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The HMS STFU - Two Views of James Potter
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| (Anonymous) | | Link: | (Link) | | Time: | 2009-05-05 07:36 pm (UTC) |
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| What strikes me as peculiar about the first essay is the number of vital themes that the author is willing to tear apart in order to make James Potter the villain. This, for example:
"We know who did talk of James to Harry: Quirrelmort, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Sirius, Remus under Sirius’ influence, and Severus. As for Severus—for two years Snape DIDN’T throw the despised James in Harry’s face, whatever he might have felt."
The author claims that people did not talk about James prior to Sirius' arrival. This is blatantly untrue as, in addition to Hagrid's utter moral outrage at the fact that the Dursleys had not told Harry about his parents, had in fact lied to him about them, which the author seriously downplays, I remember quite clearly that McGonagall told Harry how proud his father would be that Harry showed aptitude for Quidditch-- and smiled as she said it. People talk about the Potters far more than they talk about the Longbottoms, who were considered 'very popular' in their day. But it is true that Snape did not talk about James. And the author regards that as a virtue, rather than a serious character flaw. I'm confused.
As I understand it, Harry, as a child growing into an adult and a boy growing into a hero, needed to understand where he came from in order to fulfil his destiny. He needed to know exactly what happened the night that Voldemort killed his parents in order to know how to defeat Voldemort. All the back story, however tangential it may have seemed, had the aim of equipping him to make the right choices when the time came to face his enemy.
And Snape isn't a villain, but he is an antagonist. His goal is to keep Harry in the dark. Indeed, for over two years he was willing to persecute Harry without having the decency to tell him why. Harry had to find out what was going on there from Quirrell and Dumbledore. Every bit of information about Snape's past has to be stolen or overheard or wrested from him by force. And just about everything that Harry learns leaves him baffled and angry because it's dropped on him unawares and largely without context. He has to go and find somebody, with Dumbledore, Sirius and Lupin being the primary candidates, who will give him the context he needs to understand what he just learned. Because Snape won't give context and he certainly won't admit guilt. Indeed, we ultimately learn that keeping Harry ignorant was a condition of Snape's service.
To Snape Harry was a thing to be protected, not an individual who needed to be taught how to protect himself-- which explains why he behaved so irresponsibly during the Occlumency lessons. Snape didn't want Harry to be an adult or a hero. I always thought that the point of The Prince's Tale was that Snape was finally giving Harry the right to make informed decisions, that he had, at last, stopped lying and concealing and was acknowledging that a lot of the awful things that happened to Harry were, in fact, at least partly his fault. Because Harry needed to know that to deal with the situation in front of him.
But apparently not, because the important theme of the Harry Potter saga is that James is just like Tom Riddle.
Er. I hope this is okay. I've been reading for a while, and I checked the community information and there was no rule against random strangers ranting about things. And this puzzles me. Almost as much as the author calling Snape 'Severus.' I mean-- I'm very fond of McGonagall. Am I obliged to refer to her as 'Minerva' in defiance of the naming conventions?
--maenad | | (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Anything to make James the villain--it's practically required to be a Snapefen these days.
That said, WORD. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| (Anonymous) | | Link: | (Link) | | Time: | 2009-05-05 09:04 pm (UTC) |
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| Anything to make James the villain--it's practically required to be a Snapefen these days.
That said, WORD.
Thanks. :)
I just don't get how hating a minor character becomes more important than the entire plot. I mean-- Harry has this whole big, important character arc going on right over there. Perhaps glasses are in order?
--maenad | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| I just don't get how hating a minor character becomes more important than the entire plot.
See, it all comes down to unfulfilled expectations.
Like the Harmonians, the Snapefen(I'm assuming these are Snapefen - can't keep track) went into Deathly Hallows with some optimistic expectations. They expected Snape to save the day, save the Trio, kill Voldemort and accept that worthless Harry Potter's apologies. They expected that if he died, he would go out in a blaze of glory, sacrificing himself to save the day, save the Trio, kill Voldemort and accept that worthless Harry Potter's apologies as he died.
So they were obviously disappointed when it turned out that much like Lord Tywin, Snape did not in the end - you know.
