absurdly FUCKING intelligent.
It doesn’t matter whether or not Snape was reactive, reactive doesn’t mean, “If you put your mind to it, you can do it.” The shit Snape was capable of all while teaching himself is ASTOUNDING. This shit he taught himself as a child, he made his OWN spells and counter spells, he CORRECTED school assigned books, by the way, he IMPROVED them. And we have to remember that contrary to Sirius Black's false claim that "[Snape} knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year,..." that Snape grew up in a poor socioeconomic home life with an abusive drunk father who despised Magic. It'd be pretty damn impossible for someone of Snape's background growing up to really be that knowledgable of Dark Arts or Magic when he first entered Hogwarts. Like, when you think of all that Snape was capable of at a young age, and then as an adult, it infuriates me.
Imagine how different his life might have turned out if the bullying decreased and Dumbledore had taken in interest in him? Imagine what his life would have been like if more than one person had cared for him?
Snape undoubtedly would’ve had his quirks, but as mentioned, if he lived in a fairer world, imagine what kind of live a man who could do non verbal, wandless magic, as well as unassisted flying. I’m pretty sure that many witches/wizards can’t do that and, if they can, not all three. It’s just so crazy that Snape would have turned out different and could’ve have made a different and more positive contribution to society if he had a life like James. Or if people had taken him in and defended him like they did Sirius.
Parts of Snape may have been drawn to darker ideas and magic, but that doesn’t erase that, deep down inside he was good or, at least, wanted to be. It should be remembered that Albus Dumbledore was largely into the same stuff as Snape was at his age, all about Grindlewald and "The Greater Good' (read: Wizard supremacy over Muggles). Granted, Albus didn't have the poor socioeconomic background, abusive home life, and authorities who wouldn't raise a finger to help him like Snape did but I think the similarities are apparent. And Albus Dumbledore grew up to be one of the greatest wizards of his time. The same could've happened to Severus Snape if he wasn't dragged down and stifled by his past.
I don't think the similarities between Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape are just coincidence. I think they're 2 sides of the same coin. And who knows, maybe if Snape had lived a few decades more, he would've ended up becoming a second Dumbledore in terms of worldwide fame and prowess.
@@ajiththomas2465 THIS- The tragedy of Severus Snape is “he was fucking brilliant, but was never able to escape a cycle of psychological grooming and abuse; he could have transformed the Potions world with his discoveries, but his inability to deal with the people around him led to his discoveries being buried.” The tragedy is “in a fairer, better world, he would have naturally been an eccentric, but a better eccentric; he could have done so much good, and never saw it in himself that he could do so.”
100% TRUE!!! Finally somebody who understands!!! He never had a chance...so sad...such loss for wizarding world...
Our book club discussed Snape a lot, too. We came to the conclusion that Snape is actually a cool guy and all, but he is the worst possible teacher and he should never have been allowed to teach at Hogwarts. Ever. But Hogwarts does not have the best education system in general, so ¯¯\_(ヅ)_/¯¯
Taking a bit of a Sherlock quote here: Snape was a great man, but he was never a good one.
Oh wow that makes sense in a the strangest way he was a bad good guy in a way
^
EXACTLY.
“In muggle terms” it’s funny cause you’d need to know what a muggle is to understand the phrase “in muggle terms” but not know anything else about magic to need it interpreted.
So like the Dursleys? 😁
I love this analysis of Snape. You're fair to him, and recognise that he DID do a lot of good things, and that he was coming from a place of pain with a lot of his negative actions - but you don't let him off the hook either. You still hold him accountable for his behaviour.
It's perfect. It seems like especially after this last re-read, you really understand the character.
I love the way she clarifies how she come to view Snape differently.
"Voldemort has asked Lily to stand back multiple times, but she refused, so he HAD TO kill her"
WHAAAAAAT?
Looks like Voldemort had all the other spells forgotten exept for "avada kedavra".
-How does it go... hmmmm... Expala... Expilio... Expoloar... pfff, forget it, Avada Kedavra!
stupify?
Man i imagine this scene, voldemort rolling his eyes you know what FINE avada.. loooooool
🤣😂🤣😂
Ok that got a genuine laugh out of me.
After your analysis, I've changed my opinion on Snape, and I was afraid of that going in to this.
In my eyes now, Snape is a hero...as defined by Greek Mythology.
He is tragic, he has done wrong, he does heroic acts, and ultimately he ends being a complicated figure.
Thats a really good way to put it
Just finished! Love him or hate him this has been one of the most unbiased analysis of Severus Snape. Just as Merphy put it he is not 'evil' or a saint. He's done horrible stuff which can't be forgiven but he's also done SO many things that without him the war against Voldemort might not have been won. The only sure thing is that without Snape the series would not have been as amazing as it was! (Shout out to Alan Rickman for portraying him PERFECTLY RIP)
This!!☝🏽 yess perfectly said!
Alan Rickman.
I started typing to compliment him, but I seriously am at a loss of words.
So I guess, Alan Rickman, that's it. And somehow that's enough.
I agree! She's neither condemning nor defending him, she's simply spelling out what he's done, good and bad, and explaining who he is as a person.
Yk, the more I think about it, the more Sirius and snape have in common. Both were raised in abusive households (snapes home life definitely felt that way, from the little we know) has that one friend they care insanely about and CANT MOVE ON FROM THE PAST. They also can’t seem to seperate Harry from the people they knew and refuse to see him as his own person. They both can’t move on from what happened and haven’t been able to mature all that much or grow since their teenage years, like when Sirius constantly puts both him and Harry in danger by visiting him and when Harry tells Sirius to stop visiting he goes “you’re less like your father than I thought, the risk is what would’ve made it fun for him” proving he still wants to mess around with, what is essentially a reincarnated form of his best friend in his mind. And then with snape who constantly compares Harry to his father and treats him like such without realising that he’s his own person. So yeah.
People always say that Snape is very biased towards Slytherins
That’s true
But what about Dumbledore? He’s almost as biased as Snape but towards Gryffindors and Harry.
Where is Dumbledore biased towards Gryffindor? Harry, I think we can all understand. He knew how much Harry would have to suffer. He also needed to make sure that he learned to protect himself, so the bias is completely justified.
He could be accused of showing favoritism in the points he awards Harry et al at the end of the year. Yes they were always for something great and deserved but it's no coincidence the amount of points he decides they deserve is always just enough to secure them the house cup and always awarded at a point where there were no more opportunities for any other house to earn any.
To be frank I don't quite understand WHY Snape is so biased towards Slytherin.
At that point in his life (book 1 and onward) did he still care about the pureblood bullshit? I don't think so honestly. So why? Doesn't seem like the type who would get attached to a house or institution so it would be out of character for him to have this huge Slytherin pride imo.
You can't even say he was kind to Draco because of his father because at this point he hated Voldemort and the DEs.
So just why is he so obsessed with Slytherin?
camtuck I agree
Dumbledore always just saw himself as right lol. If he was biased towards Harry that's probably because he kept Harry in an abused home and planned for him to die pretty young.
Starting to watch, something I found a long time ago and want to point out (which is more about Rowling's writing), in book 5 when Harry saves Dudley, he mentions the Dementors and Petunia shrieks, saying that they do exist, Harry is surprised and she says "I heard that awful boy tell her about them years ago", and Harry is angry "If you talk about my parents you can at least use their names".
For a long time I took that line as nothing special... but after re-reading the books a long time ago I realized that she is talking about Snape and Lily, a scene that we later see in Snape's memory. She already planted that Snape was in contact with them in the 5th book in perfect context which is in my opinion amazing foreshadowing.
