[HPforGrownups] Re: Fave Characters

[Vicky Ra]

No: HPFGUIDX 19342


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: JamiDeise at aol.com 
  To: HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 1:27 PM
  Subject: Re: [HPforGrownups] Re: Fave Characters


  In a message dated 5/23/2001 5:54:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
  bohners at pobox.com writes:

  <<  I came to the conclusion
  that there is a LOT more to Snape -- in a positive way -- that we haven't
  seen yet, and that JKR has been hinting at this all along:  which to me
  makes him the most intriguing character of all. >>

  That's exactly how I feel.

  At the risk of incurring the wrath of those open-minded enough to see beyond 
  the characters as they occur to our protagonist, I must admit that I abhor 
  Snape. Loathe him. Despise him. Detest him. To me, he occurs as an insecure, 
  petty and vindictive man who takes out his own frustrations on those weaker 
  than he is. Look at the way he tortures poor Neville -- completely 
  indefensible, especially since GoF we know the sacrifice Neville's family has 
  endured. And the remark he made to Hermione when she got caught in Draco and 
  Harry's curse-wake and her teeth grew out of control: "I don't see a 
  difference." Incredibly cruel. He's biased toward members of his own House, a 
  trait not shown by the other Heads of Houses (at least not that I have seen), 
  which I infer may be why Slytherin won the House Cup every year until Harry 
  showed up -- with Snape unfairly taking away points from other Houses and 
  awarding them to Slytherin without merit, and no other Head of House willing 
  to stoop to such levels, his House was a guaranteed shoo-in.

  All of these are valid points. You are right. They are all inexcusable. Yet, Dumbledore keeps him around, and it can't be just for charity. I wonder why he switched sides, anyway? There had to be some good reason. You're right. He's jealous, vindictive, and nasty, but not necessarily evil. We don't know all the facts, because we don't know Snape's side of the story, and being a major Snape fan, I hate to presume he's automatically the bad guy. I mean, Sirius did indirectly try to get him killed. For a hatred that intense, there is definitely more to the story than we know as yet. Even Harry and Draco haven't gone that far. There's no way for me to defend Snape with your arguments, but we've never seen anything from his POV.

  Finally, has this question ever been debated and resolved:  yes, Snape 
  prevented Quirrell from killing Harry in SS. But why didn't he run to 
  Dumbledore as soon as he realized what Quirrell was up to? I don't think we 
  can infer good motives from that one.

  True. One also wonders why Snape gave away the solution to his potion puzzle. Perhaps he did want the stone? Or perhaps he had no conclusive evidence to go accusing a staff member of betrayal? I don't remember the Canon well. I've only read it once, so probably have missed important little details one never catches the first time reading a book. I wonder how Quirrell got the info from all the teachers concerning their traps. Did he charm them? I think he got Hagrid drunk, but don't know about the rest. Sorry for this rambly, emotional, nonsense post.

  Vicky


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