Since I've been reading "The Great Snape Debate," I've got Snape on the brain. So much of the argument for Snape being ultimately on the side of right can hinge on one's interpretation of his character at various points in the series. Although he appears stern, unfair and unlikeable almost all the time (though remember we almost always see him through Harry's eyes, except for the "Spinner's End" chapter in HBP) most of his actions can be viewed in such a way that you can make a fairly simple case for the goodness of his ultimate loyalties, even if you have to look hard underneath the surface.
The one scene where I sometimes feel like this is a stretch is in the shrieking shack at the end of PoA. He's so awful to both Lupin and Black in this scene that it's hard to feel sympathy for Snape, even when you're in possession of the knowledge (not gained until OotP) that Lupin, Black and James Potter treated him terribly when they were all at school together.
What does Snape know? How much does he know, and when does he know it? He CANNOT know, simply cannot know, that Pettigrew is still alive, or the whole argument on Snape's behalf falls apart. We know he goes to Lupin's office with the wolfsbane potion, finds Lupin missing, and sees the Marauder's Map. Apparently he can see Lupin on the map, heading for the shrieking shack: "I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight..."
That "out of sight" comment is important. The Marauder's Map shows the Hogwarts grounds, and apparently the underground tunnels, but once you come out of those hidden passageways and into Hogsmeade, I don't think you can be visible on the map anymore. If you were, then Snape would have seen who was in the shack as well as Lupin running along toward it. I don't think he was able to see who was in the shack, or he might have given credence to the possibility of Pettigrew still being alive. As it is, I don't think Snape even hears about that possibility. He's enraged when he finds them all, and has his mindset on turning in Lupin and Black. Sirius' hoarse plea for him to look at the rat falls on deaf ears -- I don't even think Snape notices it. And if you note where Snape seems to begin eavesdropping (he's wearing the invisibility cloak, and there's a moment when everyone in the room hears the door creak and looks toward it) then it appears he misses the first part of the conversation when Sirius and Lupin are telling the trio that Pettigrew is Scabbers, and only hears the part of the story where Lupin is explaining how they were all illegal animagi.
I think this is really important -- what Snape hears, and what he doesn't. Because if he has a clue, an inkling, that Pettigrew is still alive and masquerading as Ron's rat, then his behavior to Sirius in particular is shocking. You'd have to believe for the sake of a grudge, for wanting vengenance on an old enemy (and one who has already suffered terribly for a crime he didn't commit) he'd be willing to let the real criminal go free. That's almost impossible to believe, unless he really is Voldermort's guy, and I'm just not ready to believe that.
What's painful about this chapter, however, is just how buried in hatred and hurt Snape is. I don't want my hopes about his ultimate loyalties and redemption to blind me to that fact. This is a wounded man, any way you look at him (even if it's just through Harry's eyes). There is such a terrible glee in Snape's demeanor when he talks about giving Sirius over to the dementors; such a roughness and coldness when he refers to Lupin as "the werewolf." This is a man who has not learned to forgive as he's been forgiven.
And it's possible, if we're guessing right about his loyalties, then he may have even more to forgive here than we think:
-- He's angry at Sirius and Lupin for their treatment of him at school, and for their "practical joke" that almost got him killed when he was sixteen
-- He's livid that Lupin, outcast and scum of wizarding society, still got ahead of him for DADA job he's yearned for (and perhaps is feeling frustrated that Dumbledore trusts Lupin when he doesn't think Lupin is trustworthy...isn't THAT fascinating, considering Dumbledore's trust in him when he's been far worse? Lupin didn't choose to be a werewolf, but presumably Severus chose to be a Death Eater at some point)
--If he really believes in Sirius' guilt, believes that Sirius betrayed the Potters -- then his own guilt is bound up tightly in Sirius'. He must be feeling at some deep level that he and Sirius delivered the one-two punch that got James and Lily killed. Severus heard half the prophecy and told Voldemort; Voldemort made the choice to go after the Potters; and someone (Pettigrew really, but Snape believes it's Sirius) betrayed the Potters' whereabouts to Voldemort. If Snape's remorse for the Potters' death is real...and Dumbledore thinks it is, and most of HP fandom believes on some level that Snape liked/loved/admired Lily Potter, which certainly seems plausible...then Snape must loathe Sirius because he thinks Sirius' duplicity capitalized on his own terrible mistake and made it an irrevocable one.
