The Antihero of our Time

      

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              An antihero is a protagonist who lacks the pure hero moral compass.  They could be lacking mercy or nobility of character that the "normal" view of a hero would usually be.  People usually have conflicted feelings over such a character because they adore him but are simultaneously unsure about supporting some of his darker traits.

              Severus Snape, from the Harry Potter series, is one example of an antihero.  He is "one of the good guys," but he also is a major rival to Harry Potter.  Snape is a spy for Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts and nemesis to the dark, evil wizard Voldemort.  In being so, he is often called upon to carry out deeds of both the light and the dark.

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                     Snape, throughout the book, partially antagonizes Harry Potter causing Harry to believe Snape as a man of bad character.  Harry isn't entirely wrong however.  Snape did tell Voldemort about a prophecy in order to spare Lily, Harry's mother and Snape's love, which caused Voldemort to go to kill Harry's parents and attempt to kill Harry himself.  He turned spy for Dumbledore after that.

                 Snape eventually killed Dumbledore.  As a result most people lost faith in Snape as a good guy, but his reasons revealed more of his light.  Dumbledore was cursed by a ring and was about to die soon anyway, also Draco Malfoy, a student at Hogwarts was sent to kill Dumbledore, and Severus killed Dumbledore so that Malfoy would not become a murderer.

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                  In the end, at Snape's end, the best of Snape is revealed.  The reason's for his darker deeds and characteristics.  His memories revealed that he was a "good guy" in the end.

                  Snape has relations to the character of Ichabod Crane from Sleepy Hollow.  They both have a measure of selfishness: Snape's exemplified through revealing the prophecy to Voldemort to protect Lily,even thought she was married to James Potter, and Ichobod in his desiring to marry a girl to receive wealth.  They both are teachers at their respective schools and are not hesitant to discipline their more rambunctious students.  The third thing is that they both desired women they could not have: Snape with Lily, and Ichabod with Katrina.

                 Snape is an Antihero.