Justice for Severus Snape
regan_v
Severus Snape (1960?-1998)
I've hit a wall, when it comes to the death of Severus Snape. There is no justice in it.
In part, this is the natural disappointment of any fan, when the series creator kills off a much-beloved character. There is going to be a veritable wailing wall of fans, mourning the high price that the wizarding world paid to defeat Voldemort. Very few of Harry's parents' generation survived, in the end.
Seen against that backdrop, Snape's death is only one among many. His life was no more valuable than anyone else's, his blood no redder than the others'. It seems unreasonably Snape-centric to set him apart from the others.
And yet, I can't escape the feeling that this was unjust. He was used and used by everyone in this series, including its creator, and there's an imbalance in there, somewhere. And the imbalance feels unjust, somehow.
What were his crimes? We don't know, really. But we do know that he sacrificed a great deal, to pay for whatever he'd done.
Isolation
Harry had been wondering about that, actually. He could picture for Snape a past filled with the most arcane and perverse things imaginable. And just as easily he could see him as entirely untouched, hidden behind a wall of solitude that no man or woman had ever breached. ---- Resonant, The Project
Snape is, after Voldemort, by far the most isolated of the HP characters. Voldemort has chosen to set himself apart and above all others, of course, since he cannot love.
Snape's isolation is much more poignant, and flows out of both his personality and the roles thrust upon him. He is unlovable and unattractive, and the things he must do as a spy ensure his isolation from most of the people around him.
As an adult, he doesn't seem to have any lovers, circle of friends, or confidants. Lily was his friend once, but he lost her friendship before they'd left Hogwarts. He continued to love her still, fruitlessly and hopelessly. He seems on quite friendly terms with Dumbledore, in the "Prince's Tale" memories, but that relationship was clearly complex and not easily pigeonholed.
Albus used Snape ruthlessly and repeatedly, caring only about the "greater good" of defeating Voldemort. He manipulated Snape into protecting Harry, the boy with Lily's eyes, and then told him only much later that Snape had been working to preserve Harry for a foreordained death. And in the end, Albus maneuvered Snape into committing a mercy killing masked as a murder, thus isolating Snape completely.
Snape's last year of life must have been grim and terrible. He had to act as both Voldemort's right hand and as Headmaster of Hogwarts, trying to protect the students, without seeming to, from the Carrows, while aiding Harry's quest as best he could. With no one to confide in but a portrait, he still had to maintain a perfect cover in the face of Voldemort's growing madness and viciousness.
Sacrifice
"The boy's soul is not yet so damaged," said Dumbledore. I would not have it ripped apart on my account."
"And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?"---"The Prince's Tale" chapter, DH
In the course of the series, Snape became an almost perfect example of self-sacrifice. His love for Lily forced him to ultimately reinvent himself inside a crucible of sacrifice, emptying himself out in Dumbledore's service.
Let us admit that his initial feelings for Lily were not entirely admirable. He watched her "greedily" as a child, and was clearly desperately jealous of James even back when Lily despised James Potter. He wanted to possess her, in spite of his disdain for Muggleborns. That prejudice slipped out, unguarded, while he was dangled upside down by the Marauders, and it proved the final blow to their friendship. Still he hungered for her, and didn't seem to care much what happened to her husband and son, as long as he could have her. But his fear for her safety drove him to make a bargain with Dumbledore to protect the entire Potter family.
Before he made that bargain, he almost certainly committed crimes in support of Voldemort. And regardless of what, exactly he did with his own hands: he'd joined the Death Eaters, and shared responsibility for what they were all doing, together.
So, he certainly had something to atone for, by the time he dedicated himself to protecting Lily's son. I get that.
But surely he'd atoned again and again, long before the end of Book 7, by the sacrifices he'd made and the risks he'd taken. By the time we get to the final memories in the "Prince's Tale" chapter, we see a man who has changed enormously since he was a young Death Eater.