And now, to the video!
Almog Dov Now THAT, is an “Ah Ha” moment!
I always felt that at the end of book 6, as Severus was leaving Hogwarts with the Death Eaters, he was still trying to teach Harry an important skill he would need against Voldemort: non-verbal magic. Unfortunately Rowling completely dropped that plot thread in book 7. I also felt readers were deprived of watching Harry grow as a character by not having him come to terms with Snape while Snape was alive. Instead we see young Harry always see Snape as evil and then in the epilogue he obviously sees him differently but we never see the transition and growth actually happen. Missed opportunity.
honestly?? same for Snape actually, JK didnt allow him to grow from one of his biggest mistakes: see harry for who he was; I think thats why he is still grey and I am okey with that but agh I know they would have grown to at least like each other, Harry admired the prince so much, total bummer
In the later part of the series I think rowling realized that there were a lot of loose ends that needed to be tied up. It seems like she tried not to expand things too much because it would be harder and harder to wrap up the storylines of each character. Would have been impossible to please everyone
On the Shrieking Shack scene: Snape thought that Sirius was the one who betrayed Lily. Furthermore, Sirius was already sentenced with the Dementor's Kiss and Snape was sure that Lupin was involved in the situation and had reason to believe that that was true.Lily's death weighed heavily on Snape but he most likely put a lot of blame on Sirius because he was the one who revealed the whereabouts of the Potter's to Voldemort or so Snape believes. He doesn't have much reason to trust either Sirius or Lupin nor does he have much reason to put any stock in Harry and Hermione's objections to how he handles the situation. Snape also entered the room right when Lupin was about to begin the story of him becoming a werewolf so he missed all the chatter about Pettigrew and even if he did hear some of it, his mind was focused on getting into the room undetected so he most likely would not have taken anything in. I can forgive Snape for his brashness here even with the viciousness that he shows in the scene.
Also, I think it's significant Snape went down that tunnel at all. The situation was recreating a terrible childhood trauma for him after all, where he almost died a terrible death. And it always pisses me off a bit (in a very nonconstructive way lol) how people tend to absolve Lupin of all responsibility for what happened that night. He was a teacher in a school full of children, and he "forgot" to take a potion that prevented him from turning into a killer monster. Lupin's life situation sure is pitiful but what happened still proves he isn't responsible enough to be a teacher, and that Snape was kind of right about it all along, even if his approach to the problem was as horrible and snape-ish as is usual for him.
Agree with all of this. Hate it when people blame Snape for Pettigrew getting away and assume he reacted because of a grudge, when they're far off the mark. They really shouldn't become therapists or detectives.
I also don't really blame him for outing Lupin. If you have a medical condition where every month you turn into rapid dog with a taste for human flesh, well you had better remember to take your potion! Lupin for whatever reason forgot to take it that night, and he very nearly could have gotten someone killed
Very true. While Snape might feel some mean personal satisfaction to turn two of his old school bullies in, I don't think it was his leading motive there. At this point, he still fully believes that Sirius was the one who betrayed Lily and that he was a truthfully convicted murderer, OF COURSE he would want to see him dead for this. We can blame him for brushing off Harry like that and not listening to him, but we know Snape basically considers Harry an idiot at that time (plus he is a child), you don't let a convicted murderer go because a kid says so.
Wasn't the reason for Lupin forgetting his potion that he studied the Marauders Map and he saw both Sirius Black and (!!!!!!!) Peter Pettigrew?!
The reason why Snape followed them into the Shrieking Shack is that he saw that Lupin entered the tunnel under the Willow (or was already inside, I don't recall, doesn't matter). And Snape got mad and didn't let them explain because he also already saw Sirius Black and he thought Lupin was helping Black.
The potion needs to be taken for a whole week. Lupin just forgot one day because he saw someone on the map who he believed to be dead.
Both of them were a bit hasty in this situation and I don't think you can blame either one for it.
I personally love how well Snape's journey mirrors the journeys of real life supremacists. They often come from broken or troubled homes, bully other people to feel stronger, get indoctrinated into horrible cult like groups that make them feel like they belong and don't see any reason to get out until the shit really hits the fan. Only the ones that are able to get some serious help are able to become happy, kind, functioning beings but many never do. I think Snape could have turned into a much better person but the only person he had to turn to was Dumbledore. The fact that Snape committed any good deeds at all truly surprises me. I'm not saying Snape had an excuse for all his misdeeds, but I just don't think he had the tools to fully change and be a better person. It's not like there's any therapists in these books for him to go to.
I felt this video really missed the mark when analyzing Snape's character. When she talks about some of his actions there is no mention of this indoctrination and lack of tools, which are major parts of why he behaved the way he did. The early family life is really important and sent him of this loveless track. Overall I agree with the opinion that Snape is a REAL character , flawed, but not devoid of on any good, but there needed to be more perspectives/history/motivations pulled in, other than his 'obsession'.
Turned out into better person? Well how? Maybe if he ditched his love of the Dark Arts. He wasn't loved at his house and he didn't have anyone who could help him. Snape joined Death Eaters because he loved the Dark Arts and because of his experiences with his father and Petunia. He wanted to be part of something important. But it wasn't for same reasons that Lucius and Bellatrix.
Except there was edith.
@@edithjimenez4027 he was a grown ass man bullying kids, he had all the time in the world to change and become a better man but he didn't. The only reason he cared is because Voldemort was gonna kill lily if he hadn't snape would still be following him around
@@ellag3265 the actual ratio is fairly hard to pin down.
Reading Harry Potter again made me realize how powerful a character Lily was and how everything that happened somehow linked back to her actions.
In regards to Snape's hatred for Neville, I've often wondered whether he treated Neville so horribly, not because Neville was easy pickings, but because he resented that Voldemort went for Harry instead of him.
I have a really raw opinion of Snape, and I only had my bully teacher for a year. Lots of students had Snape for seven. Neville's boggart was Snape, not the Death Eater that tortured his parents into insanity, or Voldemort, or a boggart. His was a teacher. Someone who was supposed to nurture him and protect him where his parents couldn't, and Snape went to town on him because he was a bitter man. While Snape became hateful because of his bullies, Neville became a hero inspite of his.
While I LOVE Snape's character as he is written, and how flawed and how deep his rabbit hole goes, I have mixed feelings. For example, what's the point in changing if you're only going to be remembered for what you changed from? That said, Snape's motivation to change feels uncomfortable. He'd still be a Death Eater if Voldemort had killed Neville instead. He didn't care if Lily's son was killed so long as she was okay. His reason for protecting Harry right up until Dumbledore said the boy needs to die, was Lily, and not the fact that Harry was an innocent boy caught in a madman's war. If Snape hadn't been obsessed with Lily at all, he'd still be a Death Eater. Yet, with the rug of Lily pulled out from his feet, he did continue to fight Dumbledore's fight.
I couldn't forgive him for hurting children. I'll never like him as a person. But I can be grateful when he did the right thing.
That's my opinion anyways.
I thought the same of Snape's special distaste with Neville and came to the comments to write that, but you put it much more beautifully than I would've 🤗
Well said
I feel the same. I don’t forgive him. But I also don’t forgive James because yes they may have bullied each other but if Snape started it (idk if he did) but James could’ve been the bigger person and told snape they should just be civil. If James started it then that means he started bullying someone who didn’t do anything to him and I’d call that pretty cruel. But I still think snape is an ass and I don’t fully forgive him. But I love him because he has a great backstory and he’s a well written character
arienrhod he had a potential for growth throughout the entire series. It’s not that redemption was denied. He had ample opportunity to not be petty, vindictive, and bitter. He chose not to. The beauty of Snape’s character is that he doesn’t have a perfect redemption arc, it makes his story more human.
arienrhod Damn, my friend. I thought I had some rather wicked teachers during my school days. But your experiences make mine sound insignificant.
