JKR's interview
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 these tihngs are still true of Snape, even at the end of this book. Ah, um, but was he brave? Yes, immensely.
I listened to JKR’s interview and really don’t understand how her mind works. Snape isn’t a hero because he’s a mean bully? She really has forced him to be this pathetic, one-dimensional character in her mind (and unfortunately in parts of DH as well). She couldn’t handle him being too complex or interesting because that might take interest away from Harry or interfere with her moral message. Some people are good no matter what they do, while others aren’t.
I think she expects us to cheer the heroes on while they perform unforgivable curses (because spitting on McGonagall really is an acceptable reason to torture Carrow) without question. After all, JKR has told us who is good and who is bad and expects that to be the end of it. Harry did question Dumbledore in DH, but forgave him with remarkable speed. I suppose JRK considers Dumbledore to be more of a hero than Snape. I never liked Dumbledore much, but in DH he turned out to be cruel and manipulative. I hated that Harry immediately forgave Dumbledore. What was the entire Dumbledore subplot for? It should either have some effect or be taken out to allow some of the plot holes to be filled in its place.
If JKR really wanted to kill Snape, she should have thought it through a bit more. Even if Snape had been the owner of the Elder wand, having Nagini kill him wouldn’t have made Voldemort its owner. Wouldn’t Voldemort realize that he would have had to kill him himself?
In general, Deathly Hallows was such a disappointment. I thought that JKR was going to tie everything together. Instead, DH is full of plot holes, inconsistencies, awful characterization, and a really lame ending. I think that she had a wonderful vision of the magical world and created interesting characters with a lot of potential, but then didn’t know what to do with it.