J. K. Rowling's Careful Craftsmanship Encourages The Great Snape Debate

Back in 2007, I received a phone call from the bookstore where I had worked over the winter season. On the phone was one of my colleagues, excitedly informing me about a Borders exclusive book intended for precisely the sort of invested Harry Potter fan that she knew me to be. How could I say no to such an enthusiastic endorsement? I made my way over to the mall and purchased The Great Snape Debate, a book that lays out two opposing cases regarding Severus Snape, considered by many to be the most intriguing character in the series.

On one cover is The Case for Snape’s Innocence and the illustration of a fiery phoenix symbolizing his loyalty to Dumbledore. Flipping the book over led me to The Case for Snape’s Guilt, accompanied by a fearsome green snake symbolizing his allegiance to Lord Voldemort. The book came out mere months before the final installment of the trilogy, so its window of prime interest was limited, as evidenced by the fact it turned up in the bargain bin by the end of the year.

Nonetheless, for those who know Harry Potter only through the movies, there is room for speculation. Granted, most people who would be interested enough in Snape’s allegiances to read this book would have read the series itself by now, and some of the material covered in The Great Snape Debate does not apply to the movies, in which his presence is minimal. Still, with the final installments fast approaching, I thought this would be a good time to brush off this fun little guide. If nothing else, it’s a testament to how well J. K. Rowling constructed the character, and as such, it might be equally enjoyed by those who have already read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

For the most part, the two halves of the book mirror each other extremely well, with five complementary chapters in each. A lengthy sixth chapter entitled Who Is Snape?, written by acclaimed science fiction author Orson Scott Card, throws the balance in favor of the innocence section by about 30 pages, and I find it odd that no parallel chapter exists on the other side. While his speculations include the possibility that Snape’s intentions have been self-serving or malicious, he clearly sides with the notion that this surly headmaster will ultimately prove himself to be “one of the good guys.” This segment of the book is the most scholarly, and it also includes an intriguing comparison with Gollum, one of my favorite literary characters, as Card describes both of them as morally ambiguous characters who become much more central to the story than originally intended.

The first chapter in each half gives a general overview of reasons to believe that Snape is either malicious or benevolent, and each concludes with a rather snarky top ten list citing reasons that readers either love or hate him. Sprinkled throughout are random references to pop culture; for instance, the “love him” list mentions Mission: Impossible and Grey’s Anatomy, while the “hate him” list references America’s Next Top Model and Herbie: Fully Loaded. Mostly good for a chuckle, as well as a bit of eye-rolling. The first chapters themselves lay out fairly convincing cases for Snape’s innocence and guilt, using quotes from the book and Rowling, literary precedents and logical detective work.

The second chapters - Snape the Villain and Snape the Hero - continue the debate, discussing whether he is a more intriguing character as a villain or as a hero. These chapters, too, are loaded with nods to pop culture, several of which are totally irrelevant but good for a laugh. For instance, the villain chapter muses that Snape’s guilty pleasure is Dancing With the Stars. More pertinent is the hero chapter’s list of anti-heroes from literature, film and television, including Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre, Han Solo in Star Wars, Elphaba in Wicked and Kate Austen in LOST.

By the third chapters, which focus on Snape’s biographical details, I had grown quite tired of the incessant references to his “greying underpants” in the traumatic scene that Harry witnesses in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The fixation strikes me as rather juvenile. Then again, the list of songs found on Snape’s iPod and the short essay on various anagrams of his name are pretty silly as well. More compelling is the textual evidence given on both sides suggesting the Snape has led either an underhanded or an upstanding life. For instance, the guilty side mentions his invention and implementation of the violent Sectumsempra spell, while the innocent side makes note of the fact that Hermione’s cat Crookshanks, whose half-Kneazle status renders him an especially good judge of character, goes ballistic at the sight of a traitor in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban but seems to have no objection to Snape.

The fourth chapters focus entirely on the movie career of Alan Rickman and cancel each other out, proving only that Rickman is an exceptionally talented actor who is equally adept at portraying heroes and villains. His magnificent portrayal of brooding Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility is no more evidence of Snape’s sympathetic nature than his seething portrayal of the malevolent Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is evidence of Snape’s vice. However, there can be little doubt that despite his limited screen time, Rickman’s performance is a factor in the fascination with this character, so I didn’t mind the diversion much, especially since it gave me a decent idea which of Rickman’s movies I would be most interested in watching.

Finally, the last chapters have to do with Slytherin, the House of which Snape is the Head. The guilty side mentions the long-held associations between snakes and evil and notes the fact that very few Slytherins throughout the series are portrayed in a sympathetic manner. Meanwhile, the innocent side points out that the Slytherins’ key trait, ambition, can be a very positive thing, and it also discusses some Slytherins who seem to break the pattern, including vain but kind Horace Slughorn and sneering but helpful Phineas Nigellus Black. Also interesting is a sidebar questioning whether Snape has ever loved anyone.

The publication of this book, whose contributors include Amy Berner, Joyce Millman and the aforementioned Card, demonstrates that I was far from the only one deeply invested in the question of Severus Snape’s loyalties. A similar debate raged throughout LOST’s fan community in regard to Ben Linus, and I found myself applying some of the logic in this book to that character, whom I have often compared to Snape. J. K. Rowling’s series has inspired dozens of books of commentary. This one is nowhere near the most detailed or eye-opening, and at times it‘s just plain silly. However, for those who find this character as fascinating as I do, The Great Snape Debate is worth diving into.