He reinvented himself by making a new and different set of choices, which forced himself to sacrifice and suffer repeatedly in the struggle to save the wizarding world. And as aesvir commented, downthread, in order to fulfill this role, Snape "needed backbone, skill, maturity, and honor. And those qualities, he developed himself."
He killed Dumbledore, which is perhaps one of the hardest things that anyone had to do in the whole series, and paid a terrible personal price for it. He protected Harry, and saved as many others as he was able to. Surely his death was not required, on top of all this, to realize his redemption. I think he had already earned it.
Justice
Others sacrificed their lives in this series. But it seems to me that Snape got much less than most did, for his pains. Lily sacrificed herself in order to save her child. But in so doing, she got something for it: she created a historically-unique protection charm for her son, and ensured his survival. And the survival of one's child would be a fair exchange, in the eyes of almost any mother.
Harry suffers and sacrifices even more than Snape, I think. And he is really profoundly innocent, unwilling to even stun Death Eaters if he can only disarm them. Harry is willing to lay down his life, no strings attached. But he is rewarded, too. JKR gives him a happy ending, with the one thing he's always wanted: a family. Harry's sacrifices are rewarded. But not Snape's.
Other "good" characters died too, yes. But the important characters we see dying in Book 7 go down fighting, surrounded by colleagues and companions. Remus and Tonks die, yes, but they leave behind a child whose freedom they help secure through their sacrifice. They don't die alone.
And for no real reason.
That's the real wall, for me. Snape died for no real purpose, at all. Voldemort was mistaken: the Elder Wand didn't answer to Snape after all, and killing Snape thus did him no good. After all that he'd done and sacrificed, Snape is killed as casually as a housefly, swatted down by Voldemort in passing.
Why? It seems so unnecessary. I can't get away from the suspicion that JKR killed him because she didn't want to deal with the problems that a post-war Snape would have presented. Dead, Snape becomes a martyr. Harry can now admit he's good and even name a son after him, because he no longer has to deal with the living reality of a nasty, unpleasant, but still good Snape. And as eponis observed to me, it's easier for Rowling, as well, because it would have been an intense and complicated relationship between Harry and Snape, if Snape had not died. Easier to just kill him off.
Easier, but not really just. I can't get away from the feeling that JKR didn't like Snape, and didn't want to give him any reward for the sacrifices he made. So, she didn't.
As perverse_idyl says, Snape "represents ambiguity, flawed decency, gross error and heroic sacrifice, and many more things that are too complex, apparently, for Harry or the author to deal with."
She's right. That death scene sidestepped all of that, in order to dispose of Snape in an almost casual fashion. I think JKR disliked Snape. She was always clearly bemused by how much the fans loved him. And she didn't want to deal with him, in the end.
I know life isn't fair. Of course. But I don't think this death was meant to drive that particular lesson home. On the contrary, the whole series is about justice and about maintaining the laws that govern life and death. So why treat Snape this way? If he had to die to atone for long-ago crimes, why have him go through years and years of sacrifice and suffering, and of saving and serving others? He got nothing for all that, in the end.
But we could change that. I think that ultimately, the only justice for Severus Snape must come from fandom. Or better yet, bring him back. There's no reason to let it end there. In a world that has time travel, anti-venom potions, where the dead can speak, where memories can be shared and preserved outside the body, it would be, as miriam_heddy said to me, "an utter waste to let a character like Severus Snape die."
So let's not. I would like to see justice for Severus Snape. He deserved much more than he got, at the end of canon.
