The Half-Blood Coward
This guest post was originally featured on the BYU Communications 101 blog.
Disclaimer: This blog post contains major Harry Potter spoilers.
On July 21, 2007, the world of Harry Potter lovers changed forever. One of the most important alterations to a fan’s perception of the series was the revelation that Severus Snape was in love with Lily Potter. Everything he did after she died was for her. This tug on the heartstrings of readers all over the world, and when the final film came out almost four years later, Snape’s death was one of the most impactful scenes. His love for Harry’s mother made him a sympathetic character to many people. Many people love Severus Snape as the “bravest man” Harry Potter ever knew.
Severus Snape’s “Redemption” Through the Pensive
However, Severus Snape wasn’t all that great of a guy. He acted cruelly throughout the books to the children he was supposed to be teaching to be better adult witches and wizards. Instead of teaching how to correctly make the potion, Snape threatens to poison Neville’s beloved pet toad Trevor with the failed potion he knew Neville would make. He also verbally abuses Neville, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and many other characters throughout the books. Snape also shows favoritism to Draco Malfoy and other members of the Slytherin house and lets them get away with being bullies. These are actions that would not be acceptable in real-life, yet I’ve heard many people claim that Snape is their favorite character in the Harry Potter series. This all because he loved Lily.
The way that Snape’s character development was written is very interesting. He treats most of the main characters and the “good guys” with disgust and distain, but Albus Dumbledore still claims to trust him the most out of anyone in the Order of the Phoenix. This is subtle hinting that Snape must have some redeeming quality, like how he could have never been supportive of the Death Eater agenda and has always been a double agent. No one was prepared for Snape to have “always” been in love with Harry’s mom. The shock of this information caused Harry Potter fans to instantly feel bad for him and to love him. I initially did. I’ve always had a sore spot for characters who suffered from unrequited love. Nevertheless, I have come to realize that feeling bad for a character is not the same as liking the character.
Another reason that Snape’s story is so compelling is because the Harry Potter books and movies, especially the last one, is based around the theme of how love can conquer any evil. By framing the books with this, it makes readers want to like Snape after his backstory is revealed. Reader’s feel bad about disliking him because we are supposed to support the love characters show for one another, no matter who they are or what they did. There is so much bias towards loving characters who show love in these books, even bullies like Lucius and Draco Malfoy who are redeemed by the love that Narcissa has for them and that they have for her. It’s overwhelming how important love is. It gets to the point where even Voldemort would have been redeemable if he had shown love for another character.
If he truly loved Lily, Snape would have tried to be a better person for her, like James did. James Potter was also a bully and a punk as a teenager, but he loved Lily. As he grew up, we learn secondhand from Remus Lupin that James changed and that’s when Lily started loving him. The ability to change for the people you love is a powerful message in Harry Potter. Snape doesn’t exemplify this at all. He is the same person as an adult that he was as a teenager.
The words “brave” and “love” are often used to compliment Severus Snape. Harry even claims in the epilogue that his son, Albus Severus, is named after the “two bravest men [he had] ever known.” Yet Severus Snape was more pathetic and creepy than either of these things. He was obsessed with Lily Potter and detested Harry. He blamed the son of the woman he “loved” for her death, but he was to scared of disobeying Voldemort to stop it. Readers are manipulated to think of Snape as a “good person,” but if Snape hadn’t “loved” Lily, he would never have stopped being a Death Eater. Snape failed to show love for any other characters in the series and didn’t deserve Lily. He is only adored because of how his motivations are dramatically revealed and framed.
