Why do we love Snape?

[mary_j_59]

This was a question asked over on the whysnape board, and here was my answer. I have expanded it a bit as a result of the bitter word's excellent essay on Dunbledore and the comments that resulted. It is an informal essay/meditation, g-rated and probably about 500 words.

Why love a fictional character? In what sense do we *love* characters in books?

Some people will never understand this love because it has never happened to them. When I was in library school, I learned about the levels of engagement and understanding children - and teenagers, and adults - go through in their reading. First it's just basic comprehension. Then you get lost in the story; you are caught up in the adventure you are reading. Then you come to the stage where you "find yourself in a book". Then, as a young adult, you begin to see layers of meaning in the story and the characters. You begin to read on more than one level. It's my guess that all Snape fans are reading on at least the third level and more probably on the fourth. Many readers never get there. They read for information and amusement, and don't necessarily identify strongly with the characters, never mind analyzing them! That's a perfectly reasonable way to read these books. It's also true that not everyone who "finds him/herself" in the potterverse will find themselves in Snape. Why would any reader identify with him, rather than with more (apparently) likable characters such as Harry or Hermione or Sirius?

Yet many of us identify with Snape more than any other character in these books. I certainly do, and here are some of my reasons. For one thing, Severus Snape is a bullied geek, and, as Jodel remarks, many of Rowling's adult readers self-identify as geeks or nerds. I dare say quite a few of us were bullied by people like James, Sirius and Lily; as a result, we may well have strong fellow feeling for young Severus when we see him in the same situation. He is also, very clearly, a man in mourning. His irritability, poor grooming, choice of clothing, and apparent insomnia all point to clinical depression, and anyone who has ever been even slightly depressed can't help but feel for him. Most of all, I find him fascinating because he is the most morally and emotionally complex character Rowling wrote, and because he (like Neville, and unlike Harry) is truly on a hero's journey. He is the only character she wrote who actually chooses to change. This is compelling. But that's true of characters in other books, isn't it? There are certainly heroes who become better people by their own efforts and who love without being loved in return. Then why is Snape so fascinating?

I think Snape's grip on the reader's imagination is so strong because of the dissonance between what Rowling apparently intended and what she actually did. As I've said so many times before, in Severus, Rowling had the chance to write one of the greatest characters, and greatest heroes, in all of English literature. It's all there on the page - the courage, loyalty, intelligence and capacity for love*. And yet, she makes it clear in the adjectives she uses about him, in the torments and humiliations she puts him through, and in Harry's viewpoint, that she doesn't want him to be seen as a hero. Never mind what she says in interviews, which is even worse!

So, those of us who, for whatever reason, identify with Severus want to see justice for him. We want him to achieve some peace and happiness, and that never happens in the text. This is frustrating, so we can't let go. We keep struggling to affirm his heroism and discover other possibilities for him.

*He's got a great sense of humor, too. That helps.

Comments

[rattlesnakeroot.livejournal.com]

Awesome essay, Mary J.!!! I'll link it over on HP Network.

I think there are readers who thought that there wasn't much going on in Snape's mind except thoughts of anger and revenge. They didn't count on sadness and remorse, or especially grief that would change his life. I think introverts understand Snape's life a little better, too, and extroverts seem drawn to characters such as Sirius, James, and Lily.

[(Anonymous)]

The dissonance is cognitive dissonance. Snape fans may have wanted a a great romantic hero, but that wasn't the complex character that Rowling wrote. He was never intended to be a great romantic hero; that was never his role. So the dissonance is entirely in the eyes of Snape fans.

Interesting essay

[pdmcmurry.livejournal.com]

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.

[sunsethill.livejournal.com]

I think Snape's grip on the reader's imagination is so strong because of the dissonance between what Rowling apparently intended and what she actually did.

This expresses exactly the conclusion I have come to. After DH, it became clear to me that Rowling assumed that everyone would see the characters just as she saw them--no matter what she actually wrote. I know this is true of Snape, but DH made it clear that the same thing happened with James and Lily. After Snape's Worst Memory in OotP and then finding out in DH that James died without even lifting a wand, his "hero" status is a little tarnished. And Saint!Lily finds no expression in Snape's DH memories. Rowling doesn't understand the power of what she actually SHOWS us about her characters rather than what she just thinks or says.

[arcanetrivia]

I think Snape's grip on the reader's imagination is so strong because of the dissonance between what Rowling apparently intended and what she actually did.

While this is certainly true, I don't think it can be a cause for why Severus compels the minds and hearts of so many. I think the vast majority of us would feel the same way about him if JKR had never uttered a word about what she thought she was doing.