He deserved to have someone love him.
from:http://community.livejournal.com/hp_essays/228926.html
翻译：Dreamer
Severus Snape (1960?-1998)
当Severus Snape的死亡来临时，我遭遇了困境——在这个死亡中，没有公正可言。
部分的，只是出于自然的失望。当一个系列故事的创造者杀死一位备受爱戴的角色时，任何一个fan都会如此。将会有一堵fan们的哭墙，哀悼魔法世界为击败Voldemort付出的高昂代价。最终，几乎没有亲世代的人存活。
从背景看，Snape的死亡只是很多死亡的其中之一。他的生命并不比其他人有价值，他的血液并不比其他人鲜红。以Snape为中心，而将他与其他人分而对待，似乎是不合理的。
但是，我依旧无法跳出不公正的感觉。他一而再的被这个系列中的每个人利用，包括作者本身。在某种程度上，其中存在着一种不平衡。这种不平衡让人感觉有些不公。
他犯过什么罪?我们并不清楚，真的。但是，我们的确知道，他牺牲了很多，为自己曾做过的任何事都做出了补偿。
Isolation 孤独
事实上，Harry一直在思考，他以能想象到的最神秘和反常事物描述Snape。就像他会轻易的将对方看作一个完全不被触动、藏在孤独之墙后的人——不曾有任何男人或女人打破过这堵墙。
---- Resonant, The Project
Snape是既Voldemort之后HP中最孤独的人物。Voldemort选择孤立自己，高悬于他人之上，当然，因为他不懂爱。
Snape的孤独却更加苦涩，这来自于他的个性和强加在他身上的角色需要。他不可爱、不引人注目。并且，作为一个间谍必须做的事，令他和身边的绝大多数人分离。
作为成年人，他似乎没有任何爱人、朋友圈，或者挚友。Lily曾是他的朋友，但在他们从霍格华兹毕业前，他已经失去了她的友谊。他依旧坚贞不渝的爱她，绝望而无果。在“王子的故事”中的记忆中。他似乎和Dumbledore有些交情，但明显的，这种关系是复杂的，无法轻易归类。
Albus无情而反复的利用Snape，只关心击败Voldemort这一“更高的目标”。他操纵Snape保护Harry——带着Lily双眼的男孩，只在很后面的时候，他才告诉Snape，之所以保护Harry是为了命中注定的死亡。最后，Albus迫使Snape杀死自己，使他被标记为杀人犯，从此完完全全的孤立了Snape。
Snape生命中的最后一年必定严酷而恐怖。他不得不同时扮演Voldemort的左膀右臂和霍格华兹校长的角色，努力保护学生却不暴露，同时尽其所能协助Harry。除了一幅画像，别无倾诉的对象。在Voldemort日益增长的疯狂和邪恶下，他依旧要保持完美的伪装。
Sacrifice 牺牲
“男孩的心灵还没有被毁坏，” Dumbledore说，“我不能让它因为我的缘故而分崩离析。”
“那么，我的心灵该怎么办呢，Dumbledore？我的呢？”
——“王子的故事”，DH
在故事的进程中，Snape成为自我牺牲的几近完美的范例。他对Lily的爱令他在牺牲的炼狱中彻底的改造自己，倾其所有服务于Dumbledore。
让我们承认吧，他对Lily最初的情感并不是全然可敬的。作为一个孩子，他“贪婪的”注视着她；哪怕在Lily依旧轻视James Potter时，他就开始极端的妒嫉James。虽然鄙视麻瓜种，他却想要占有她。当他被Marauders头朝下倒挂时，这种歧视毫无防备脱口而出，成为两人友谊的最后一击。此后，他依然渴求她，只要他能拥有她，他似乎并不关心她的丈夫和儿子身上发生了什么，但是对Lily安全的担忧驱使他与Dumbledore达成交易，保护Potter全家。
几乎可以肯定，在这场交易前，他在支持Voldemort时犯下过罪行，无论情况如何，他都亲手而为：他加入食死徒，和他们一同为所作所为负责。
因此，当他奉献出自己，以保护Lily的儿子时，他的确有需要弥补的事。这我知道。
但是，无疑的，早在第七本书之前，他已经一次又一次的进行了弥补，用自己所做的牺牲和所冒的风险。但我们进入“王子的故事”一章的记忆时，我们看到了一个迥异于年轻的食死徒的男人。
