The following is the seventh in a series of 7 articles focusing on a moment of rhetorical significance in each of the Harry Potter novels. This series evolved out of a paper presented at the 2018 Harry Potter Academic Conference.
Professor Dumbledore is certainly the most studied orator of the Harry Potter series. His eminently quotable speeches echo throughout the series. Still though, the actual art of persuasion is probably more native to the Slytherin characters of the series. Those slippery, cunning folk have a way with words that our Gryffindor heroes struggle to compete with.
And no one is this more true of than Severus Snape. As a double, triple, ’round-the-back, sideways agent, Snape often finds himself in a position where he must explain his dubious actions and the choices behind them. And while he appears to never be fully trusted by anyone other than Dumbledore, again and again Snape is able to slither his way out of almost any predicament he finds himself in. Most interesting about him though is the way in which Snape chooses to employ rhetoric to do so.
Aldous Huxley: “There are two kinds of propaganda”
In Brave New World Revisited, Aldous Huxley discussed what he saw as the two kinds of propaganda:
There are two kinds of propaganda — rational propaganda in favor of action that is consonant with the enlightened self-interest of those who make it and those to whom it is addressed, and non-rational propaganda that is not consonant with anybody’s enlightened self-interest, but is dictated by, and appeals to, passion. 1
According to Huxley, Rational Propaganda appeals to logic and reason. And Non-Rational Propaganda appeals to the passions. Huxley certainly doesn’t seem to have a high opinion of Non-Rational Propaganda. And I think most people would agree. While a good leader deals in transparency and facts, rabble-rousers and demagogues excite the passions of the masses and lead them to make irrational choices.
In a post-Enlightenment world, the reasoned choice is often the ethical choice. But reason and logic are not immune to being warped by nefarious speakers either—consider the rise of ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’. Certainly, ‘facts don’t care about your feelings’, but that assumes that you have the knowledge and context to interpret those facts correctly and draw rational conclusions from them.
And no character demonstrates this argument better than Serverus Snape. In the many occasions which Snape must defend his actions, he often uses logic to appeal to the values of Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort and other villains. But when the Half-Blood Prince reveals his true nature to Harry (and readers) at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he relies heavily upon pathos.
The Appeal of Cold Logic
Each time a Death Eater questions Snape’s motives, he responds calmly and coolly with blunt logic. Take for instance, Bellatrix Lestrange’s interrogation in the opening chapters of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:
“Where were you when the Dark Lord fell? Why did you never make any attempt to find him when he vanished? What have you been doing all these years that you’ve lived in Dumbledore’s pocket? Why did you stop the Dark Lord procuring the Sorcerer’s Stone? Why did you not return at once when the Dark Lord was reborn? Where were you a few weeks ago when we battled to retrieve the prophecy for the Dark Lord? And why, Snape, is Harry Potter still alive, when you have had him at your mercy for five years?”
Bellatrix asks every question we, the readers, wanted to know before the series’ conclusion. She asks her questions directly, unceremoniously and with dangerous scrutiny. But Snape’s reply is calm, and it is rational. And it concerns itself with the self-interest of his audience.
Snape begins by introducing credible doubt. “Do you really think that the Dark Lord has not asked me each and every one of those questions? And do you really think that, had I not been able to give satisfactory answers, I would be sitting here talking to you?”
As he continues, his responses remain cynical, conniving and self-serving. And through his responses, Snape proves that his actions were based, not in honor or love or anything to excite the passions of his audience. Instead, they were based in convenience and self-preservation: the exact values of his audience. And as he predicted, Snape’s argument proves satisfactory to his fellow Death Eaters.
The Pathos of ‘The Prince’s Tale’
As logical and unemotional Snape is when dealing with Death Eaters, his rhetorical appeal flips when he must prove his true allegiance to one of the heroes.
“The Prince’s Tale” (the collection of memories Snape reveals at his death), weaves a narrative, not just of plot-driving exposition, but of true, heart-wrenching pathos. From his hilltop plea for Dumbledore to protect Lily, to the reveal of his patronus 16 years later when asked where his true loyalty lies, passion literally pours out of Snape when it really matters.
The magic of Occlumency requires wizards to shut off their emotions. It is a skill that comes quite naturally to the troubled characters of the series. Draco Malfoy is a natural, and he learns the skill from his aunt Bellatrix. Voldemort adopts the skill quite easily. But Snape is probably the best at it. He is trusted by no one, because his emotions reveal nothing.
But upon his death, Snape’s only mission is to deliver a final order to Harry from Dumbledore. Snape could have simply explained the situation. He could have offered only the last memory of Dumbledore which provides a rational, enlightened appeal.
But instead, Snape reveals a whole host of memories that weave an intricate a story. They are a confession of his greatest sins, a naked plea to be seen for who he really is. The Prince’s Tale is a humbling, transparent narrative beginning in love, faltering in selfishness and ending in selflessness. Snape knows at the end, that he cannot fully persuade Harry without completely exposing his heart to him. Snape knows that to complete his mission, and prove his loyalty to righteousness, he must use his deepest passions to appeal to, not the shallow self-interest of his fellow Death Eaters, but the enlightened self-interest of the heroes.
- Huxley, Aldous | Chapter IV: “Propaganda in a Democratic Society” | Brave New World Revisited | 1958