I’m so sorry you had to go through that.
I made peace with my Snape like teachers, because I did consider them good teachers overall. Though many of my cousins are professional educators, so maybe seeing “behind the curtain” so to speak made me appreciate what methods my teachers were implementing. And I was rather a little shit during my school days.
If Snape had given Harry like 20 seconds to explain himself in the occlemensy lesson, he would’ve realized Harry was mortified and completely different than James. Just my thoughts 🤷♂️
Perhaps but it probably wouldn’t have helped, they both wanted to get out of that situation, and Snape is not one for pity, either for him or from him. Plus not only did Harry violate trust by looking at Snape’s memories without permission (the circumstances are different Snape never took pleasure in viewing Harry’s memories, it was a result of the job he was made to do), it would have been clear not only that Harry didn’t have the talent for Occlumency, but he had no desire to learn it so what was the point in teaching him?
"just talk" strikes again
No way that wouldve worked. If Snape had the capacity to be reasonable about Harry at all their relationship wouldnt have been hostile to begin with. There is never a situation where Snape can judge Harry harshly and he would rein that in to see whats actually happening. Judging Harry is what he wants in the first place.
True
@@krisynthiagomez5883 Your interpretation of Snape's repeated mind rapes as lessons disgusts me.
17:30 Left hand man actually. Minerva is the right hand... man. Minerva McGonagall is the cloak, and Severus Snape the dagger. One operates in the open the other in the shadows. Neither is given the full picture because Dumbledore is not nearly as nice as we're lead to believe.
While I do love and appreciate McGonagall, I think Snape was more of a right hand man, just because he knew a lot of stuff she didn't. I don't think McGonagall knew much more than what all the other members of the Order did, though Dumbledore certainly trusted her too.
of course Dumbledore is not that nice, the main difference between him and voldemort, or better, grindewald, is his main target.
I hate that narrative that Dumbledore is not that nice. He did the smart thing playing things close to his chest. His entire life he witnessed betrayals. Tom Riddle charming everyone in Hogwarts, Pettigrew/Sirius, Snape finessing Voldemort and Grindelawd costing him so much.
@@nessyness5447 how is that the main difference? Dumbledore made questionable decisions, sure, but everything he did was to save thousands if not millions of lives. Voldemort just wanted power and eternal life.
Plus, unlike Voldemort, who did not know how to love, Dumbledore was caring and compassionate and he, despite everything, loved Harry, which is why he felt terrible about what he would ultimately have to ask Harry to do...
And even though he knew Harry would have to die to stop Voldemort, he managed to figure out a way in which Harry would also be spared (by sacrificing himself to Voldemort, so that Voldemort would inadvertently only kill his own horcrux). Of course he wasn't 100% sure it would work, but it was legitimately the best option he had.
@@scarletleader5420 so, your first point only supports mine, they both did bad things, but for different reasons.
I think people forget about the role of everyone else at Hogwarts when he was abusing these kids. Did the other teachers not know that? Did Dumbledore not know that? Clearly, while the staff didn't approve of his methods, they at least tolerated them. I think this speaks volumes of how the culture was simply different than ours and helps explain why - in Snape's mind - what he was doing wasn't that bad after all. This is not to justify him, but clearly there was something deeply wrong in the system, if he always managed to get away with everything.
Okay, if it was abuse, then Mcgonagall would have said something. She litterly went off on moody and Umbridge, the two that did abuse children. She talked shit about Trelawney for scaring kids. Did she do this with Severus? No. Until the end of the sixth book, she and the rest of the staff respected him.
that says more about how were meant to see snapes shit behaviour.
As if Dumbledore would've done anything
It's not becuase there was a bad culture or something wrong with the system. If that were true then Moody and Umbridge would've had thrived in Hogwarts. That was not the case. The real reason they let Snape do his tug was becuase they knew him and knew how much he had suffered to some degree or other. He was a student of a lot of the teachers there after all.
Being totally frank, I think we're looking a little too deeply when we try to talk about whether or not the Hogwarts staff were enabling a culture of child abuse, especially because we're primarily talking about the first three or four books. At that point, Snape is an exaggeratedly cruel children's book character, and Hogwarts is an exaggeratedly bonkers school.
ramywiles hit the nail on the head with his comment. I think almost everyone of us can remember at least one strict and injust teacher from his school days who had "Snape moments" and who wasn't ruled in by the rest of the school staff either. Snape in the early books was the over-the-top personification of the strictest and meanest possible teacher, which made him a very strong antagonist for school kids, who would associate their own negative experiences with teachers with Snape and could very much relate to Harries fear and hatred and his frustration because he was powerless against that teacher. This in turn also helped to reinforce the red herring that Snape was also the culprit for the actual villain plot or at least in league with him, since we'd expect the over the top mean teacher to be brought down and get what he deserved in the end.
We may also assume that a small amount of physical abuse that leaves no marks like a slap or a push on the head are not as much of a no go in the wizarding world as they are in the real world nowadays, given that the wizarding world seems to be stuck in the Victorian Age in many other aspects, too. You don't even have to go back that far in the real world. When I was a kid in the eighties/nineties, teachers had been forbidden to use physical punishment on kids for decades, but it still occasionally happended that a kid who was being bratty received a light slap or a kid who didn't pay attention and was talking with his desk buddy in class got a piece of chalk thown at him - and the usual reaction of most parents usually wasn't "Oh no, we must report that horrible child abuser to the police at once and do everything to get him sacked!" but rather "Well, if you angered that usually chill guy that much, you probably deserved it."
Snape is the perfect example of a tragic character. You can see his desires thwarted through many things he does. If only he had this...if only he had that...if only. By the end, he has had an unusual arc that is redemptive, yet heartbreaking, not because he was this poor abused kid who never stood a chance, but because he was this conflicted, intelligent man who couldn’t let go of his hatred and pride in order to gain the love and acceptance he so desperately wanted. He thwarted himself. And it seems as if he realizes this near the end. His realization of self-sabotage is far more moving and relatable to me than his “unrequited love” (as so many people like to call it) for Lily. I think the true beauty of his personal journey is often overshadowed by people’s obsession with his obsession, and that always disappoints me because there is so much more to Snape than Lily. And his particular relationship with Lily spoke worlds about his true desires and skewed perceptions. Thanks for this analysis, btw. I completely agreed with every word. I love Snape’s character, but I have hard time discussing him with other people because they either glorify him, justifying his completely unacceptable behaviors, or beat him into the ground so hard you’d think his role in the story had no merit at all. :/
Snape was an awful person
and he was a hero
I look up to him for his bravery.
But I despise him for his cruelty.
He was an awful teacher.
Yeah. I love him but I know that he's shitty and great.
If you were bullied relentlessly as a teen and then discarded by the only person you love, you would be cruel and awful, but I see where you’re coming from
Very clear and precise analysis
@@justsomedork8729 He bullied people as well. And he started with Petunia long before he even met James.
He also was actively trying to become a deatheater and practiced dark magic on the people he bullys.