Besides the characteristics you mention that provide "entry points" for us to identify with him (bullied geek, etc.), the figure of Severus Snape seems to touch on a lot of deep "archetypal" patterns. I'm sure you're familiar with those kinds of analyses. Someone remarked above that Snape fans tend to respond more intellectually than emotionally but that this didn't mean they weren't emotionally attached to the character. I agree with that -- he pulls very deep emotional responses from those who resonate with him.

On the word "love", I don't think I can possibly use any other word for what I feel about him. After I read DH it took me a while to realize that I was actually grieving because I have had extremely little experience with that emotion. I was startled to further discover that the genuine grief seemed to have come out of genuine love. (Or, at least, as I say, I can't think of a better word.)

There's two levels or "colours" of that, though. You can love a character even if you wouldn't like them as a person. Take Darth Vader, for instance. I would want to stay well clear of him in real life. As a character, though? Just awesome! Ditto Han Solo. What a jerk! But the character is just so fun.

Not that that's how it is with Severus; just an extreme example to make the point. I think I would like Severus if I met him, although whether he would put up with me is another question. ;) But if I think about Severus as a real person, the reaction is a little less enthusiastic than the wholly positive "yeah! awesome!!" I get if I consider him solely as a character.

I'm quite clear on this distinction. I think people who argue along the lines of "but he did [blah] and acts like [blah]! How can you like that?" may not be.

[bohemianspirit.livejournal.com]

For one thing, Severus Snape is a bullied geek, and, as Jodel remarks, many of Rowling's adult readers self-identify as geeks or nerds. I dare say quite a few of us were bullied by people like James, Sirius and Lily; as a result, we may well have strong fellow feeling for young Severus when we see him in the same situation.

YES. Exactly. Nerds unite!

So, those of us who, for whatever reason, identify with Severus want to see justice for him. We want him to achieve some peace and happiness, and that never happens in the text. This is frustrating, so we can't let go. We keep struggling to affirm his heroism and discover other possibilities for him.

You've nailed it right there. We've been there ourselves, we empathize, and at least in fiction we can do something to right the wrongs. ;-) Good points.

While I agree that Severus was clearly depressed, I think (as I've commented in some of the comments in the_bitter_word's essay) there's quite a bit of room for speculation and interpretation as to the extent, the duration, and the effects and manifestations of that depression in Severus. Did it completely cripple him for life? Or was it something that was present in a more low-key way later in life, something he struggled against and lived with while never completely healing from it? Etc.

[ms-arithmancer.livejournal.com]

I saw the link to this essay at HPN. Interesting!

I'm not very convinced we can determine Rowling's intent in writing Snape from her interviews. They seem open to interpretation nearly as much as Snape's character is in the books, lol.

"And yet, she makes it clear in the adjectives she uses about him, in the torments and humiliations she puts him through, and in Harry's viewpoint, that she doesn't want him to be seen as a hero."

To me personally it seems evident that she certainly did not want Snape to be seen as a hero in the first 6 7/8ths of her series (in fact, by 7, we were not supposed to think he was even on the 'good side' at all, IMO. I think she did hope to spring a big surprise on her readers with "The Prince's Tale", and succeeded with a segment of her readership, though I personally have not met a single instance of such in Real Life). What her intent was in the final bits is less clear to me. To me personally, all the stuff she puts Snape through is what MAKES him a hero. Whether she does or does not think in those terms, I can't tell. I can see her interviews as saying he is, and isn't, on alternate days.

Snape is not unique in choosing to resist Voldemort, he is not unique in dying. He seems to be unique in that he got absolutely nothing at all out of it, ever, that I can see, except more misery.

Snape seems to have had some attachment to three main people in his life: Lily, Albus, and Harry (whether by virtue of his relationship to Lily, or other reasons, I will not digress into here...). Lily died despite his best efforts. And in the course of his efforts to atone for his own role in that death, Snape was required to kill Albus and send Harry to his death. Yet even believing this would be the way it would all end, he persevered, dping his best to protect people who despised him as a traitor and made shampoo jokes about him. Ouch.

I'm afraid, for me, everyone else pales by comparison. :D

[guardians-song.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... I enjoy your essays. Sometimes, I think you might overdo the symbolism a bit, but then again, I never enjoyed literary analysis in high school. ;)

I'm not really a FAN of Snape, mostly because I identify him as a sort of worst-case scenario for myself. I mean, no offense, but he does have deep-running flaws. I don't see the poor grooming, irritability, and insomnia as signs of depression - I had a good deal of all of the above as a child and early teenager, and I was hardly depressed THEN. (On the other hand, I do think Snape had an emotionally abusive father. Not physically, just emotionally. Emotionally can do a lot of damage in and of itself.)

