Grief Portrayed in Deathly Hallows ~ Some Just Don't Understand

[rattlesnakeroot]

We've all seen some of the extremely sick and judgmental comments about Snape's display of grief for Lily as seen in Deathly Hallows Part Two. But why are people so quick to say that his grief is "different" from Harry's for Dobby or Ron's for his brother Fred? In the book, there is no real difference

Comments

[wimble_mimble]

I'm not sure I would go so far as to say that those who find Severus' grief over Lily's death are "like Voldemort" and unable to understand that sort of powerful emotion. I think it may be more of the fact that in the previous examples the relationship between the two people was either family or close friend. The fact that Severus had romantic feelings for Lily is, I think, what makes people feel a little creeped out that he would touch her after she had died.

I disagree that any romantic feelings that he may have had for her would automatically make any physical contact between them suspect. That people might feel a little uneasy about it when they first saw that scene is understandable to an extent. However, that even after multiple views and time to think everything over, people are still sticking to the idea that Severus is somehow creepy or horribly wrong for holding her is just outlandish. They had been friends since childhood, afterall. That people would expect him to be able to hold himself together after seeing his oldest friend murdered is rather ridiculous.

[snapes_witch]

I'm not sure I would go so far as to say that those who find Severus' grief over Lily's death are "like Voldemort" and unable to understand that sort of powerful emotion. I think it may be more of the fact that in the previous examples the relationship between the two people was either family or close friend. The fact that Severus had romantic feelings for Lily is, I think, what makes people feel a little creeped out that he would touch her after she had died.

Only to those who never liked Severus in the first place . . . otherwise I don't see why teen and young adult Sev having feelings for Lily is creepy. Some people appear to have difficulty separating the adult DE from the child. That's their problem not the character's.

[rattlesnakeroot]

I would say that Harry wasn't Cedric's close friend or family, and Snape had known Lily longer than Harry knew Dobby, yet Harry's reactions in the books and movies aren't seen as "creepy."

I see your point about my comparison to Voldemort, and maybe if I had one shred of respect left for the Snape-haters I might feel guilty about using that parallel. But right now, it seems like a fair comparison. If someone doesn't understand love, they don't understand it.