I am unfamiliar with the levels of reading that you refer to and cannot even place myself on that continuum. However, I do think that readers tend to identify with fictional characters if they see enough of themselves reflected on the page.
I have no problem accepting that other readers don't like Snape. Their opinion does not change what I see and identify with in the character. Why my ability to see admirable qualities in Snape is so offensive to other readers is a question I have struggled with. I suppose the fact that so many of them identify with James and Sirius, whom I see as arrogant berks, may be the answer. Don't be offended - read on...
The two personality types (Snape v James/Sirius) are so divergent as to make the commonalities difficult to see. Each person tends to appreciate the good qualities in the characters that are most like themselves. This does not mean that James/Sirius fans are arrogant bullies anymore than it means that Snape fans are petty and selfish.
I see the arrogance and entitlement of James and Sirius as their most compelling attributes. Others choose to focus on their loyalty and bravery. They tend to see Snape's early mistakes and generally blunt (rude?) attitude as more important than the actions he takes to atone for his earlier mistakes. Some even say those actions somehow don't count because, in their view, he did them for the wrong reasons.
Snape's good qualities are in the text. It may be as you say that those qualities are visible only if you are reading the books at one of the deeper levels identified in the essay. I think that it may have as much to do with the personality type of the reader.
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Interesting essay
Date: 2008-03-27 03:27 pm (UTC)I have no problem accepting that other readers don't like Snape. Their opinion does not change what I see and identify with in the character. Why my ability to see admirable qualities in Snape is so offensive to other readers is a question I have struggled with. I suppose the fact that so many of them identify with James and Sirius, whom I see as arrogant berks, may be the answer. Don't be offended - read on...
The two personality types (Snape v James/Sirius) are so divergent as to make the commonalities difficult to see. Each person tends to appreciate the good qualities in the characters that are most like themselves. This does not mean that James/Sirius fans are arrogant bullies anymore than it means that Snape fans are petty and selfish.
I see the arrogance and entitlement of James and Sirius as their most compelling attributes. Others choose to focus on their loyalty and bravery. They tend to see Snape's early mistakes and generally blunt (rude?) attitude as more important than the actions he takes to atone for his earlier mistakes. Some even say those actions somehow don't count because, in their view, he did them for the wrong reasons.
Snape's good qualities are in the text. It may be as you say that those qualities are visible only if you are reading the books at one of the deeper levels identified in the essay. I think that it may have as much to do with the personality type of the reader.