I never really appreciated Snape's humor* because I've been on the receiving end of snarky and/or harsh humor, and found it very NOT enjoyable. Then again, some people dislike the Twins due to having been on the receiving end of "practical jokes", and while I'm not QUITE sure what my opinion of them is (I slot them into my 'Slightly... Off-Kilter' archetype and thus like them - note that said archetype says NOTHING about their moral status), I do see them as less ambitious (due to anti-Slytherin conditioning) Grindelwalds. I certainly LOATHE James, though - ugh! I could never stand people like Draco, and no matter WHAT JKR says in interviews, she LITERALLY wrote him as Draco in Gryffindor's clothing! *shudders* How she can STILL call him one of the heroes of his generation... bleurgh. And she makes comments about not equating Draco with Tom Felton (who, personally, I never found attractive in the slightest). She has an entirely valid point, but she's an utter hypocrite.

I don't agree that there IS a dissonance with what she actually did - then again, I'm a tad cynical due to choking down massive amounts of bad fanfiction. I realize there's a strong distinction between the fans who somehow enjoy Draco's personality and want to write him IC and develop him and those who just want to bang a pale pretty boy in leather, so there's a distinction between those who love the book!Snape and those who... well, have a crush on Alan Rickman. :P

To go slightly off-topic, I DO see dissonance in Harry Potter, but not about Snape. (I swear, I think she WAS trying to make him more sympathetic, but overshot and now can't figure out why people love him more than her pwecious gang of "cool" bullies.) For instance, in DH, I was quite intrigued by the Dumbledore backstory. *laughs* Yes, I know I'm one of the few in fandom who doesn't view it as unnecessary fluff, bad storytelling, blah-blah-blah. But it was CLEARLY setting up comparisons to the present! It was one of the few times I've seen a story that has been playing "For the Greater Good" fairly straight to turn around and say "But atrocities HAVE been justified as For the Greater Good, and no, I'm not just mouthing that line, HERE SOME ARE!". I thought we would see Our Heroes reevaluating their means to the end of the Greater Good, and - maybe "maturing" isn't quite the right word, but coming to realize that they've done or were doing wrong.

What do I get?

A ****ING "GALLANT" CRUCIO, in DIRECT contradiction to the canon that you CANNOT power a Cruciatus off of righteous wrath! ...Or perhaps it isn't even a contradiction. What THAT would say about Rowling's mindset - that torture for the sake of seeing someone suffer is "gallant" -, I don't what to think about. *shudder* And, of course, Harry telling poor Aberforth that "sometimes you've GOT to think about the Greater Good!". That moral lesson just rebounded off Harry's forehead, didn't it?

(cont.)

[guardians-song.livejournal.com]

And the setting up of Harry's moral decline and fall regarding the Hallows - well, it wasn't quite the One Ring of Power and its effects, but I was expecting a payoff. Let me be explicit - during DH, I kept seeing brilliant storylines set up, ones that I was stunned JKR would have the balls - excuse the colloquial phrase - to do, particularly in a story that had been playing the Heroic Cliches so STRAIGHT, and do you know what? SHE KEPT DEFAULTING ON THEM! I REALLY thought she was setting up a Dark Lord Harry! What happened? Oh, it's just because he lacked faith in Dumbledore! She killed off the main character! Ooh, no, she brought him back so he could be Jesus! I really thought she was going to have us watch Neville, the new hero of his generation, save the day! It was brilliant, it was an emotional arc all set up, and she had the characters run around IN THE WRONG MOVIE SET!

Gah. So... I suppose I understand what you see. You see a character arc that was set up but never paid off, and in fact was kicked over and stomped on, and I see moral and thematic arcs that were set up, and in fact were kicked over and stomped on. I don't see yours, but I understand how you feel about people just REFUSING to see your point, as I was stunned and horrified to see people defending Harry's use of Cruciatus. GAH. Nonono. So, I sympathize. You may have a valid point. I don't like him (though I understand him and his motivations and his flaws all too well), but I suppose others might. ...Err, sorry for the rant? :D

* Except for the "Your father would never attack me unless it was four-against-one!" line. I'm rather more inclined to believe Snape than any Marauder recollection here, especially since it fits with power levels and talent. And how JKR cannot see that she's setting up a sympathetic situation with a lone talented geek being attacked by the four popular not-so-bright ones, I'll never know.

[reg-flint.livejournal.com]

Just a short one. Having read that, I see your point on the depression issue, because I act in the same way in the lower swing of my bipolar/schizoaffective disorder. Including the grooming (blossom. shame. blossom.) I will read one of your fanfics...unfortunately I don't have much time, so it will be the Filius/Severus drabble. I have written a few drabbles myself, on sortinghatdrabs, very recenty (the most recent days ago). I am plotting to get more time on the computer again. Your Easter message (unrelated) was very inclusive. How INFJ of you.