Character Study: Severus Snape

While I was impatiently waiting for the final Harry Potter book to come out, I took to indexing the dialogue markers of various chapters in Half Blood Prince. I had such lofty goals, intending to index the entire book before the final installment was published. Alas, I only have about five chapters analyzed total. Oh well. One of the things I noticed from the few chapters that I did index is that Rowling has proven her genius and attention to details yet again. In the second chapter, Spinner's End, Snape's loyalties are questioned and she is careful that Snape is as slippery as ever, right down to his dialogue markers. Even if these findings are easily made without a focused study of the markers, it's still pretty freaking neat.

For the sake of my poor fingers, I am going to begin from the section where Snape enters. I've put names in brackets where all the confusing pronouns go. I've placed a few notes in bold next to the indexing that will be further explained in the reflection below. Also, please note that the pages reflect the hardbound A.A. Levine version.

(page 22)

• "..." said the man, opening the door a little wider, so the light fell upon [Narcissa] and her sister too.
• "..." [Narcissa] said in a strained whisper. "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• "..." [Bellatrix] said curtly as she passed him.
• "..." [Snape] replied, his thin mouth curling into a slightly mocking smile as he closed the door with a snap behind them.

(page 23)

• "..." Snape asked, setting himself in the armchair opposite the two sisters.
• "..." Narcissa asked quietly.
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• "..." said Snape lazily.
• "..." [Wormtail] said, in a squeaky voice. "..."
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• "..." [Wormtail] squeaked avoiding Snape's eyes.
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]

(page 24)

• [no marker--implied to be Wormtail]
• "..." said Snape silkily. "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Wormtail]
• "..." said Snape sneering. "..."
• "..." [Snape] said, raising his glass and draining it.
• As Narcissa took her second drink, she said in a rush, "..."
• "..." said Snape."..."

(Page 25)

• [Narcissa] took a great, shuddering breath and started again. "..."
• "..." snarled Bellatrix. "..."
• "..." repeated Snape sardonically. "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• "..." [Bellatrix] said loudly, striding out from behind the sofa to slam her glass upon the table. "..."

(Page 26)

• Snape smiled.
• [Bellatrix] hesitated.
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• Snape did not press the point. He picked up his drink again, sipped it, and continued, "..."
• "..."--[Snape] inclined his head slightly to Narcissa--"..."

(Page 27)

• "..."said Bellatrix passionately. "..."
• "..." said Snape in a bored voice. "..."
• "..." [Bellatrix] shrieked; in her fury she looked slightly mad. "..."
• "..." said Snape calmly. "..."
• "..." [Bellatrix] jeered. "..."
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]* power struggle, cut off
  
• "..." said Snape, betraying a hint of impatience for the first time. "..."

(Page 28)

• "..." [Snape] pressed on, a little more loudly, for Bellatrix showed every sign of interrupting, "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]* power struggle, cut off
  
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]* dumbledore's name mentioned--unable to read Snape
  
• "..." [Bellatrix] began, in tones of outrage.
• "..." said Snape, impatient again. "..."

(Page 29)

• "..." sneered Bellatrix. "..."
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• "..." said Bellatrix, firing up at once. "..."
• "..." said Snape, his voice delicately inflected to suggest his disbelief. "..."
• "..." said Bellatrix, flushing. "..."
• "..." said Narcissa, in a low and deadly voice, looking up at her sister.
• "..." said Snape smoothly. "..."
• "..." said Bellatrix furiously. "..."
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• "..." snarled Bellatrix. "..."
  

(Page 30)

• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]
• "..." asked Snape.
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]* power struggle, flustered
  
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• "..." [Bellatrix] jeered. *cut off snape--regains a marker
  
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]* defensive, trails off
  
• [no marker--implied to be Bellatrix]
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]*begins lenghty monologue
  

(Page 31)

• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
  
• "..." asked Bellatrix. "..."
• "..." asked Snape. "..." (for Bellatrix had made a scathing noise), "..."

(Page 32)

• Taking advantage of her silence, Snape turned to her sister. "..."
• Narcissa looked up at him, her face eloquent with despair. "..."
  
• "..." Narcissa continued, her eyes still closed. "..."
• "..." said Snape at once. "..."
• "..." [Bellatrix] said triumphantly to her sister. "..."
• "..." [Snape] said in a low voice. "..."
• "..." said Narcissa, breathing more freely. "..."

(Page 33)

• "..." said Bellatrix, her fleeting look of satisfaction replaced by a look of outrage. "..."
• "..." said Snape. "..."
• "..." [Narcissa] whispered, tears sliding down her pale cheeks. "..."
• "..." said Bellatrix indifferently. "..."
• Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. "..."
• "..." [Narcissa] persisted. "..."
• "..." said Snape, still looking away from her. "..."
• "..." sobbed Narcissa. "..."
• Bellatrix gasped; Narcsisa seemed to lose her nerve. "..."

(Page 34)

• "..." said Snape flatly. "..."
• "..." choked Narcissa. "..."
• [Narcissa's] face close to [Snape's], her tears falling onto his chest, she gasped, "..."
• Looking down into [Narcissa's] tearstained face, [Snape] said slowly, "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Narcissa]
• "..." repeated Snape quietly. "..."

(Page 35)

• [Narcissa] crumpled, falling at [Snape's] feet, sobbing and moaning on the floor. "..."
• "..." said Bellatrix ruthlessly. "..."
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• [no marker--implied to be Narcissa]
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• [no marker--implied to be Narcissa]
• [no marker--implied to be Snape]
• Bellatrix, however, let out a cackle of triumphant laughter. "..."

(Page 36)

• "..." [Snape] said quietly. "..."
• "..." said Snape coldly.
• "..." [Snape] said.
• Narcissa spoke. "..."
• "..." said Snape.
• [no marker--implied to be Narcissa]
• "..." said Snape.
• "..." whispered Narcissa. "..."

(Page 37)

• "..." said Snape.

Reflection:

The strongest thing I observed is that less is definitely more. For example, notice that Wormtail's name is never recorded in the markers. He is either a pronoun squeaking, or not even given the luxury of a dialogue marker at all. Snape is elusive as ever, and when he has markers outside of "Snape said" they are often followed by an adjective beginning with the letter s, as you can find on page 24 with "said Snape silkily." The few seconds of narration in between his words in these instances have a strong alliteration, giving the illusion that his words are hissing like a snake.

I hypothesize that there seems to be two reasons why Rowling decided against utilizing dialogue markers for certain sections of text. The first, and most obvious, is simply for the sake of flow. Too many he-said and she-saids bog down the narration. The second is that a lack of markers represents power. Look at the Wormtail example again. By lacking markers more frequently than his name is mentioned, he is truly a worthless character, emphasized by the fact that he is being holed away in Snape's house to act the servant. I also noticed that Snape cuts across Bellatrix often before she can finish her thoughts or gain access to a marker, taking over the conversation. However, when Snape is being called on to help Draco on page 35, Bellatrix is the only person whose name is recorded. This is the section where she has the most control of the dialogue, mocking Snape. An interesting contrast to this theory, however, is that on pages 30-31 Snape has a lengthy monologue. He has three paragraphs of text, but not a single marker. I viewed this as the opposite of what I have already suggested, in that, he has so much control of the conversation not even the narrator can barge in.

Anyway, that's about it for that. Questions? Comments?