You are implying that it was only James who bullied Snape and Snape did nothing wrong. I think we can trust Lupin when he sais that they were bullying each other at the same level. Also even Lily said that he was bullying people and used dark magic on them.
I am not trying to defend James and Sirius but Snape was at least just as bad when they were children. And opposite to James and Sirius he didn't really change his ways.
I mean, he was ok with Harry and James getting killed if that meant to safe Lily.
Today definitely is a good day- an entire hour talking about Snape
You mean everyday, right? :)
When he tells phineus not to call hermione a mudblood, I feel like that was a very small but very important scene to show how far he’s come along
I would like to see one for Dumbuldore he's confusing to me cause the raising of harry to be a pig at slaughter is hard for me to move from cause he is one of my favorite characters
Dumbledore is so fascinating because, having been through so much, he has such an ethereal relationship with death. I don't think he was intentionally raising Harry for slaughter but rather valuing Harry's time alive so he could have meaning in his death.
He’s always been one for the greater good after all..
@@aberdeen0107 why hasnt he removed the horcrox that harry didnt know about
While Dumbuldore's plan... makes basically no sense, as it would require him to be basically precognitive, *that* part I think simply ties into the "look of triumph" he had when Harry told him Voldemort used his blood in his resurrection. Which again ties into Dumbuldore's unwillingness to kill Voldemort at the Ministry.
As Dumbuldore said in OotP, one of his greatest faults in his handling of Harry was caring too much. I think he had a clue, an idea of least, of how to use the blood protection to save Harry from the destruction of the Horcrox, but to do so, first Voldemort's body containing said blood would have to survive. For all of the risk to everyone else that entails. While secondly, Harry would be required to go to his death willingly. In order for the magic to be properly triggered.
@@kristyna907 not everyone. Some people see him as the defition of evil. I think he's just a very complex character and i love him very much.
I think a very very important thing to admit to while talking about Snape is the following:
1. trauma and abuse can be the cause behind a lot of toxic behavior in people
2. cause =/= excuse. being exposed to abuse does not mean you are allowed to inflict it.
3. a good, well-rounded character =/= a kind and unproblematic character. stop expecting loved and interesting characters to be the irl version of good.
4. young James: bully. inexcusable. grew up, but we can't erase his past. young Snape: HP version of racist. participated in HP version of Hitler soldiers. stop saying Lily should've forgiven Snape who didn't apologize for being a bigot and using slurs until after she was endangered.
inkyblinky James only grew up because he got what he wanted: Lily. Why did he and Sirius target Severus in the first place? Because of his closeness to lily.
@@1090Ideasno I don't think James really grew up
Even Snape grew up dude
TDKarpa When did he stop being a bully? When Severus wasn’t in the picture, right? Why target the kid I’m the first place? because of his closeness with his love interest. Once Severus screwed up and was out of the picture, James got his shit together ...but it was only because of that fall out.
@@maitremridul He lied to Lily, saying he stopped bullying Snape, but still kept bullying him (this is told by Sirius in the books) The only growing up he did as far as we know is that he graduated and stopped having Snape nearby to hex... Sounds like he didn't change that much...
The worst part about Snape is that he is an able teacher. He’s not like lockhart who simply had know idea what he was on about snape knew his shit. This makes it worse as he was deliberately sabotaging his students education.
Being a subject matter expert is totally different from being able to teach that subject matter, especially to children.
I don't condone all the stuff Snape did, but that one bullying scene in book 5 really disgusts me.
James tries to FORCE Lily into going out with him by bullying Snape. Then he basically sexually harasses Snape by taking off his pants. I'd hate to see what else James did to them. It's really disturbing.
Isn't it more of he took advantage of the situation to try and exchange a date when Lily asked him to do something. I agree what he did at 16 was disgusting, but to be fair people are more than their worst actions at 16. As far as we're told, James deflated his head and grew out of such behavior. And that's why Lily gave him a chance.
@@Tasha9315 Sure, but I think this still has to be discussed because Snape is often accused of being an incel, or having a "creepy obsession" with Lilly. As far as I remember throughout all the books, Snape never actually makes any advances toward her, and I always thought that he loved Lilly in an a-romatic type of way. If anyone was making inappropriate advances toward Lilly, it was definitely James, even though he did later make efforts to clean up his act. If you read the Chapter in OOTP immediately after "Snape's worst memory", Harry actually expresses this exact sentiment in his inner monologue
@@robfl100 Yes, it was inappropriate, but I feel it's sometimes exaggerated. Snape from his background wouldn't be inclined to such behavior unlike James who raised to be spoilt, privileged and entitled. Plus, Lily was Snape's friend. But like you said, James did later clean up his act or Lily wouldn't have dated him. He also loved Lily. But some fans degrade his love in comparison to Snape's and insist he didn't love Lily or didn't love her as much simply based on his 16 year old actions before they even dated.
People can be right crapbags at age 16. They do usually grow out of it. And an embarrassing memory from your own perspective is always 1000x worse than what it is usually is. James wasn't a super good guy. He got better though.
Assuming that wasn't a constructed memory of course. It would be in Snape's character to poison Harry's view of his father with such a tableau. After all, before Harry viewed the memory, Snape repeatedly violated his mind over countless sessions. He saw from Harry's own memories how the Dursleys treated him. Also, considering he is a spy working for two masters, there is no way in hell he would've been careless enough to leave his pensieve open where Harry (someone he perceived as an enemy) could access it. It was likely a deliberate act.
Now personally, I think the scene was likely based on a real incident, but carefully edited and embellished to present James and Sirius in the absolute worst light. After all, what better way to break Harry's spirit than to ruin the idealized image Harry had built up of his father and his friends.
HP Fan: Is Snape good or bad?
Me: Yes
Best answer ever 👍😂
HP Fan: Do you even speak English?
Me: No.
Thank you!
Which I think is what makes him such a good character. Because in “the real world” no one is completely good or completely bad. We all have nuance within us. We may not have such extreme swings of good(sacrifices of life to bring down a evil figure) and bad(joining a nazi-like group because we want to). But we all for sure have our better and worse impulses that we follow.
Mean, evil bully who liked bulling his students. That is a hair above a child rapist to me.
He is not a ”good guy nor a ”bad guy” he is human. The best characters are.
@Logia SD did you not see the video at all?
@Logia SD Lets hope you say the same for Regulus Black...
@Logia SD Oh really? Regulus who idolized and was a fan of Voldemort, was a blood supremacist, and only left the death eaters because his bigoted house elf was tortured? Yeah of course, he's such a good man. No, Regulus only went against Voldemort because Kreacher was tortured. Just like Snape, who only left because Lily was targeted. If Kreacher and Lily weren't harmed, then both Regulus and Snape would have stayed.
"Tragic Slytherin hero🥺🐍" please you make me laugh.
@Logia SD And so did Regulus? He was literally a voldmort fan and idolised him? Sirius himself said he was just like the rest of them.
@Logia SD To acknowledge that Regulus is problematic and that both him and snape arent better then each other. But, they were both also brave, heroic, and did good deeds in the end. Its way better to enjoy them as morally grey characters, it makes them more interesting and complex. But also ignoring and undermining snapes good deeds is not okay, because without Snape who gave harry his memories and the truth on how to defeat Voldemort, and Regulus who helped harry find one of the horcuxes, harry coundt succeed. Regulus and Snape are both heavily flawed characters, but none are better then each other.
I've always loved Snape. When book 6 ended I told all of my friends that there had to be more to the story, that it was another curse/counter-curse scenario, because there was no way Snape had betrayed Dumbledore. When the 7th book came out I had to stop reading when he died because I was crying too hard to see the pages. And all of this was long before we got his memories that "redeemed" him.
