A Sirius Offense

[serenadust]

No: HPFGUIDX 35032


> Penny <pennylin at s...> wrote:
> 
> > Sirius *does* engage in interactive, give-and-take 
*relationships* 
> > with other human beings.  Snape does *not*!  ... C'mon 
> > Snape-fans, you've got to concede that your man Snape really 
really 
> > lacks interpersonal skills hugely. 
  

Judy wrote:
> Nope, not going to concede it. Remember, we are seeing things from 
> Harry's point of view, and Snape and Harry despise each other.  
> Sirius, on the other hand, is Harry's godfather, and cares about 
Harry 
> perhaps more than any other person in the world. So, of course 
Sirius 
> comes across as much friendlier in the text than Snape does; 
Sirius is 
> interacting with someone he likes (or loves) and Snape is 
interacting 
> with someone he despises (or even hates.)  
>  
> Snape knows how to interact with others when he feels like it.  
> Remember how he was manipulating Fudge at the end of PoA?  (Well, 
> until Sirius escaped and he lost it.)
> 

I think that what Snape is actually doing with Fudge would be 
classified as shamelessly sucking up, not actual interaction.  In 
this case, Snape seems to have brought Sirius to "justice" which 
will make Fudge look good, so Fudge (ever the consumate politician) 
is stroking him reflexively. He's never really connecting with him, 
and drops him like a bad habit when the situation changes.  It 
doesn't seem that Snape's self-serving statements to Fudge have any 
effect on Fudge's actions at all. Sorry, but I've got to agree with 
Penny's statement above.  Snape has no effective  "people skills" at 
all except for when he's threatening children.


> Penny replied:
> > I asked a friend from church who *does* specialize in PTSD 
therapy 
> > ....He said that PTSD does not "normally" lead 
> > to violent behavior but certainly can.... Reasonable minds can > 
> disagree of course.  :--)


Judy wrote:
> I actually don't think we are disagreeing much here about the 
effects 
> of PTSD.  We both are saying that PTSD doesn't usually cause 
violence, 
> although it can in some cases.  What differs is the interpretation 
we 
> are making of this.  You are emphasizing that PTSD *can* increase 
the 
> probability of violence, and therefore see PTSD as an excuse for 
> Sirius' behavior.  I am saying it usually *doesn't* cause 
violence, 
> therefore a person w/PTSD who turns violent must have been more 
prone 
> to violence in the first place than are most people.  

I have no expertise in PTSD, but it seems that common sense would 
dictate that one's response to PTSD would have to depend on the 
trauma which caused it in the first place.  For example, if it were 
induced by say, being trapped and nearly killed in an earthquake, 
then I wouldn't expect that an individual would be provoked to 
violent behavior by it since the incident was more or less a random 
act of nature.  However, if it were caused by being imprisoned in 
the most soul-destroying prison in existance as a result of being 
framed for the deaths of 2 dear friends by another dear friend, who 
was now a threat to the only child of the murdered couple, then it 
seems plausable that Sirius' response would not be to give Pettigrew 
a stern talking to (whew, that's the longest sentence I've ever 
written). There are loads of examples of Viet Nam vets with PTSD who 
behaved violently out of character, as a result of horrific wartime 
experiences. I don't think that there is any canon evidence for 
Sirius having a violent nature in his pre-Azkaban days, and I've 
always assumed it was as a result of his hellish past 12 years.

Jo Serenadust