I read that review and was compelled to send in a response because I disagree with her. As much as stories about people struggling with the darkness and overcoming temptation are nice and all asking for it out of a story is rather formulaic. I think Harry's story is not supposed to be about the struggle to redeem himself but to maintain his purity. Thats why I think Harry is an admirable character because throughout the series he shows a level of sacrifice and dedication in the name of good that we rarely get to see. And I think that it was his ability to stay pure that in the end made him able to defeat Voldemort whereas Snape and Dumbledore had faltered and were no longer pure but could redeem themselves by doing good.
It's more than just willingness to die in the book that is what makes Snape brave, it's what he died for. Snape could have easily sold out Harry on any occasion even to the minute of his death but he didn't just so that Harry would succeed. It's the fact that he learned what Voldemort and the deatheaters were really about and changed he then spent the next 17 years into fighting on the side of good. He puts himself through being a spy for Dumbledore and all the pain and danger that might encompass so that someone might one day destroy him. If anything he did it from his love of Lily Evans, not for fame or glory. I think his love for her was tragically sweet not stalkerish and the impetus for the realization of his true nature. Sure he was still a horrible jerk of a guy but he was capable of remorse and change and sacrfice for others (all when he didn't have to I mean his one love is already dead who's he trying to impress) and I think that's what makes him brave.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-07-27 06:53 pm (UTC)It's more than just willingness to die in the book that is what makes Snape brave, it's what he died for. Snape could have easily sold out Harry on any occasion even to the minute of his death but he didn't just so that Harry would succeed. It's the fact that he learned what Voldemort and the deatheaters were really about and changed he then spent the next 17 years into fighting on the side of good. He puts himself through being a spy for Dumbledore and all the pain and danger that might encompass so that someone might one day destroy him. If anything he did it from his love of Lily Evans, not for fame or glory. I think his love for her was tragically sweet not stalkerish and the impetus for the realization of his true nature. Sure he was still a horrible jerk of a guy but he was capable of remorse and change and sacrfice for others (all when he didn't have to I mean his one love is already dead who's he trying to impress) and I think that's what makes him brave.