That being said, no matter how much I loved Snape I never argued that he was a good person. Snape was a bully and he was cruel. But that was part of the reason I loved him. In a world where everything is black and white, Snape was a grey character.
He showed that you could do bad things with a good heart. But also, do good things while being a terrible person.
I do think I have a slightly different perspective than most about his feelings for Lily, though, and their baring on his changing sides. Most people either think he was obsessive and it was disgusting that he only changed sides because of her. Or that it was super romantic and it says a lot that he changed sides because of her.
To me the motivation didn't matter? The fact that someone he knew had to die? That war had to touch him personally, and he chose to fight on behalf of 1 person rather than an idea, or every person, or the "greater good"? In my mind this didn't make him a demon or a hero, it made him a human.
I think some people out there fight for ideals and that's great. But that was never me. I can know something's wrong and I can actively *not do* the wrong thing. But to fight back? To revolt? To make a choice that directly endangers my life? It probably would take the battle affecting me directly for me to be motivated.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents.
To me, Snape is a really emocionally injured man and he found a father figure in Dumbledore. Not defending his actions toward his students, just saying he is desperate for love, as we can see in his obssetion/ love for lily.
There was so much unkindness and abuse in Snape's life. The only kindness he seems to have allowed to touch him was from Lily and he caused her death. All of that twisted him.
Just my theory: Maybe Snape's soul actually healed. When Lilly died, he was able to feel the pain of losing a loved one, and only then did he realize the horrible things he had done before. He felt remorse for all of those deaths, which according to Hermione was the only way to put your soul together, and is extremely painful. This is why Snape was never able to kill again, and why he was so scared of splitting his soul again. Dumbledore was most lilely aware of this, and it's probably the reason why he trusted Snape from the beginning.
That's an interesting theory! I wouldn't be surprised if this was true! Though, I can't help but wonder, how does the splitting of the soul actually work. Voldemort surely killed more people than he created horcruxes. So, if a person who kills doesn't create a horcrux, their soul is just like a broken glass that's just put into a single box? And when they die, those pieces just stay that way? I wonder, if they can come back as ghosts or when someone uses the ressurection stone.
I like this theory.
@@ZielonaPastela I do like your reasoning, it makes sense. I think Alvaro Ballon's theory also makes sense. I'm pretty sure slughorn said something like killing is against the laws of nature and it rips the soul apart, so I do think it would be something like broken glass in a box.
@@ZielonaPastela Gotta use Avada Kedavra. It's an unforgivable curse and we know you should really mean it... so even if you wanted a person to die and "just" set them on fire.. maybe it's not quite "enough".
Sure, torturing someone before you kill them makes you evil, but maybe somehow it's even worse when you don't care for them at all and simply want them dead because you want them dead?! Like with Harry's parents: They're in the way, they're worthless. Voldemort literally gives no shit about them at all. Why should he bother thinking about putting them in ropes, disarming them or use any other spell on them than this? There is not a single value to their lives, they're not even worth torturing. The easiest way to get rid of them is by the Death Curse.
I'm sure Voldemort killed with random spells as well. I mean he made Nagini (who is basically part of him) kill Snape. No Horcrux came from that though!
Your comment is gold 🙏🏻
He's basically an onion.
Or an Ogre.
Because the juicy stuff inside makes you cry
Because he stinks
Sirius said it best: ‘We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.’
I absolutely love your breakdown, and agree with your conclusion - Severus Snape is NOT fully good or fully evil. He had an incredible story, but honestly not as much character growth as the "Snape is 100% Good!" side likes to believe, and you're absolutely right in that Harry never got to show Snape that he is neither his mother nor his father. They had absolutely nothing to do with his upbringing (I mean personally, of course, because the Dursley's did use his parentage as an excuse for their despicable behavior towards him - just like Snape), and he was still CONSTANTLY being compared to them!
It's the other side of self-fulfilling prophecy. If you push enough what you expect from a person based on their parents (or brothers/sisters/whoever), they will start to exhibit that behavior. Snape was SO convinced that Harry would only ever remind him of James that it took until his LITERAL DYING BREATH to see even a trace of the person he loved, and it came down to a single physical attribute, when Lily honestly had the greater influence over him because of HER sacrifice. Yes, James was always mentioned in ASSOCIATION, but it was LILY's sacrifice that was always emphasized, always highlighted. Even when he used the Resurrection Stone, it was to HER he looked to for validation of his actions, for proof of his goodness. James was just... there. Even Sirius and Lupin ranked above him.
I feel like the mental health crisis that Snape experienced is downplayed. In his childhood, he's horribly abused, neglected and bullied, making the Death Eater's cult look welcoming, and something he could be a part of and fit in to. I think to some degree he knew it was wrong, because he clung to the one ray of light in his life with a passion he was never able to honestly and sincerely express because to do so - to openly show his love for a muggle born - would strip him of the standing he had in his circle of peers. Then he was publicly humiliated in front of not only the girl he adored, but dozens of other kids and he reacted on reflex to save face. In moments of rage, we're all more likely to lash out, and Snape's outburst cost him his light, leaving him with no other path (to a moody and heartbroken teen), than to embrace the cult and give his devotion to Voldemort.
So now we cut to adult Snape as seen when Harry gets to Hogwarts. He is surrounded by people, but he is still isolated. He's never even tried to get over Lily to find a partner, allowing himself to be consumed by grief and driven by obsession. As far as I can tell through reading, he never has even moments of happiness. Does he ever laugh? Does he ever smile? Is he even capable of casual conversation? We only ever see pain, anger, and hate, and I feel that also translates into his every-day life.
He has no friends, no social crowd where he belongs. His only confidant is a man who holds him to a promise he made in the throes of grief and anguish, whose very presence is a constant reminder of the sins of his past. He abuses his position of power with such consistency that it becomes expected behavior and is brushed off as "just how he is" and he's never reprimanded, never corrected on how WRONG his behavior is, never treated like he's a goddamn adult with severe mental health issues that NEED TO BE ADDRESSED.
NONE OF THIS IS OK!!!
Moral of the story he’s not evil he’s not good , he’s not black or white but a shade of grey. Overall one of my favorite character in this series.
And yeah if you throughly look at the Harry Potter series I feel like a lot of jk Rowling’s characters needed some help in therapy or something, I mean even Harry should have talked to someone after living with the emotional and mental abuse he suffered at the the hands of his relatives and Dumbledore sigh shouldn’t have shoved all of that responsibility onto a bunch of school aged children to kill a mental fucked man called Voldemort.
Her shirt says: "Today is a good day to read." But all I could think of is: "Today is a good day to die!" which is the Klingon slogan from Star Trek lmao
Time to pick up a Star Trek book.
Imagine if the Snape/James underpants removal scene had happened to a female character. Seriously, imagine it. What would your reaction be? What would you call James actions?
Absolutely the same, I guess . I’m not a sexist.)
The same lmao
I remember in the books one of the reasons Lily was fighting with Snape was because one of his death eater friends was harassing a Gryffindor girl by levitating her skirt or something and Snape ignored it......so it it did happen
@@lilypond5158 they never specify what his friends did to mary, we know it was "dark magic" but that includes jinx and hexes, which are common spells, they could´ve lifted her skirt but just as well they could´ve given her extra fingers or something stupid like that and I doubt they were using unforgivables at school freely.