通过做出一系列新的、不同的选择，他重新改造了自己。在拯救魔法世界的过程中，他迫使自己不断的牺牲和受罪。如aesvir评论的那样，为了满足自己的角色需要，Snape“需要勇气、技巧、成熟和荣誉。而这些所需的品质都是他自己发展起来的。”
他杀死了Dumbledore，或许这是整个系列中所有人做的事中最困难的一件，并为此付出了极大的私人代价。他保护Harry，尽其所能拯救其他人。无疑，为了实现他的救赎，死亡并不是必需的。我想，他早已得到了救赎。
Justice 公正
其他人也在这个系列中牺牲了自己的生命。但是，在我看来，就Snape经历的痛苦而言，他得到的比远比其他大多数人少。为拯救自己的孩子，Lily牺牲了自己。但是，在这么做的时候，她也得到了：她为儿子创造了历史上独一无二的保护咒，确保了他的生存。在大多数母亲眼里，孩子的生存是一种公平的交换。
Harry遭受的痛苦和做出的牺牲甚至大于Snape，我想。他真的非常纯洁，如果能解除食死徒的武器，他甚至不愿击昏他们。Harry甘于牺牲自己的生命，毫无保留。但是，他也得到了报偿。JKR给了他一个幸福的结局，包括他一直向往的东西：家庭。Harry的牺牲是有回报的。但Snape的牺牲没有。
其他“好的”角色也死了，是的。但在第七本书中死亡的主要角色都战死沙场，被同事和朋友包围着。Remus与Tonks死了，是的，但他们留下一个孩子，通过自己的牺牲，他们确保了这个孩子的自由。他们死得并不孤独。
并且，不是死的毫无目的。
对我而言，这是最大的障碍。Snape的死压根没有达到任何实质性的目的。Voldemort弄错了：长老魔杖完全不听Snape使唤，杀了Snape对他毫无益处，在他所做的一切和所牺牲的一切之后，Snape像家蝇般被随意，被Voldemort随手搞定。
为什么？一切似乎都是多余的。我无法摆脱这样一种怀疑：JKR之所以杀死他，是因为她不想处理Snape在战后会导致的问题。死了，Snape就成了殉道者。现在，Harry可以承认他是好人，甚至以他的名字给自己的儿子命名，因为他不必再处理这样一个鲜活而矛盾的现实——卑鄙、令人讨厌，但却是一个作为好人的Snape。就像eponis向我指出的那样，这对Rowling而言也容易的多，因为如果Snape不死，就会在Harry和Harry和Snape之间产生强烈而复杂的关联。而简单杀死要容易的多。
容易，但却不真的那么简单。我无法摆脱这种想法，那就是JKR不喜欢Snape，不想给他做出的牺牲任何的回报。所以，她没有这么做。
如perverse_idyl所言，Snape“代表着含糊不清、有瑕疵的正派，巨大的错误，和英雄般的牺牲，以及其他更多的东西——很显然，它们太复杂，以致Harry和作者无法应对。”
她是正确的。死亡的场景回避了上述一切，以一种几乎随便的方式处置Snape。我认为JKR不喜欢Snape。她一直明显的困惑于fan们对Snape的爱。最终，她不想好好对待他。
我知道，生活是不公平的。当然。但是，我不认为Snape的死是给我们上这一课的教材。相反的，整个系列都是关于公平，关于维持那些统治生死的规律。那么，为何用这个方式对待Snape？如果他必须弥补长久以前的罪行，为什么要让他经年牺牲和受苦，让他拯救他人、服务他人？最后，他却从这些事中一无所获。
但是，我们能改变这一切。我想，最终的，Severus Snape的公正将来自于fandom。或者更好的，将他带回来。没有理由让事情以那种方式终结。在一个拥有时空穿越、反毒汁药剂、亡者能说话、记忆能在体外被分享和保留的世界里，就像miriam_heddy对我说的那样，“让Severus Snape这样的角色死去，是一种极端的浪费。”
所以，别让他这样。我想要看到为Severus Snape正言。在canon的结尾，他理应得到更多。
他理应得到一个人来爱他。
from:http://www.silvergreen.cn/viewthread.php?tid=1353
regan_v
Severus Snape (1960?-1998)
I've hit a wall, when it comes to the death of Severus Snape. There is no justice in it.
