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Tragic Hero In Severus Snape

750 Words3 Pages
Severus Snape is first introduced to Harry Potter in his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is clear that Snape does not like Harry. It’s easy for those watching Harry’s life unfold to hate Snape. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, we can see that Harry Potter is the classic hero. What might go unnoticed, and is only fully revealed in this episode of the stories, is that Severus Snape exposes himself to be the tragic hero of the story.
All of Snape’s characteristics of a tragic hero happened long before the story of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. As we see, when his whole story is shown to us, is that Snape’s tragic flaw was his love for Lily Potter. He met Lily Potter as a young child, before either of them attended Hogwarts. He was instantly in love with Lily. This love didn’t go away when they arrived at Hogwarts and Lily’s story began to part with his own. Although Lily never loved Snape, this did not change the love Snape had for Lily. His longing for her was made more painful to watch, as they grow older and she begins to have feelings for James Potter. This causes Snape to loath James Potter. When Dumbledore sees Snape’s patronus and realizes that it is a reflection of Lily Potter, he asks him, “After all this time?” To which Snape replies, “Always.”Through a series of bad choices, made to try to heal the pain he feels at the loss of Lily, Snape finds himself in a position to try to save Lily. Even though he is
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