Snape is my most favourite character ever written. He's never quite an anti-villain who does bad things for a noble reason, and he's never quite an anti-hero who does good things for a selfish reason. He is a dynamic character, but because his motivations are always in conflict with each other internally, his external unpredictability makes him seem like a static character following every cruel and torturous whim and only having a superficial regard for his students' mortality. He would never have had the resolution of a true character arc, let alone the redeemable one it was, if he didn't die for a cause. And that is why a single motivation doesn't matter, because they all do. Every internal conflict and motivation is what led to that final, redeeming moment, because he didn't care about his own redemption. Snape will always be morally grey because he is a reflection of what true loyalty means. He was loyal to a manipulative Dumbledore, loyal to an idolised Lily, and loyal to his revenge against the ultimate evil. He suffered through every emotional expense that Harry represented, sacrificing himself, in loyalty.
Delly same here ♥️
i mean imo Zuko from ATLA had a much better redemption arc that doesnt end in just one "heroic" death to show what side he was on but he actually had to earn his change and the protagonists had to work throough their problems with him to finally accept him
There's a significant difference between the two liam.
Snape is personally my favorite character. Like Rowling said, “Snape is neither black nor white, he’s morally grey”. No, you can’t quote me because I know that I’m not 100% correct. I personally feel like he was more of a hero than villain because I value his efforts.
CJ Draws thank you
1. When McGonagall tells the staff about a student being taken, Snape looks furious and frustrated as he grips the back of a chair. I feel like this moment highlights that even if he’s incredibly unfair and does act like a bully to the students, he does ultimately care about their safety and well-being.
2. When Snape confronts Harry for being at Hogsmeade, he highlights how Harry is being reckless and disregarding his own safety despite everyone trying to save him from Black in much the same way Lupin does just a few pages later. True in this moment the way that he tries to address it he lets his own garage with James comes through and he is still acting inappropriately and in a manner that makes hairy far to unreceptive, but I find this moment to be interesting because when you look back at it and knowing how Snape felt about Lily, you’re able to see that in those moments when he’s confronting hairy about being arrogant or disregarding the rules he’s feeling frustrated that Harry doesn’t seem to respect or care about the fact that his mother died to save him and also seems to think that Harry is letting his fame go to his head which he would see as an insult to the sacrifice Lily made. In other words, Snape interprets Harry’s actions and behavior as a slap in the face to Lily’s sacrifice and tries to break Harry of that out of respect for Lily and in an attempt to keep Harry safe.
3. When Harry’s in the hospital wing and Snape is talking to Fudge, Snape gives a great insight to his thoughts and concerns by telling Fudge that he believes Harry and his friends had been confunded to believe Black’s lies and thinks that Harry’s fame and special treatment has led Harry to have a reckless disregard for the rules and safety that puts Harry’s life in danger. What I find most remarkable about this scene is that I find most people who comment on it just try to write off Snape’s frustration by saying that he’s just sour that he won’t get the order of Merlin, but having gone back and read that scene there is nothing to insinuate that this is just out of an interest to get order of Maryland. Snape says all of this normally and he’s saying this to fudge while he thinks that Harry is asleep with everything falling perfectly in line with what he has said to Harry’s face. This shows a great insight into Snape’s motivations and feelings for Harry.
Those are some really twisted rationalizations you have here for that last incident. The man utterly loathed Sirius Black. Sirius could walk up to Snape, free him from the Dark Mark, go on to murder Voldemort and present his skull to Snape as a present, and Snape would still hate him and think the worst of him. This scene had nothing to do with him protecting Harry and him looking to make sure Sirius is executed. His loathing for Harry is a candle to the star of his loathing for Sirius Black.
Finally, in spite of my burning hatred for Snape, I do think his resentment and loathing for Sirius Black is perfectly justified. They were bitter childhood enemies, and it's only natural for him to have great difficulty letting go of that hatred and resentment. It isn't healthy, but it is human and understandable to a degree (especially when you consider that in the books, Sirius never really expresses any guilt of his own for his treatment of Snape).
@@MonCappy "They were bitter childhood enemies" and he still believed Sirius was the traitor responsible for Lily's death.
When Harry says that bit to Snape-“kill me like you killed my parents you coward”-and Snape shoots back with his don’t call me a coward, I took that break in between “don’t” and “call me a coward” as Snape holding back from saying “don’t say I killed them”. More a clue hinting towards his feelings of guilt for his part in getting Lily killed (and his obvious needing to hide those feelings) than his not wanting to be called a coward 🧐 that’s just my interpretation ofc
Harry never says that- he says "kill me like you killed him ,you coward". He was talking about Dumbledore.
@@oscarlover100Dumbledore OR his father James. one of them...we just don't know. Ambiguious
@@goldaalemanha9100 No, it's pretty obvious it's Dumbledore.
@@goldaalemanha9100 You're just trying to force meaning where there is none. He's talking about Dumbledore, cut and clear.
I think Snape's abusive demeanor comes from how much of a kids book the first book was. In middle grade or YA books exaggerating traits is common, the games keeper was a giant hair mess, if you look at the pictures of dumbledore in the early books he basically looks like a middle grade dressing up as Merlin, he's the most wizardy wizard who ever wizarded. I imagine that if Harry Potter had the seriousness of the Order of the phoenix fro mthe beginning, Snape would've been a bit of a dick and a hard-ass teacher but it wouldn't have been stuck with the almost comical nature of his cruel teaching methods throughout the whole seasons
Jade Enright THIS. same with the dursleys imo, so many character in the beginning are written as so over the top evil because of the fact that they werechildrens books in the beginning and rowling took a lot of inspiration from Roald Dahl. He was definitely still a dick later in the books but it was much less exaggerated
He created a spell meant to humiliate and restrain someone(levicorpus) and an extremely difficult to heal curse meant to exanguinate people(sectumsempra) by the time he was 16 years old as both were in his 6th year potions book. The only reason that any schoolchildren knew the spell would have been because it was used earlier by Snape or other Slytherins. He was hilariously hoist by his own petard.
I suppose this is true, but I'm gonna have to bring up a similar argument I tend to say about Bakugo from My Hero Academia--yeah, that was "Early Installment Weirdness" mixed with "Characterization Marches On" but...it still _happened._ We can't exactly ignore it.
@@CJCroen1393 It's not so much about ignoring it as it is about contextualizing it. It's not fair to talk about these characters as if they were written for adults in an adult context, because they weren't.
To be fair, Snape never says explicitly that the potion would kill Neville's Toad, he just implies it. I think he expected Neville's ineptitude at Potions to be so great that the potion would be harmless.
I think Snape's character can be summed up pretty simply he's a heroic man who was a shity person.
His heroism does not diminish how shity he was to the people around him.
And the terrible way he treated people does not diminish his heroism.
I 100% agree. My personal phrase is he’s a good guy but a bad person. One of the good guys like Harry, Ron and Hermione, but a bad person nonetheless
Exactly! He can be both ultimately good and still a couple douche.
I agree with what you’re saying but I have a hard time calling Snape a hero when he didn’t do anything that any other decent character in the series wouldn’t have also done
Laila Hamidi maybe he did but it never showed to us
The breaking point of Snape's story for me is Harry naming his son after him, I hate it with all my heart.
Snape was a hero who gave his life to save the world. Harry respected that sacrifice, and chose to honor him. It doesn't mean he forgave all of his asshole behavior - just that he matured enough to look past it and see the good in him.
@@hanburgundy4317 I get what you're saying but despite all the good he did I just cannot get past the costant abuse.