In part, this is the natural disappointment of any fan, when the series creator kills off a much-beloved character. There is going to be a veritable wailing wall of fans, mourning the high price that the wizarding world paid to defeat Voldemort. Very few of Harry's parents' generation survived, in the end.
Seen against that backdrop, Snape's death is only one among many. His life was no more valuable than anyone else's, his blood no redder than the others'. It seems unreasonably Snape-centric to set him apart from the others.
And yet, I can't escape the feeling that this was unjust. He was used and used by everyone in this series, including its creator, and there's an imbalance in there, somewhere. And the imbalance feels unjust, somehow.
What were his crimes? We don't know, really. But we do know that he sacrificed a great deal, to pay for whatever he'd done.
Isolation
Harry had been wondering about that, actually. He could picture for Snape a past filled with the most arcane and perverse things imaginable. And just as easily he could see him as entirely untouched, hidden behind a wall of solitude that no man or woman had ever breached. ---- Resonant, The Project
Snape is, after Voldemort, by far the most isolated of the HP characters. Voldemort has chosen to set himself apart and above all others, of course, since he cannot love.
Snape's isolation is much more poignant, and flows out of both his personality and the roles thrust upon him. He is unlovable and unattractive, and the things he must do as a spy ensure his isolation from most of the people around him.
As an adult, he doesn't seem to have any lovers, circle of friends, or confidants. Lily was his friend once, but he lost her friendship before they'd left Hogwarts. He continued to love her still, fruitlessly and hopelessly. He seems on quite friendly terms with Dumbledore, in the "Prince's Tale" memories, but that relationship was clearly complex and not easily pigeonholed.
Albus used Snape ruthlessly and repeatedly, caring only about the "greater good" of defeating Voldemort. He manipulated Snape into protecting Harry, the boy with Lily's eyes, and then told him only much later that Snape had been working to preserve Harry for a foreordained death. And in the end, Albus maneuvered Snape into committing a mercy killing masked as a murder, thus isolating Snape completely.
Snape's last year of life must have been grim and terrible. He had to act as both Voldemort's right hand and as Headmaster of Hogwarts, trying to protect the students, without seeming to, from the Carrows, while aiding Harry's quest as best he could. With no one to confide in but a portrait, he still had to maintain a perfect cover in the face of Voldemort's growing madness and viciousness.
Sacrifice
"The boy's soul is not yet so damaged," said Dumbledore. I would not have it ripped apart on my account."
"And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?"---"The Prince's Tale" chapter, DH
In the course of the series, Snape became an almost perfect example of self-sacrifice. His love for Lily forced him to ultimately reinvent himself inside a crucible of sacrifice, emptying himself out in Dumbledore's service.
Let us admit that his initial feelings for Lily were not entirely admirable. He watched her "greedily" as a child, and was clearly desperately jealous of James even back when Lily despised James Potter. He wanted to possess her, in spite of his disdain for Muggleborns. That prejudice slipped out, unguarded, while he was dangled upside down by the Marauders, and it proved the final blow to their friendship. Still he hungered for her, and didn't seem to care much what happened to her husband and son, as long as he could have her. But his fear for her safety drove him to make a bargain with Dumbledore to protect the entire Potter family.
Before he made that bargain, he almost certainly committed crimes in support of Voldemort. And regardless of what, exactly he did with his own hands: he'd joined the Death Eaters, and shared responsibility for what they were all doing, together.
So, he certainly had something to atone for, by the time he dedicated himself to protecting Lily's son. I get that.
But surely he'd atoned again and again, long before the end of Book 7, by the sacrifices he'd made and the risks he'd taken. By the time we get to the final memories in the "Prince's Tale" chapter, we see a man who has changed enormously since he was a young Death Eater.
