I think it's very brave of you to try and pour all your grievances in one single essay - the result is a bit rambling (*g*), but that seems more or less unavoidable in view of all the different issues you are tackling :-). Now, as your text is very long, you might considering using your A and B as subtitles to break it into pieces...? Maybe that's a personal preference though :-).
You make a number of very interesting points, I think, such as the fact that the comparison between Harry and Snape, which seemed so deliberate, never really goes anywhere; your analysis of the doe Patronus (I'd never really considered the gender of the Patronuses apart from Snape's doe!); and about the nature of JKR's wizarding society. In fact, that last point sort of makes me wonder why she chose to write about a magical world at all. Initially she used the magical stuff to lighten the atmosphere of her narrative, but her parallel with Nazism ruined all that - it's much, much too serious and heavy-handed. Also, you are right about the vagueness of the nature of magic in the Potterverse. It's a silly detail, but I find that as a fanficcer I really have trouble imagining how Snape is supposed to go about inventing spells - not to mention the fact that Rowling never takes the trouble to even attempt to define Dark magic, despite the fact that she eagerly uses it to damn some characters. I am a fanficcer and that vagueness irks me; I can't understand how she as a writer was apparently not bothered by it. But then I'm obviously anal-retentive in my perfectionism, and I couldn't do 'popular' to save my life, so I guess JKR wins on all counts ;P.
If you do post the essay 'in the open', you may want to take care where you post it, because the happy fans are bound to get quite rude. It does seem to me personally that you are very biased in favour of Snape; I can't blame you for that, but it's something people will attack you about. Another point where I sympathise with you is your Catholic bias - but I do feel that it is perhaps a bit unfair to ... well, I'm not sure you intend it that way, but it looks a bit as though you blame JKR for not being a Catholic ;-). The conclusions she proposes in DH seem Calvinist to me, and they make me feel distinctly uncomfortable with all the predestination and such; but if that is what JKR believes, well, she has a right to construct her story to reflect her belief, and we can go "eeww", but we can't ask her to adopt a Catholic point of view, I should say. That said, though I'm hardly a very religious person, I do think her Harry/Christ parallels border on the blasphemous, for the reasons you point out :/. I'm sorry, but Harry is just not quite kind/forgiving/tested/transcendental enough. Far from me to mind that he isn't perfect - but then please don't be setting him up as a Christ figure, kbaithx.
I still think it's funny that we both arrived at this Catholic interpretation of Snape; in fact, I can name a few others who did too. I guess that in my case that reading is one of the causes of my disappointment with Snape's story arc.
(PS: the mystery novel rumour has officially been denied in the meantime.)
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Date: 2007-10-02 04:52 pm (UTC)You make a number of very interesting points, I think, such as the fact that the comparison between Harry and Snape, which seemed so deliberate, never really goes anywhere; your analysis of the doe Patronus (I'd never really considered the gender of the Patronuses apart from Snape's doe!); and about the nature of JKR's wizarding society. In fact, that last point sort of makes me wonder why she chose to write about a magical world at all. Initially she used the magical stuff to lighten the atmosphere of her narrative, but her parallel with Nazism ruined all that - it's much, much too serious and heavy-handed. Also, you are right about the vagueness of the nature of magic in the Potterverse. It's a silly detail, but I find that as a fanficcer I really have trouble imagining how Snape is supposed to go about inventing spells - not to mention the fact that Rowling never takes the trouble to even attempt to define Dark magic, despite the fact that she eagerly uses it to damn some characters. I am a fanficcer and that vagueness irks me; I can't understand how she as a writer was apparently not bothered by it. But then I'm obviously anal-retentive in my perfectionism, and I couldn't do 'popular' to save my life, so I guess JKR wins on all counts ;P.
If you do post the essay 'in the open', you may want to take care where you post it, because the happy fans are bound to get quite rude. It does seem to me personally that you are very biased in favour of Snape; I can't blame you for that, but it's something people will attack you about. Another point where I sympathise with you is your Catholic bias - but I do feel that it is perhaps a bit unfair to ... well, I'm not sure you intend it that way, but it looks a bit as though you blame JKR for not being a Catholic ;-). The conclusions she proposes in DH seem Calvinist to me, and they make me feel distinctly uncomfortable with all the predestination and such; but if that is what JKR believes, well, she has a right to construct her story to reflect her belief, and we can go "eeww", but we can't ask her to adopt a Catholic point of view, I should say. That said, though I'm hardly a very religious person, I do think her Harry/Christ parallels border on the blasphemous, for the reasons you point out :/. I'm sorry, but Harry is just not quite kind/forgiving/tested/transcendental enough. Far from me to mind that he isn't perfect - but then please don't be setting him up as a Christ figure, kbaithx.
I still think it's funny that we both arrived at this Catholic interpretation of Snape; in fact, I can name a few others who did too. I guess that in my case that reading is one of the causes of my disappointment with Snape's story arc.
(PS: the mystery novel rumour has officially been denied in the meantime.)