If I were Harry and this dude who abused me, told me I should die like my dad, shoved me on the ground and chucked a glass at me finally revealed himself to be fighting on my side I would respect that and maybe even shift my opinion a little? But Jesus I couldn't forgive his behaviour, or even be "mature" enough to name my son after him if that even is about maturity.
I cannot do it as an external person to the story and I 100% could not do it as the kid who was bullied by an adult all throughout his teen years.
Like even at the end when it looks like he shows the tiniest hint of attachment towards Harry he completely shuts that idea down and confirms that no, fuck that boy, I'm into this because of Lily. And yeah I get that at the actual end the sake of lily's son was not the priority anymore and he still commited to the cause but my point is: nowhere throughout his life has Snape ever cared remotely for Harry as a person, just as a task he needed to perform.
I am not usually one to hold a grudge, but Snape definitely crossed that line - many times.
@@hanburgundy4317 Sure, but there were soo many people who treated him amazingly and also made sacrifices; for example "Rubeus" would have been much better than "Severus".
@@abcdefg2174 I think that's the biggest thing that makes it a weird choice to many people, there were so many important people in harry's life that died that he could have named his child after, as well as hagrid who had /always/ been there for him.
I don't think Snape ever switched sides... His motivations never seem idealistic, always personal.
I think he ended up caring about Dumbledore as much as Lily. He had to choose whose sacrifice he would honor: hers or his. In the end, he could not allow Dumbledore's sacrifice to be in vain.
.t7
I agree , he just switched sides because he felt like he owed that to lily and dumbledore , not because he wanted to become a better person for himself
Dumbledore : After all this time
Snape : Always!!!!
Harry : Stay close to me
Lily : Always!!!!!
My eyes are wet. The last word both Snape and Lily said was same - 'ALWAYS'
😭😭😭
If only the dark lord knew you call him “Voldy” lol 😂😂
Well, at this point, Old Voldy's gone mouldy. So she's probably safe. :)
As Professor Slughorn once said "When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love...."
The most horrifying thing about Snape is that Neville, whose parents became insane because of the amount of Cruciatus Bellatrix used against them, still fears Snape more than Death Eaters.
Teacher of the year
He didn't actually see them tortured so that's not saying much
May I remind you of Hermione's Boggart? She has seen some horrible shit and yet her greatest fear is MacGonagall telling her she failed her classes.
Snape is a death eater, Neville’s parents were in the order. He very likely knew that Snape was in fact a death eater and was so Afraid of him for that very reason.
@@1090Ideas harry doesnt, id imagine nevilles grandma told him.
@@christinak5452 i think the boggart might change fron one moment to other, your greatest fear might not always be the same after all.
This. All of this! However, you forgot a connection or you just didn't notice it. Perhaps because it is not specifically stated but it is so easy to draw the conclusion for me. There are two people Snape abuses most in his classes. These people are Harry and Neville. Now, it's more then possible that Snape just doesn't like Neville because he makes a lot of mistakes.
However, as you said in this video, Both Harry and Neville improve when Slughorn takes over the class. This means Neville's failings are purely based on his fear of Severus and Severus' treatment of him in the class. Abuse by Severus is, however, not the only thing Harry and Neville share. They were also both potentials for the prophecy which directly led to Lily's death. Something Severus would have known through both Voldemort and Dumbledore.
So, my question to you is: "Did Severus pick on Neville because he was an easy target or did he do it because he hated Neville for failing to be Voldemort's target?"
Just some food for thought.
This deserves more attention.
Neville wasn't in the potions class when Slughorn taught them and Harry only improved because of Snape's notes. Snape picked on Neville because he was a catastrophe i potions in fact prisoner of Azkaban Snape says this in the potions class when Neville brews the potion wrong. "Tell me boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn't i state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?" The first potions lesson in philospher's stone, Snape picks on Neville only after he messes up with his potion causing an explosion. Snape's frustration with Neville is basically the same as McGonagall's frustrations who calls Neville an embrassment when he does a spell wrong and when he "loses" the parchment with the gryffindor passwords. In fact both professors punish Neville cruelly. Snape with threatening to poison Neville's toad to get him to do the potion correctly and McGonagall with denying him access to his bed and this common room when there's a mass murderer on the loose.
Hell, Hagrid though he wasn't cruel towards Neville, he does something similar with Draco-he threatens to turn him into a ferret because Draco didn't want to take part in the lesson. And before this in philospher's stone Hagrid doesn't acknowledge Neville who's scared when he brings him, Harry, Draco and Hermione into the forbbiden forest for detention and sends him and Draco off alone with a coward dog through the forbidden forest instead of keeping all four students with him when there was a something killing unicorns.
WOAH I FREAKING DIDNT NOTICE THIS OH MY FREAKING GOSH
500000000000000+ likes
I mean, Harry improved in year 6 because of Snape's notes. But I think the evidence Snape was harming his studying was the fact that he did well in his OWLs without Snape there.
This is kind is how I've always seen Snape, I get really uncomfortable when people describe him as an out and out villain, but also when they describe him as a out and out hero, to me he's always been in the middle. So it's good to see someone actually do an analysis of Snape where the verdict is.. "he did good but that doesn't excuse the bad he did, but the bad he did doesn't invalidate the good he did", he's a very grey character in that respect. When you said that if Neville had been the one who was targetted, he would still be a Death Eater, it was something I hadn't considered before but I absolutely think you're right on that.
I am sick of "He had a bad childhood, so him being an ass for 90% of the times is ok". My mum had a horrible father who tore down doors with an ax and drowned kittens and she is the most kind human i know. Just a RL example.
Honest question: what does your mother think about Snape?
xs_ fox Not saying that Snape's assholeness was okay but I will say that not everyone can or will develop past a bad childhood. My dad's alcoholic father died when he was 11 and his mother kept giving the family's money to the local church even though they were already struggling to get by. Now my dad is verbally hostile and struggles to tell the difference between good and bad.
@@sergioaccioly5219 LMAO! Now that made me laugh! Thanks.
That's good for her but it doesn't mean snape has to be the same. How could he possibly not be an asshole when he grew up with abusive parents and then went to hogwarts where he was also abused?
@@lumi3951 why was he abused in Hogwarts? a yeah i remember, because he wanted to become a Nazi wizard, under his great Idol: Tom Ryddle
Does anyone else share my theory that Lilly changed James Potter's nature also along with Snape's. At first we James who, with a group of friends, bully a half-blooded child, but after graduation, due to his relationship with Lilly, is a upstanding person. Lilly Potter seems to have been a good influence on this circle of friends, except for Wormtail. Thus Lilly was an effective positive influence on a number of major characters. It is too bad we do not have more information on her. I would like more information on her relationship with her sister also.
Yesssss she deserves way more credit and attention than she gets. I also hate when people suggest that James didn't change and mature, because I don't think Lily would associate with let alone fall in love with someone who was still that horrible as they got older.
@@cascharles3838 Agreed! We only see glimpses of Shape's perspective. It would have been neat to see James mature in his older years.
I do believe that Lily’s judgement greatly affected James’s character arch, but his friends (the Marauders) are definitely the *main* turning point of his character, not her. I believe James Potter always had a heart, and even though he did go after Snape for practicing Dark Magic, there is account of him being vile to anyone else (quite the opposite). He was arrogant and acting like an imbecile at first, yes, but not evil by nature and here are a few points that show it:
1) His group of friends: A very reserved half-blood werewolf, a shy awkward boy and a Pureblood who came from an evil family of Pureblood extremists. Despite their differences, James loved and accepted each one of them, regardless of their reputation, whether they were ill or not as extroverted as him.
