What is wrong with Snape?

One of the largest points of contention in the Harry Potter fanbase is Snape. People are either for him or against him, however, a core contributor to each side’s argument is his relationship with Lily. Thus, my analysis of why he sucks will be centralised on his relationship with her (it’s a little difficult to get through all of why I dislike him but this is a primary).

Those who are for Snape say that his love for Lily was corrupted by the Death Eaters and, subsequently, his death and associated redemption are incredibly important. His death and the information he gives to Harry are important, I won’t deny that, however, his mistreatment of his relationship with her (as demonstrated by the memories provided) far overshadows his good deeds.

Before I get too far into this discussion, I have to get two things off my chest. First, this:

He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth – she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape’s back.

Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, ‘I see no difference.’

Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.

How do people ignore this? How does he get a pass for this? Let’s also make note of, in the first book, when he poisons a toad and as a result, traumatised Neville to the point he becomes a fear of Neville’s so intense that it parallels Remus Lupin’s (a werewolf) fear of the moon. I have more but then this would get quite long and I honestly don’t have the heart health to accommodate such ranting.

A couple key points I have about his toxic relationship with Lily are set in the memories shown in the pensieve in book seven. Firstly, the scene where he rips a photo of Lily and James in half, discarding the half with James and putting the half with Lily in his pocket. My interpretation of this is that he’s trying to preserve her happiness, and by removing James from the picture (no pun intended) he’s acting like the love and happiness in the image is reserved for him.

Secondly: mudblood. Before I explain, here’s a small disclaimer: there are many “followers” in the series — Percy Weasley, Kreacher, and others who, often because of complicated backgrounds, fall in with the wrong crowd and eventually come around. If anything, they set an example for the series: a character can be a follower who becomes a sort of bully but will ultimately grow as a character. Snape is not that — he’s a follower who, instead of becoming good, does a final act for himself (faux kindness stemming from a desire to prove himself) because he knows he’s dying, not because he’s a good person. So when we look at when he calls Lily a mudblood, keep this in mind. He doesn’t grow from this; it doesn’t become a learning experience for him. Instead, he gets worse and doesn’t change. He loses his best friend, who he’s known since childhood and was a refuge from his horrible childhood, and doesn’t think twice because (in my opinion) he didn’t value Lily, instead, he valued whoever was the most conveniently accessible emotional dumping ground.

Oh but wait. Hold on. Here it is. The real kicker. He uses people. He doesn’t care who, he needs validation. I understand that everybody is searching for those things but not everybody calls their best friend horrible slurs, abuses children, and projects a horrible childhood experience onto the son of their best friend who they are still horrible obsessed with over a decade after their death. Returning to the photo: based on the previous, it can be assumed that he is admiring the photo and taking it not because he is in love with her but because she is an ideal; a representative of a childhood he lost and an innocence that, if he still had it, would have her, the beacon of childhood innocence. It’s a cycle.