Severus Snape is one of the most divisive characters in Harry Potter, but after all this time, I’m still glad he was never fully redeemed. Snape was controversial even before his big twist ending was revealed at the end of the series, with years of heavy debate about whether he was actually good or bad. Of course, his twist ending ultimately revealed that he had been against Voldemort since the Dark Lord killed Lily Potter, but this wasn’t enough to settle the argument. Snape’s actions throughout Harry Potter have never fully aligned with that of a hero, and the character’s ending only inspired further debate.
Whether Snape was with or against Voldemort, he still did some pretty despicable things. Sure, he died a hero, sacrificing everything to follow Albus Dumbledore’s orders dutiously. However, this doesn’t change the fact that he relentlessly bullied Harry for six years before his death. What’s more, Snape’s unrequited love for Lily looked like obsession rather than genuine affection. So, while Harry forgave the man at the end of Harry Potter, Snape was never really redeemed—but this is a good thing.
Snape’s Moral Ambiguity Is Important To The Themes Of Harry Potter
While it’s typical for literary heroes to have a few faults, Severus Snape takes this to an entirely different level. His character is so full of shortcomings that it makes his status as a hero at the end of Harry Potter challenging to swallow. However, there is a specific reason for this, and it serves my favorite theme within Harry’s story. As a hero’s journey-type adventure, Harry Potter is stuffed full of concepts of good and evil. Voldemort is, hands down, a very evil villain, while Harry is good to his very core. This is a standard trope of literature, but real-world morality doesn’t work this way.
Harry Potter spends a great deal of time exploring moral ambiguity. While Voldemort and Harry represent the two ends of the scale, the other characters, especially the adults, fall somewhere else on the spectrum. James Potter was typically described as good but was a vicious bully in school. Sirius Black left his Dark-magic loving family, but he unconsciously aligned with their old prejudices. Similarly, Severus Snape was, in many ways, your typical brand of evil, but the way he died has an impact on the way he is remembered.
Severus Snape was, in many ways, your typical brand of evil, but the way he died has an impact on the way he is remembered.
Snape didn’t join Dumbledore because he recognized the wickedness of his ways. He did so for selfish reasons, and from then until his death, Snape never lost his reverence for the Dark Arts. However, because he died carrying out Dumbledore’s orders and therefore assisted in saving the wizarding world, he is remembered as a hero. No, it’s not entirely fair, but it’s a far more realistic expression of morality and leaves Harry Potter readers with a great deal to ponder regarding how they label people as either good or bad.
Snape Is Both Overly Glorified & Overly Criticized
Though Snape’s morality is supposed to be ambiguous, I’ve seen many arguments over the years attempting to pigeonhole him into one side of the spectrum or the other. People want a neat and tidy way to categorize Severus Snape. Some say that his obsession with Lily, willingness to sacrifice James and Harry, and mistreatment of the Boy Who Lived place him firmly in the “bad” box, regardless of how he died. However, I find that these criticisms leave out far too much of the bigger picture.
Then, there are those who over-glorify Snape. They argue that his love for Lily led him to completely change his ways, and while he wasn’t nice to Harry, he still selflessly sacrificed his life to make up for it. This group feels that if Harry and Snape could have had one last conversation, the professor would have made things right, but his early death robbed him of the opportunity. This, too, leaves out a great deal of Snape’s story. He never stopped hating Harry for being James’ son, but he did his duty to protect Harry because it’s what Dumbledore said was right.
I don’t believe this makes him good, but his choices don’t allow him to be completely bad, either.
Ultimately, Snape didn’t have a moral compass of his own. He would have watched James and Harry die and would have cluelessly offered his hand to Lily after the fact. However, when she died, Dumbledore told Snape that if he wanted to prove his love for Lily, he would protect her son, whom she had sacrificed her life to protect. Snape didn’t understand this, nor did he care for Harry. However, he did what the headmaster said in an effort to make his love mean something. I don’t believe this makes him good, but his choices don’t allow him to be completely bad, either.
HBO’s Harry Potter Remake Must Resist The Temptation To Redeem Severus Snape
Snape’s never receiving a definitive redemption hasn’t sat right with a lot of Harry Potter fans, and with HBO’s TV remake of the series on the way, there may be some requests for a deeper look into the character’s moral situation. After all, the series will be dedicating entire seasons to each book, so there will be a lot more time to get into the nitty-gritty. While this certainly opens up a lot of opportunities for exploring Snape’s character, I believe it would be a massive mistake for the Harry Potter remake to attempt to give him a clear moment of redemption.
The Harry Potter movies already cut away most of Snape’s less flattering moments, which has always been a significant frustration for me. The character was calm and cool in the films, putting himself between the students and danger when this was never his style in the books. HBO may be tempted to do something similar. With much more time to kill, the series may even give Harry and Snape a final confrontation to settle their relationship. However, as someone who loves that Snape was left as a deeply flawed character who could barely be called a hero, I desperately hope this doesn’t happen.