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SNAPE
The Harry Potter series may be named after the Boy Who Lived, but if you want to know the story, keep your eyes fixed on Snape. This hook-nosed, greasy-haired, grumpy character is one of J.K. Rowling’s enduring gifts to English literature. He’s the archetypal ill-tempered teacher: acerbic, yet horribly, deliciously funny. Every time he opens his mouth, he delivers. When he’s in a scene, you can’t take your eyes off him. Snape is always the story.
In Snape, Rowling created a character of almost perfect ambiguity, a double agent who rose to become the right-hand man of both generals on opposing sides of a war. He’s at once self-controlled and seething with bitterness. Every sentence, every action from him has at least two possible and contradictory interpretations. The question of Snape’s true loyalties is at the heart of the books’ mysteries. Is it possible, ever, to know what lies underneath his façade?
It is. With a close look at each of the books and the script of Cursed Child, everything about Snape becomes knowable.
Is he a classroom bully? Without a doubt. He can be unfair, petty, mocking, prone to blatant favoritism – many of the traits that schoolchildren most loathe. But underneath his scathing surface is someone who cares terribly, enough to devote his adult life to protecting everyone in his world, even those whom he dislikes. And he does this all undercover, pretending to be evil, accepting that he will live and die without the chance to defend himself and clear his name.
Do his accomplishments cancel out the cruel things he’s done? Not at all, and that is part of the power of this character. He is often unlovable, immature, not attractive, not even kind – but he made something of himself. His story tells us that hope and greatness are for everybody, not only for those who have always been good. When we learn all the harm he did in his youth, we learn how to understand without excusing, how to give ourselves and others a second chance.
With all his ugly qualities, what makes this character a favorite with so many readers?
He’s smart. He’s competent. His sarcasm is funny and his bitterness can be bracing. He always knows what to do. He’s always there when you need him. There are things that only Snape can do. A wizard who has done evil and then felt remorse knows how to undo evil magic in a way that those who have always been good cannot know.
He’s hideous, bless him, and sensitive to indignities. He loathes being mocked, especially by children; everyone sees him seething. But he makes something of himself anyway. In all things, he does what he can with what he has and no more. As an adult, he becomes, not attractive, but something. Potent. Magnetic. He commands attention. When he is brave, he is almost beautiful.
—From the Introduction
REVIEWS
“Her book is for everyone: academics, parents explaining the Rowling books to their kids – or, this year, the voting public, looking for moral guidance from a magical realm.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
“An independent scholar who has an incredibly detailed and complex reading, particularly of the character of Snape. She has been able to pull so many things out of the text. The whole crowd just gasps because you read it, but you don’t necessarily dig that deeply. And she’s done the work to share that with us.” – Karen Wendling, PhD, Coordinator of the Harry Potter Academic Conference at Chestnut Hill College
“This book will really get you thinking deeply about the character of Severus Snape, his motivations, his inner logic. JK Rowling wrote a character who was a double agent, hiding his true feelings and his motivations from the reader and everyone around him. Add to that Harry Potter’s own blindness about the character and the clues and information about Snape are difficult to see in a shallow reading of the Potter books. Lorrie Kim doesn’t give a shallow reading, though. She sifts the text with a sharp analysis and great clarity (and wonderfully clear writing of her own) that proves many of the clues to the puzzle of Severus Snape are in fact sitting in plain sight, and these keys lead us to unlock much more. A worthwhile read for any fan of the Potter series and the mysterious potions master.” – Cecilia Tan, winner of the RT Career Achievement Award in Erotic Fiction, author, and publisher
“As a die-hard Gryffindor, I’ve never been inclined to think much about the Harry Potter series through Snape’s cavernous black eyes. Lorrie Kim won me over immediately with her perspicacious scrutiny of Snape’s character, which is explained but never once excused – a refreshing tonic to typical apologist analyses of the Potions Master. Snape: A Definitive Reading takes you through the looking glass to reveal the sobering underbellies of several Hogwarts residents, not just the eponymous double-agent. A compelling read that had this Gryffindor checking his privilege more than once!” – Jackson Bird, author of Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place (A Transgender Memoir) and YouTube creator and activist
“Lorrie’s masterful book is a celebration of Severus Snape’s most admirable qualities and of his unabashed humanity. With her usual insight and subtlety, she peels away the layers that compose him, revealing the elements of his complex personality one by one until we get to the glorious, fragile yet resilient heart of his being and motivation.” – Logospilgrim, author of The Severus Snape Paradigm: Outcast, Rebel, Hero and Severus Snape and the Art of Being Human
“Whether you love Snape or hate him, you will not be able to put down Snape: A Definitive Reading. Kim reads Snape with more compassion than I’ve ever seen before, and this compassionate reading opens up a whole new vista of possibilities for what Snape is up to behind the scenes to protect Harry. By the end of this book, even if you don’t like Snape any better, you won’t be able to deny his commitment to the fight against Voldemort. After you finish, you will want to read the whole series over again just to observe Snape in action.” – Sophia Jenkins, “Five of the Best Harry Potter Analysis Books to Add to Your Library,” Mugglenet.com
READING GUIDE
Harry Potter-related book discussions are sometimes more about the readers than about the books. Finding out who they are can be the most rewarding part of the event. For millennials especially, the stories can be tied up with childhood memories as they waited for each book release and reached adulthood alongside the characters. The books are so widely known that they operate as a common text for the culture. When people say that something Must Not Be Named or say “the wand chooses the wizard,” chances are that others will understand these references.
At Hogwarts, every student gets a wand and a House affiliation; everyone is equally important and worth consideration. I’ve found that Potter fans tend to enjoy events most when they get to think about how the story applies to themselves, and to take turns discussing these thoughts aloud if they wish. At the beginning of any HP-related discussion, attendees might enjoy hearing from each other:
- Who read these books as they came out?
- Who came to the series later?
- Do you identify as a member of a Hogwarts House? Do you have a wand and a Patronus?
- Which characters are your favorites? Which do you identify with most? Why?
- Which of the books is your favorite, and why?
Snape may be the most divisive character in the series. Some people love him, some revile him. Some find him unforgivable, some find him funny. Yet we all met this character by reading the exact same words and watching the exact same movies.
- What is your take on Snape? Heroic? Brave? Too abusive to be redeemable?
- Does he remind you of spiteful people you have known?
- Do you find it relatable that he survived domestic conflict in childhood? That he was poor or a half-blood? That he endured bullying? That he was a good student but didn’t receive as much credit for it?
- Do you identify with anything in his character? Is there anything in his character that particularly repels you?
- Why do you think different readers interpret this character in such different ways?
The character of Snape has become widely recognized in popular culture.
- Have you seen Snape memes, such as Potter Puppet Pals or “Snape Snape Snape Menorah”? What are your favorites and why?
- What other people, real or fictional, remind you of Snape? Why?
Snape’s role in the stories is complicated and open to debate.
- Harry called him “probably the bravest man I ever knew.” Do you agree?
- Do you think Dumbledore used Snape? Do you think he loved Snape?
- In Prisoner of Azkaban, what did Snape think Lupin and Sirius Black were planning to do with Harry?
- How and when do you think he learned how to fly?
- Do you think Snape really wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts position? If he were alive and free to have any job he wanted, under a new identity, what do you think he would do?
- What do you think Snape wanted when he told Harry, “Look…at…me…”?
- Have you changed your mind on anything to do with Snape as you’ve gotten older or reread the series?