He reinvented himself by making a new and different set of choices, which forced himself to sacrifice and suffer repeatedly in the struggle to save the wizarding world. And as aesvir commented, downthread, in order to fulfill this role, Snape "needed backbone, skill, maturity, and honor. And those qualities, he developed himself."
He killed Dumbledore, which is perhaps one of the hardest things that anyone had to do in the whole series, and paid a terrible personal price for it. He protected Harry, and saved as many others as he was able to. Surely his death was not required, on top of all this, to realize his redemption. I think he had already earned it.
Justice
Others sacrificed their lives in this series. But it seems to me that Snape got much less than most did, for his pains. Lily sacrificed herself in order to save her child. But in so doing, she got something for it: she created a historically-unique protection charm for her son, and ensured his survival. And the survival of one's child would be a fair exchange, in the eyes of almost any mother.
Harry suffers and sacrifices even more than Snape, I think. And he is really profoundly innocent, unwilling to even stun Death Eaters if he can only disarm them. Harry is willing to lay down his life, no strings attached. But he is rewarded, too. JKR gives him a happy ending, with the one thing he's always wanted: a family. Harry's sacrifices are rewarded. But not Snape's.
Other "good" characters died too, yes. But the important characters we see dying in Book 7 go down fighting, surrounded by colleagues and companions. Remus and Tonks die, yes, but they leave behind a child whose freedom they help secure through their sacrifice. They don't die alone.
And for no real reason.
That's the real wall, for me. Snape died for no real purpose, at all. Voldemort was mistaken: the Elder Wand didn't answer to Snape after all, and killing Snape thus did him no good. After all that he'd done and sacrificed, Snape is killed as casually as a housefly, swatted down by Voldemort in passing.
Why? It seems so unnecessary. I can't get away from the suspicion that JKR killed him because she didn't want to deal with the problems that a post-war Snape would have presented. Dead, Snape becomes a martyr. Harry can now admit he's good and even name a son after him, because he no longer has to deal with the living reality of a nasty, unpleasant, but still good Snape. And as eponis observed to me, it's easier for Rowling, as well, because it would have been an intense and complicated relationship between Harry and Snape, if Snape had not died. Easier to just kill him off.
Easier, but not really just. I can't get away from the feeling that JKR didn't like Snape, and didn't want to give him any reward for the sacrifices he made. So, she didn't.
As perverse_idyl says, Snape "represents ambiguity, flawed decency, gross error and heroic sacrifice, and many more things that are too complex, apparently, for Harry or the author to deal with."
She's right. That death scene sidestepped all of that, in order to dispose of Snape in an almost casual fashion. I think JKR disliked Snape. She was always clearly bemused by how much the fans loved him. And she didn't want to deal with him, in the end.
I know life isn't fair. Of course. But I don't think this death was meant to drive that particular lesson home. On the contrary, the whole series is about justice and about maintaining the laws that govern life and death. So why treat Snape this way? If he had to die to atone for long-ago crimes, why have him go through years and years of sacrifice and suffering, and of saving and serving others? He got nothing for all that, in the end.
But we could change that. I think that ultimately, the only justice for Severus Snape must come from fandom. Or better yet, bring him back. There's no reason to let it end there. In a world that has time travel, anti-venom potions, where the dead can speak, where memories can be shared and preserved outside the body, it would be, as miriam_heddy said to me, "an utter waste to let a character like Severus Snape die."
So let's not. I would like to see justice for Severus Snape. He deserved much more than he got, at the end of canon.
He deserved to have someone love him.
