White Alchemist, that must be some character you're teaching! Is that an exact quote?
A good point about Snape's melodrama being a defense mechanism; that really rings very true. Still, "I, the half-blood prince" made me cringe - and then I thought about it some more, and considered some of what Jodel had to say - and something clicked. Am working on a new essay, and a series of stories, that (I hope ) will express my 'grand unified Snape theory'. But it's easy enough to state in a couple of sentences:
Warrior/guardian, strongly compelled (by early life experience? His inborn nature? - he's the griffin, IMHO - or his sense of duty?) to defend those who need his help.
Abused kid? Possible, but I think Jodel is right when she suggests death eaters murdered his parents. Combined with the above compulsion, (and possibly the reactions from being abused/witnessing abuse; have you read Helen Ketchams's essay?) this completely fills in the holes and allows him to emerge as a complex and believable human being. It even explains the wacky "half-blood prince" commment. What if this is not an attempt to identify with the wizard side of the family, but rather a cry of defiance? Were there any death eaters within hearing range when he said this to Harry? Somehow I don't think so. I think the nickname may actually be a sign that he was working for vengeance on the death eaters from a very early age. But it's still melodramatic, certainly!
Swythyv, your thoughts on polyjuice are just plain scary! There are enough people running around with double agendas/double natures/ disguises without adding more! Were you the person who came up with Draco as Tonks/Draco as Madame Pince, etc?
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Glad you like it!
Date: 2006-03-03 12:28 am (UTC)A good point about Snape's melodrama being a defense mechanism; that really rings very true. Still, "I, the half-blood prince" made me cringe - and then I thought about it some more, and considered some of what Jodel had to say - and something clicked. Am working on a new essay, and a series of stories, that (I hope ) will express my 'grand unified Snape theory'. But it's easy enough to state in a couple of sentences:
Warrior/guardian, strongly compelled (by early life experience? His inborn nature? - he's the griffin, IMHO - or his sense of duty?) to defend those who need his help.
Abused kid? Possible, but I think Jodel is right when she suggests death eaters murdered his parents. Combined with the above compulsion, (and possibly the reactions from being abused/witnessing abuse; have you read Helen Ketchams's essay?) this completely fills in the holes and allows him to emerge as a complex and believable human being. It even explains the wacky "half-blood prince" commment. What if this is not an attempt to identify with the wizard side of the family, but rather a cry of defiance? Were there any death eaters within hearing range when he said this to Harry? Somehow I don't think so. I think the nickname may actually be a sign that he was working for vengeance on the death eaters from a very early age. But it's still melodramatic, certainly!
Swythyv, your thoughts on polyjuice are just plain scary! There are enough people running around with double agendas/double natures/ disguises without adding more! Were you the person who came up with Draco as Tonks/Draco as Madame Pince, etc?