Cold Blooded Walk To Destruction: Part 2 - Snape
Cold Blooded Walk To Destruction: Part 2 - Snape
Severus Snape
"Course Dumbledore trusts you," growled Moody. "Hes a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me - I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?"
Snape suddenly did something very strange. He seized his left forearm convulsively with his right hand, as though something on it had hurt him. (GOF)
Snape, in this scene, is convulsively clutching his left arm, that has the Dark Mark which is the most symbolic representation of his sin - becoming a Death Eater. The Dark Mark is a brand, which is a colossal skull with the serpent as its tongue. Throughout the series, Snape is associated with the symbol of the serpents. He is the head of Slytherin house, for one. In CoS, his suggestion to Draco in the duelling club is to conjure a snake, in DH, he uses fire serpents against McGonagall and finally, he is killed by the snake of the Satanic-figure of the series, Voldemort.
The serpent represents sin and temptation, the fall of man to humanity after he gives into that temptation - Snape with his desire to be a Death Eater, his love for Dark Arts loses his friendship with Lily and thereby, gets banished from the Garden of Eden, the playground that represented their innocence.
The series definitely plays into the symbolism by linking Voldemort’s appearance (“snake like”), him being the heir of Slytherin who speaks Parseltongue (snake language), and the monster in CoS is a Basilisk, that can be controlled by the very same language. His companion, Nagini, is his living Horcrux. Snape, the boy who valued being “brainy”, got tempted by the “fruit of knowledge” the snake offered (I have experimented; I have pushed the boundaries of magic further, perhaps, than they have ever been pushed - Voldemort, HBP). He is killed by the symbol of everything that he once held in such high regard.
As with everything with Snape, it’s not quite so straightforward.
"Isn't there any way of putting yourself back together?" Ron asked.
"Yes," said Hermione with a hollow smile, "but it would be excruciatingly painful."
"Why? How do you do it?" asked Harry.
"Remorse," said Hermione. "You've got to really feel what you've done. There's a footnote. Apparently the pain of it can destroy you. I can't see Voldemort attempting it somehow, can you?" (DH)
Deathly Hallows, the book where we finally get to know Snape in his entirety after he spent 6 books as a red herring, is chock full of themes of mercy and remorse. Throughout the book, we see Harry, the Christ figure of the story, invoke his life debt with Peter, save Draco and even go as far offering Voldemort a chance. It seems fitting that a book that deals with these ideas is where we get to know about the man who was shrouded in shadow through the books, who had once gone to the fallen world: Severus Snape.
The beginnings of the Snape - Dumbledore relationship once again, has overtones of Dumbledore being the godly figure:
The adult Snape was panting, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, waiting for something or for someone... () Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the air. Harry thought of lightning, but Snape had dropped to his knees.
Lightning is an imagery used for both Dumbledore and Harry - Harry’s lightning shaped scar, the “divine” mark that names him the Chosen One, and in this scene’s specific context, lightning is to show the wrath of God, with Snape at his mercy.
"Is this remorse, Severus?"
"I wish...I wish I were dead..."
"And what use would that be to anyone?" said Dumbledore coldly. "If you loved Lily Evans, if you truly loved her, then your way forward is clear."
The idea of remorse goes hand in hand with the idea of restitution of wrongs, which Snape dedicates his entire adult life to achieve. His “way forward” (that in religious readings would be “a return to God with hope in his mercy and trust in grace”) was shown by Dumbledore. As he becomes Dumbledore’s man, he works from the shadows. Dumbledore telling him, “Sometimes we sort too soon” is a renunciation of his association with the serpent and also his sins.
However, serpents are also associated with wisdom ("be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves" - Matthew, 10:16) and healing. After Snape’s turn, we see him using his knowledge to aid forces of good (saves Dumbledore from the curse of the ring with magic that Dumbledore does not trust himself with, saves Katie Bell, the Mandrake Potion in CoS, heals Draco after Harry casts his own Sectumsempra, Harry embodies the Prince while saving Ron with a bezoar). The association of serpent with healing comes from the staff of Moses - which is also referred to as hand of God:
And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (21: 9 KJV)
There is also a reference to it being a symbol of the cross in the Gospel of John (3:14), Jesus tells Nicodemus, “just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
With Snape’s sacrifice and martyrdom to the cause, he makes way for the Christ figure of the story, equipping him with both knowledge of what he must do and in asking for Harry to know him in his entirety with his memories - he bleeds his confession of his remorse and his penance (“Look at me”). Harry offers him forgiveness and gratitude, befitting of his status in the story.
Further Reading : For social commentary on what the text is critiquing with Slytherin: Slytherin and Eton
Part 3: Harry coming soon.
