JKR's interview

[esotery]

JKR's comments about Snape have made me angry.

Could anyone tell me where in DH Hermione Jean Granger appears? I’ve heard it’s in there, but seemed to have missed it.

interviewer: Was Snape always intended to be a hero?

JKR: *gasp* Is he a hero? You see, I don't see him really as a hero.

interviewer: Really?

JKR:Yeah, he's spiteful, he's a bully. All

Comments

[dream_labyrinth]

Hermione Jean Granger comes up in Dumbledore's will. But only there, and personally I will stick with Jane for the time being, because Jean just doesn't sound right.

And the interview...
She said about two lines about Snape in the first place, and those two lines were complete rubbish.

Severus was the most interesting, the most complex, for six books. And then she tries to press him into this little, one-dimensional mould of "Evil Bully" - it just doesn't work and she doesn't even have the decency to admit it.

[esotery]

Thanks for finding that.

Yes, she created a character who became too complex for her to deal with. It's sad that the author doesn't see how interesting he is and makes him OOC in DH.

[dream_labyrinth]

*g*

*looks around*

I couldn't agree with you more, but it can only be a few hours until somebody will claim that JKR knows Severus much better than we do therefore he can't possibly be AU in canon, it's just that we didn't know he was this sappy.

[esotery]

But of course. If JKR says he's sappy, despite 6 books of evidence to the contrary, then who are we to contradict her?;)

[hope_24]

She has a very narrow idea of what makes a hero. She implies that heroes can only possess 'positive' qualities, but that simply wouldn't be believable as a character. Nor would it be someone with whom the reader could identify.

For me, the reason Snape is an authentic hero is because he is deeply human. He has traits and faults with which we can all identify, (short-tempered, sarcastic, etc) yet he still tries to do what he perceives to be the right thing - even in the face of danger. He feels remorse for past mistakes and tries to atone for them.

In this sense, he is much more the 'hero' that we are used to encountering in literature, the hero of the bildungsroman.

[esotery]

I agree. There was never any doubt in my mind about whether Harry would to the right thing. He doesn't seem to change much either.

[hope_24]

Exacty, there's no development, no tension as to what he will do. I'm not bashing the character at all - but there's not much there to keep us interested

[hope_24]

JK has an extremely narrow definition of "hero", but it's not "person who possesses only positive qualities": she admits that Harry is "sometimes angry and sometimes arrogant".

JK, as she has said time and time again, prizes bravery above all other virtues. Unfortunately she has a very narrow definitoin of "bravery" which boils down to "doing dangerous things without blubbing about it." She doesn't really care about *moral* courage: standing up for what you believe in, admitting you were wrong, that kind of thing.

[sylvanawood]

I totally agree, and the whole thing with the Elder Wand is so crappy... that whole wand stuff comes out of nowhere and makes as much sense as the Dumbledore subplot and the changing of the Fidelius rules. (love your icon). If she had tied up open threads and DH, and then, perhaps had written a book about Dumbledore and Grindelwald, and then given one of his fans permission to write a decent one about Snape... the options were there, but no. So much potential, so much wasted. Sigh. BTW, I friended you.

[esotery]

A lot of the things in DH, like Harry's wand taking in some of Voldemort's power, came out of nowhere. You're right, the Elder Wand thing was pointless (like the Resurrection stone). In fact, she probably could have taken out the Deathly Hallows subplot, which really came out of nowhere, and used the room fill plot holes and make the book better. Like you said, it was such a waste. I've friended you back.

[wikkidgothbabe]

JKR, unfortunately, does not like Snape at all... she's said so in quite a few interviews.
Which is tragic, because he IS by far the best character she's written.
JKR, unfortunately, seems to be more of a squeeing Sirius Black fangrrrl, it seems.
On a more humourous note:
i almost want to make an icon now with Nagini being the true master of the Elder Wand...

[esotery]

You're right, JKR doesn't like Snape and she's determined to stop others from liking him as well. Obviously her statements won't change my opinion of him or other characters, but I wonder how many people will rethink their opinions of him on the grounds that she's the author and must be right.~sigh~
That would be funny icon.

[wikkidgothbabe]

i'll never change my opinion about Snape...
i don't care how she wrote him, or what she meant... to me, he is a hero!!!!

[orpheus_samhain]

Snape is the most interesting character in entire series (along with Riddle) and for me he is a hero no matter what JKR says.

I don't understand how Harry could forgive DD instantly. Also Riddle crying on the floor and DD saying to Harry to just ignore it... It was very disturbing to me.

As for Elder Wand - Snape was never the rightful owner, because it was Draco who won it from Albus disarming him on the tower. Snape died protecting Draco (I think Snape knew that/realised as V was speaking but didn't try wriggle out of this saying 'It was Draco, My Lord") and also enabling Harry to win because V believed he had the advantage.

I think that as V ordered Nagini to kill Snape, she worked as his tool and it counts as if he killed Snape himself. Not sure of course. It didn't matter anyway, since Snape wasn't the rightful master.

[esotery]

Also Riddle crying on the floor and DD saying to Harry to just ignore it... It was very disturbing to me.
I agree. So this is what her idea of good people do? Ignore those who are suffering?

I know that Snape was never the rightful owner, but Voldemort thought he was and I was just surprised that he wouldn't kill Snape himself to ensure that he became the wand's master.
Voldemort ordering Nagini to kill Snape might have counted as him killing Snape, but it seemed questionable, especially after all the discussion about the wand having to choose the wizard. Then again, it's hardly the worst problem in the book.