Blog Post 3...So...Snape, Snape, Severus Snape.

Alas...I know this is probably the most common thing for people to talk about in the end of the series but dang! it is truly the most interesting. Who would have thought from book 1 what Snape would become? Many people I know now claim Snape is their favorite character in the whole series, this would have never been anyone’s perspective, even half way through the last book. When the truth about Snape is learned it is impossible not to have a deep respect and pride for him. He has sacrificed so much and all with the memory of Lily as his driving force. I think his story drives home the fact that love is one of the strongest themes in the series. We see at many points that if it were not for love major events in the series would not have occurred; in truth the entire story wouldn’t have taken place, Harry would have died as a baby without the love of his mother. This is just another example of how vital love proves to be as a driving force in the war against Lord Voldemort. As Snape bled to death on the floor of the Shrieking Shack I recall feeling terribly sad that we would never get to hear his side of the story. Snape’s use of memories in the pensieve to share the truth about his alliance to Dumbledore and his love to Lily was a brilliant thematic choice on Rowling’s part. First our feelings about Snape dying are mixed. But as Harry travels through his memories and we learn the truth of how Snape never stopped loving Lily and never ceased being Dumbledore’s man, we begin to feel sadness, but also pride. Then the whole story, the whole series we just spent our lives loving and questioning begins to make sense. Who Snape really is, why he is the way he is, and the truth about his and Dumbledore’s relationship all begin to form. There could not have been a better way to begin Harry’s walk into the Forbidden Forest to meet Voldemort and most likely his death. Once he is able to see the sacrifice Snape made for almost his entire adult life for the sake of this wizarding world, all out of love, Harry realizes he needs to do the same. Overall, wow! Snape is awesome!