from:http://community.livejournal.com/hp_essays/228926.html
Justice for Severus Snape
翻译：Dreamer
Severus Snape (1960?-1998)
当Severus Snape的死亡来临时，我遭遇了困境——在这个死亡中，没有公正可言。
部分的，只是出于自然的失望。当一个系列故事的创造者杀死一位备受爱戴的角色时，任何一个fan都会如此。将会有一堵fan们的哭墙，哀悼魔法世界为击败Voldemort付出的高昂代价。最终，几乎没有亲世代的人存活。
从背景看，Snape的死亡只是很多死亡的其中之一。他的生命并不比其他人有价值，他的血液并不比其他人鲜红。以Snape为中心，而将他与其他人分而对待，似乎是不合理的。
但是，我依旧无法跳出不公正的感觉。他一而再的被这个系列中的每个人利用，包括作者本身。在某种程度上，其中存在着一种不平衡。这种不平衡让人感觉有些不公。
他犯过什么罪?我们并不清楚，真的。但是，我们的确知道，他牺牲了很多，为自己曾做过的任何事都做出了补偿。
Isolation 孤独
事实上，Harry一直在思考，他以能想象到的最神秘和反常事物描述Snape。就像他会轻易的将对方看作一个完全不被触动、藏在孤独之墙后的人——不曾有任何男人或女人打破过这堵墙。
---- Resonant, The Project
Snape是既Voldemort之后HP中最孤独的人物。Voldemort选择孤立自己，高悬于他人之上，当然，因为他不懂爱。
Snape的孤独却更加苦涩，这来自于他的个性和强加在他身上的角色需要。他不可爱、不引人注目。并且，作为一个间谍必须做的事，令他和身边的绝大多数人分离。
作为成年人，他似乎没有任何爱人、朋友圈，或者挚友。Lily曾是他的朋友，但在他们从霍格华兹毕业前，他已经失去了她的友谊。他依旧坚贞不渝的爱她，绝望而无果。在“王子的故事”中的记忆中。他似乎和Dumbledore有些交情，但明显的，这种关系是复杂的，无法轻易归类。
Albus无情而反复的利用Snape，只关心击败Voldemort这一“更高的目标”。他操纵Snape保护Harry——带着Lily双眼的男孩，只在很后面的时候，他才告诉Snape，之所以保护Harry是为了命中注定的死亡。最后，Albus迫使Snape杀死自己，使他被标记为杀人犯，从此完完全全的孤立了Snape。
Snape生命中的最后一年必定严酷而恐怖。他不得不同时扮演Voldemort的左膀右臂和霍格华兹校长的角色，努力保护学生却不暴露，同时尽其所能协助Harry。除了一幅画像，别无倾诉的对象。在Voldemort日益增长的疯狂和邪恶下，他依旧要保持完美的伪装。
Sacrifice 牺牲
“男孩的心灵还没有被毁坏，” Dumbledore说，“我不能让它因为我的缘故而分崩离析。”
“那么，我的心灵该怎么办呢，Dumbledore？我的呢？”
——“王子的故事”，DH
在故事的进程中，Snape成为自我牺牲的几近完美的范例。他对Lily的爱令他在牺牲的炼狱中彻底的改造自己，倾其所有服务于Dumbledore。
让我们承认吧，他对Lily最初的情感并不是全然可敬的。作为一个孩子，他“贪婪的”注视着她；哪怕在Lily依旧轻视James Potter时，他就开始极端的妒嫉James。虽然鄙视麻瓜种，他却想要占有她。当他被Marauders头朝下倒挂时，这种歧视毫无防备脱口而出，成为两人友谊的最后一击。此后，他依然渴求她，只要他能拥有她，他似乎并不关心她的丈夫和儿子身上发生了什么，但是对Lily安全的担忧驱使他与Dumbledore达成交易，保护Potter全家。
几乎可以肯定，在这场交易前，他在支持Voldemort时犯下过罪行，无论情况如何，他都亲手而为：他加入食死徒，和他们一同为所作所为负责。
因此，当他奉献出自己，以保护Lily的儿子时，他的确有需要弥补的事。这我知道。