Makes you wonder if Snape's loathing of Sirius isn't, at some level, a reflection of his own self-loathing.
So I'm back to sympathizing with the git. I just can't seem to help it.
But one thing I'm sure of is that he's got to stop listening at half-open doors. This is twice now he has acted on "half" information, on knowing only part of the story. Snape needs to learn to listen to the whole story and not just jump to conclusions and act rashly based on what he thinks he knows.
Hmm...sound familiar? Are you listening, Harry?
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3 comments:
Ah, good point about his loathing of Sirius being tied in with his own sense of guilt, and about Snape needing to get the whole story before he acts. He really was vindictive in that scene with Sirius and Remus. He was spitting nails when Sirius escaped, and it definitely seemed very personal; it wasn't about worrying because a dangerous man was on the loose, it was about not getting his revenge, and being denied his Order of Merlin, and being foiled by Harry. Definitely one of his darkest moments.
I was thinking of the movie when I read the last few chapters, and in the movie he takes an active role in protecting the students from Lupin, whereas in the book he's unconscious from the time they leave the shack until the dementors attack. Are they maybe trying to give Snape a little redemption in the movie to make up for all his mean-spiritedness?
I find it sort of strange that Lupin didn't wipe the map clean. I get why Harry dropped his cloak; kinda hard to run with that in tow, even if it's not on. But it only would've taken Lupin a couple seconds to keep his map from being read by someone else, and I would think he would want it to remain a secret. Was he so panicked he just didn't think of it? Did he think maybe the right person would see it and could help? That line of thinking seems too reckless to me, since the wrong person could see it just as easily...
I picked up the book lately and am reading the guilty side first so the innocent arguments are what I end with... Snape definitely has done a few unsavory things. But I really do think - or at least hope - he's on Dumbledore's side...
Yes, that movie scene sure is interesting. Snape really does protect the trio in that, and at great risk to himself. I love Rickman in the part, and I think it says volumes that Rowling approved the scene.
Smart move starting with the guilty chapters first. :-) I think I should have done that!
My guess about why Lupin didn't wipe the Marauder's Map (other than the fact that Rowling needed something that would point Snape in the right direction!) is sheer panic. He's just had a huge shock because he sees Pettigrew on the map -- at that point, the kids, Sirius and Pettigrew were all on the grounds, so would still show up on the map. If someone you had believed dead suddenly shows up after twelve years, and shows up in the company of Sirius! and some of your best and most beloved students...well, I think I can understand Lupin's memory lapse. The more serious lapse is that he forgets he needs to take his potion that night.
Am I remember rightly that somewhere along the line, in one of Harry's classes in CoS (DADA, I think, with Lockhart droning on) there's mention of a way to help a werewolf transform back into a person? Perhaps I dreamed that, but I think I have to go look for it!
Aye, right you are; leaving the map may have been careless, but going down there without the potion was downright dangerous. Of course, waiting for Snape would have been too... I wonder what would have happened if he hadn't shown up when he did?
I finished the guilty side and read the innocent side today - and thought it was interesting that the added scene with Snape in PoA came up more than once. Great moment... I'd say both sides of the book make a pretty compelling argument. I especially was intrigued by all the mention of Harry having Lily's eyes, and how that might play into the last book...
As for that passage, found it! 161-162. The Homorphus Charm: "put my wand to his throat"..."the fur vanished - the fangs shrank - and he turned back into a man." Hmmm... Seems like there's a good chance this actually happened, since Lockhart's MO isn't just to make stuff up but to take credit for the deeds of others. Interesting...
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