Snape/George....I'm not an expert...

[mlfrasher at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 35617

...nor do I play one on TV...or on this list... I have NO idea what or if 
this has a 'name' with the group and apologise in advance becuase I'm one of 
those people who can't keep track of all of them...

*lurk mode off*

Elkins reiterated:

>  Marina's original introductory post seems to place a strong emphasis 
on the Prank as a catalytic agent for Snape's mistrust of the Light 
side and his subsequent belief that the Dark Was His Friend.
 
I think the Prank was a long line in a series of 'life experiences' that 
enforced his feelings on people in general.  I think he was a rat bastard as 
a kid and was probably fine with it, generally out to get students who 
annoyed him.  Gee, I could name a dozen real life people like this.

Marina on George:

> Now I believe that Snape originally joined the DEs not because he 
> had any conviction in their <ahem> ideals, but because they were the
> enemies of his enemies, and he thought they might treat him decently
> and not try to feed him to any werewolves..

My gut feeling is that he agreed with them, and then something happened 
within the DE's that threatened his own survival and he saw that this was 
definitely not the way to go in life, if he wanted to keep on living AND 
(this is important) do it on his own terms.  It's great to HAVE minions, but 
you have to have a sheep-like mentality to be one.  Severus doesn't seem like 
a sheep to me and I think that this would annoy him after a while.  
Independent people have a hard time with taking orders without having much 
input in them.


>  ...his disillusionment with the DEs was not a sudden 
epiphanous revelation, but rather, a gradual realization that
Voldemort and his followers were evil: their motives selfish, their 
means unjustified, their ends corrupt, and their assumptions just 
plain *wrong.*  

I have a problem with theories that depict moral quandaries of right or 
wrong.  If there's anything that Snape has given us in the books -- it's a 
nice grey area.  Him suddenly having an epiphany, like some ray of sunshine 
that hits him from the sky and all the sudden enlightens him, seems all hokey 
to me.  I agree to the gradual realization that this isn't the way to live, 
again through some personal threat to survival, and then realizing that 
living this way is an isolated and horrible life.  Groups generally bent on 
achieving power through the destruction of anything that stands in their way 
generally self destruct.  Any attempt to make a judgment as an individual 
would be met with suspicion - maybe because it was out of tune with the 
group, or perceived as a power play for dominance.  It would be a paranoid 
life and pretty boring after a while.  I could easily see Severus thinking to 
himself one day -- "Ok, Dark Lord, I *get* it, destroy our enemies, take 
control, you hate all those who oppose you, all Muggles, the color pink, your 
father, yeadda yadda, could we *please* move on now?!"  Wouldn't the "I'm 
eviler than you pose-down" get a little stale?

He could have realized after this personal revelation, that no one, Muggle or 
Wizard, would ever be safe if Voldemort succeeded.

I concur with those who would rather take a stick in the eye than see the 
Lily-Snape-James triangle be a reality in cannon.  I dunno it just makes me 
think of the Monty Python line in Holy Grail where the peasant calls the Lady 
of the Lake a 'watery tart' after King Arthur says he's been ordained as king 
by the lady Excalibur.  The relationship to our story?  Why does it always 
gotta be some romantic scene or some chick that turns a guy's life 
around...???

margaraeta, who hopes she doesn't sound too cynical 


*lurk mode on*




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