And that's why they hate James Potter along with every other character who was ever meeeeen to their poor woobie. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| (Anonymous) | | Link: | (Link) | | Time: | 2009-05-05 09:48 pm (UTC) |
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| Like the Harmonians, the Snapefen(I'm assuming these are Snapefen - can't keep track) went into Deathly Hallows with some optimistic expectations. They expected Snape to save the day, save the Trio, kill Voldemort and accept that worthless Harry Potter's apologies. They expected that if he died, he would go out in a blaze of glory, sacrificing himself to save the day, save the Trio, kill Voldemort and accept that worthless Harry Potter's apologies as he died.
It's not that that isn't a good explanation. It is! It's just that the only reasonable response to expectations like those is 'that's crazy,' which leads to a whole new level of bafflement. I mean-- he got a pretty good blaze of glory, considering who he was and what his character arc was.
--maenad | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| | I would say that it really comes down to wanting authorial acknowledgment of the goodness of Snape, at bottom. The most important bit was for someone to say, "That Snape was done wrong by us all," and weep over his grave. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| God, I was half dreading the arrival of DH, because I half-expected JKR to put in something like that, where Snape is some pivotal character in the last battle, or who reveals himself as the knight in shining armor. If that had actually been in the plot those Snapefen would have been bloody insufferable for years on end.
But no, he is ded from snake, and that's that. *smirks*
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![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif) lakme | | Link: | (Link) | | Time: | 2009-05-05 11:39 pm (UTC) |
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| | I was dreading the inevitable "Snape loved Lily" plot reveal because I knew it would make people view him as even more of a poor victim. Also, it was kind of cliche. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| | That's one thing I don't get-- is Harry naming his firstborn after Snape not good enough for them somehow? | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| | Glasses are already in place--it lets them see a total jerk as a saint and everyone who even cuts him off in traffic as evil incarnate. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| | Of course strangers/lurkers can respond! Although I can get you an account if you'd like to not be a stranger. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| (Anonymous) | | Link: | (Link) | | Time: | 2009-05-06 06:57 am (UTC) |
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| | Oh, thank you, that would be lovely-- but I do have a livejournal account, and I wouldn't like to think that I was taking something that somebody might like to use for actual journaling purposes, so obviously, at your discretion. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| | Don't worry, you wouldn't be taking an account away from anyone else. I haven't made one in months, I think. I just need a desired name and an email address to send it to. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| (Anonymous) | | Link: | (Link) | | Time: | 2009-05-06 03:04 pm (UTC) |
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| | Thank you, then. I'm maenad pretty much everywhere, and my email is amy44_au@yahoo.com. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| (Anonymous) | | Link: | (Link) | | Time: | 2009-05-06 07:05 pm (UTC) |
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| I don't know how this works on JF, but I've wanted an account for a while. What would I have to do?
-shay_guy on LJ | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| (Anonymous) | | Link: | (Link) | | Time: | 2009-05-07 02:21 am (UTC) |
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| | Well, shay_guy works just fine, and my preferred email is izeas.gt at Gmail. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| One thing about the Occlumency lessons made me dislike Snape all the more, if that was possible. (Love him as a character though - very meaty!)
He had total access to Harry's head and even questioned him about some of the incidents (eg "Who did the dog belong to?"). The man had no empathy what-so-ever - and considering some of their experiences were very similar, I'd expect better from an adult ... even one as messed up as Snape.
I also can't help wondering if there wasn't a little vindictive part of Snape which WANTED Harry to see what James was like at his worst.
Harry, unlike Snape, actually came out of that experience with a bit of sympathy for Snape.
I think that's the thing that makes me particularly irritated with the people who act like Snape is just some poor misunderstood snowflake. He had a kid he was supposed to be helping - a kid who was going though all sorts of mental rubbish due to the connection with Voldemort - and instead of actually being helpful (which I'm sure Lily would have though was a good thing) he decided to mess with the kids head even more. How can that be the action of a mentally balanced, decent person? | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| | Same here! When the lessons started, I was sure that there was going to be one of those fanfic moments where Snape realizes that Harry wasn't brought up spoiled or loved or even liked. I'm sure if I tried I could come up with some twisted logic to justify his reaction, but I think it just comes down to, "Heh, James Potter's kid got bullied. Sweet." | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
| | That kind of is what we got, isn't it--Snape showing once and for all that he could care less whether Harry actually is a clone of James; it's all about Snape getting his jollies by picking on a kid who did nothing to Snape but be born to the wrong parents. | | (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
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The HMS STFU - Two Views of James Potter
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