但是，无疑的，早在第七本书之前，他已经一次又一次的进行了弥补，用自己所做的牺牲和所冒的风险。但我们进入“王子的故事”一章的记忆时，我们看到了一个迥异于年轻的食死徒的男人。
通过做出一系列新的、不同的选择，他重新改造了自己。在拯救魔法世界的过程中，他迫使自己不断的牺牲和受罪。如aesvir评论的那样，为了满足自己的角色需要，Snape“需要勇气、技巧、成熟和荣誉。而这些所需的品质都是他自己发展起来的。”
他杀死了Dumbledore，或许这是整个系列中所有人做的事中最困难的一件，并为此付出了极大的私人代价。他保护Harry，尽其所能拯救其他人。无疑，为了实现他的救赎，死亡并不是必需的。我想，他早已得到了救赎。
Justice 公正
其他人也在这个系列中牺牲了自己的生命。但是，在我看来，就Snape经历的痛苦而言，他得到的比远比其他大多数人少。为拯救自己的孩子，Lily牺牲了自己。但是，在这么做的时候，她也得到了：她为儿子创造了历史上独一无二的保护咒，确保了他的生存。在大多数母亲眼里，孩子的生存是一种公平的交换。
Harry遭受的痛苦和做出的牺牲甚至大于Snape，我想。他真的非常纯洁，如果能解除食死徒的武器，他甚至不愿击昏他们。Harry甘于牺牲自己的生命，毫无保留。但是，他也得到了报偿。JKR给了他一个幸福的结局，包括他一直向往的东西：家庭。Harry的牺牲是有回报的。但Snape的牺牲没有。
其他“好的”角色也死了，是的。但在第七本书中死亡的主要角色都战死沙场，被同事和朋友包围着。Remus与Tonks死了，是的，但他们留下一个孩子，通过自己的牺牲，他们确保了这个孩子的自由。他们死得并不孤独。
并且，不是死的毫无目的。
对我而言，这是最大的障碍。Snape的死压根没有达到任何实质性的目的。Voldemort弄错了：长老魔杖完全不听Snape使唤，杀了Snape对他毫无益处，在他所做的一切和所牺牲的一切之后，Snape像家蝇般被随意，被Voldemort随手搞定。
为什么？一切似乎都是多余的。我无法摆脱这样一种怀疑：JKR之所以杀死他，是因为她不想处理Snape在战后会导致的问题。死了，Snape就成了殉道者。现在，Harry可以承认他是好人，甚至以他的名字给自己的儿子命名，因为他不必再处理这样一个鲜活而矛盾的现实——卑鄙、令人讨厌，但却是一个作为好人的Snape。就像eponis向我指出的那样，这对Rowling而言也容易的多，因为如果Snape不死，就会在Harry和Harry和Snape之间产生强烈而复杂的关联。而简单杀死要容易的多。
容易，但却不真的那么简单。我无法摆脱这种想法，那就是JKR不喜欢Snape，不想给他做出的牺牲任何的回报。所以，她没有这么做。
如perverse_idyl所言，Snape“代表着含糊不清、有瑕疵的正派，巨大的错误，和英雄般的牺牲，以及其他更多的东西——很显然，它们太复杂，以致Harry和作者无法应对。”
她是正确的。死亡的场景回避了上述一切，以一种几乎随便的方式处置Snape。我认为JKR不喜欢Snape。她一直明显的困惑于fan们对Snape的爱。最终，她不想好好对待他。
我知道，生活是不公平的。当然。但是，我不认为Snape的死是给我们上这一课的教材。相反的，整个系列都是关于公平，关于维持那些统治生死的规律。那么，为何用这个方式对待Snape？如果他必须弥补长久以前的罪行，为什么要让他经年牺牲和受苦，让他拯救他人、服务他人？最后，他却从这些事中一无所获。
但是，我们能改变这一切。我想，最终的，Severus Snape的公正将来自于fandom。或者更好的，将他带回来。没有理由让事情以那种方式终结。在一个拥有时空穿越、反毒汁药剂、亡者能说话、记忆能在体外被分享和保留的世界里，就像miriam_heddy对我说的那样，“让Severus Snape这样的角色死去，是一种极端的浪费。”
所以，别让他这样。我想要看到为Severus Snape正言。在canon的结尾，他理应得到更多。
他理应得到一个人来爱他。
from:http://www.silvergreen.cn/viewthread.php?tid=1353