2) James, Sirius and Peter became *illegal* animagus during their *3rd year* at Hogwarts just to protect Lupin during his werewolf transformations. Being caught attempting to become an unregistered animagus could send you directly to Azkaban. That speaks volume as to how much of a good friend he was.
3) James Potter became Head Boy during his last year at Hogwarts. Dumbledore literally chose him over anyone else, which shows that he had already matured throughout the years waaay before graduation. Lupin also mentioned to Harry that James’s big head “deflated” towards his last years at school.
4) Lily was Head Girl at the same time as James became Head Boy. I believe that that’s when they truly got closer because they probably managed tasks together and patrolled corridors late at night in each other’s company. I’m pretty sure they dated before graduating since they got married super fast after graduating from Hogwarts.
So yeah, I think we should give James and his friends more credit than Lily (although she did play an important part). She didn’t have to make him better in order to fall in love with him. Unlike Snape, James didn’t change just for Lily; he was already good when she was ready to love him.
@@binhn.c.7003
None of those things are incompatible with being a bully.
@@MrCmon113 Bullying a wannabe deatheter is not a bad thing
What a great dive into Snape's complexity. I see him not as a villain, nor a hero, but as a bad person who eventually did good things, for the greater cause.
I was looking forward to this video, and I'm not disappointed. A thorough, fair, and insightful analysis of Snape -- thank you! He's a deeply flawed character who rises at moments to acts of heroism and sacrifice, no matter the motives.
Just a small correction: Neville never took potions in year 6 but yes you were right, Neville wasn't bad at potions during the OWLs mainly because he was left alone and wasn't scared of Snape reprimanding him
one of the things i always found very sad, is how bad harry and snape relationship was. i think it's sad because harry became close to gis father friends, sirius ans lupin. and yeah, they appreciated lily too, but they were james childhood friends, it was him they really knew and it was james they talked to harry about.
harry never had anyone to tell him stories about his mother when she was a kid, about how she really was back then, not just how beatiful and kind she was, the stupid things she might have done as a kid too. the only people who knew that lily were petunia and snape, and they both had a mutula dislike relationship with harry. harry lost the chance of learning more about his mother, and snape and petunia missed the chance to share more about lily with her son. i find that incredibly sad.
I've always been conflicted about Harry naming one of his kids after Snape. Snape was "one of the bravest men he'd ever met," and I fully agree it takes a LOT of bravery to continually go back to Lord Voldemort as a double agent. Being brave isn't the same as being noble or honorable, though (maybe that's the point? I dunno) - I'm glad Harry seemed to be able to forgive Snape enough to do that, but I still kinda wish he'd picked someone else whom he loved to name his son after.
It's a very Harry thing to do though
Yeah why didn’t they name one of their kids after Fred? Ginny is the mother... lol
Personally I think Harry understands Snape way better than most people realize. Harry could have very easily become like Snape or Voldie. I think his naming his son after Severus was his way of showing that Severus was worth something, because no one ever did think Severus was worth anything, not even his parents or his best friend.
I think his hatred for Sirius in the third book is also that he blames him for Lilys death.
In the seventh book he also saves Ginny, Neville and Luna by sending them to detention with Hagrid, insted with the Carrows, after the tried to steal the Sword of Godric Gryffindor
Severus Snape is not a nice man. He knows he isn't a nice man. He doesn't want to be a nice man. He will never be a nice man. He enjoys that he isn't a nice man. But he is a good man.
Love the analysis! Snape is my favorite character in Harry Potter because I have a weakness for morally gray characters with heroic but tragic character arcs. I love that he has layers of both bad and good, and I love that he died in the end. He is a huge reason why I love the Harry Potter series when typically for me Good-vs-Evil type stories I consider just 'meh' unless there are really interesting elements in them (OK fine, there are tons of interesting stuff in HP but Snape is the best one!). I was so intrigued by his character from the beginning because why is Dumbledore tolerating this obviously cruel teacher, there has to be something there and I was so rewarded by the end of the series. On a side note: I'm a Slytherin according to Pottermore and super-duper proud because my fave character is a Slytherin. Without Snape, I don't think Harry Potter would be one of my favorite book series. ("...he was probably the bravest man I ever knew." - adult Harry to young Albus Severus in the epilogue)
Sathepine same😅
Same I love a deeply complicated and conflicted character because it shows what most people are like in my opinion, complicated people are never one dimensional and simple.
Honestly, this is by far one of the best videos in your channel, if not the best. Professors should use it in class. THIS is how you analyze a character. OMG, Merphy, this was brilliant!
Snape is probably one of the most complex and nuanced characters to be written in modern fiction. His existence in the grey zone, as both good and bad and yet neither, is so brilliantly done. Excellent essay, I really enjoyed it. Your point about Snape still deciding to continue the 'mission' even after knowing Harry would die and that this was his true moment of change, I'd not thought about that before.
Thank you very much for this long video! Snape is my favorite character in Harry Potter and possibly in the entirety of fiction, so I was cautious about watching your take, but now I’m very glad I did. One-sided opinions about Snape are the curse of the discussion around him in the fandom and something you’ve managed to completely avoid. You’ve praised the good things he did and condemned the bad, and also analyzed his reasons in so much depth - it was perfect, and I’m really glad you took all this time to do it. Also revisiting all the Snape scenes got me really emotional and now I’m sobbing.
Some things you’ve said have never occurred to me. Snape has spent many years of his life protecting the physical well being of Lily’s son while mentally abusing James’ son - that sentence really got to me. Also, the idea of his motivation developing from selfish to more rightful at the end is interesting. (I’ve never noticed that the last thing we see him do is renounce the word ‘mudblood’).
I would add that from what I’ve seen a lot of hatred towards Snape comes from the fact that Harry seems to have forgiven him for everything he has done. There I would agree. I believe Harry should have had the same complex opinion as you in the end, but instead he names one of his sons after Snape. Obviously JKR wanted Snape to be honored in some special way, but what she came up with looks like Harry is excusing/forgetting/brushing aside all his problematic behavior in order to focus only on the good he ultimately did. I wish she’d come up with something better, because now it looks like she intended for Snape to be this tragic hero with a redemption arc and for everyone to forgive him and love him in the end. But the Snape she wrote is much more complex than that and warrants much more thoughtful discussion. Frankly I’m amazed that a character as complex as he is in a ‘children’s book series’, while those in most adult books couldn’t be shallower.
It’s interesting how Harry says to Albus ‘you’re named after two wizards, one of them was a Slytherin and he was the bravest man I’ve ever known’ - how in this appraisal of Snape Harry specifically chooses to mention a typical Gryffindor asset, bravery. Also, there was a conversation between Dumbledore and Snape from Snape’s memories during book 4 I believe, where Dumbledore says to him, again as a way of praise, ‘Sometimes I think we sort too soon’, implying that Snape could have been a Gryffindor (and his life would have turned out different). I’ve always found this framing of Gryffindor as the only acceptable house/personality type for heroes very insidious. Whereas I firmly believe that what made Snape so useful to the Order wasn’t his bravery (of which he sure had plenty) but his typically Slytherin qualities, his ability to lie to Voldemort’s face and watch atrocities happen without flinching in order not to blow his cover. So I wish JKR’s way of honoring him was some other than having a character who can’t and shouldn’t be able to fully appreciate him because of their history name his son after him.
Thanks again! I didn’t know I could love your channel more, but here we are 😊