[HPforGrownups] Re: Where was Snape?

[Porphyria]

No: HPFGUIDX 36517

Finwitch gave a set of reasons for why she thinks Snape is a psychopath. 
I know Judy has tackled this one before, and Amanda and Eloise have 
already begun again today, but I feel a need to chime in myself--I can't 
bear to see him maligned <sniff, sniff>.

Finwitch's list, and my rebuttal:

> -Lack of emotion (particularly one of caring) is characteristic to
> psychopaths. It is one of the main reasons I think that of Snape.

Snape cares about a lot. He goes ballistic when he thinks Harry is 
endangering his life by going to Hogsmeade in PoA. He reacts with anger, 
but this is really the anger of a parent who finds their child has 
foolishly wandered off in a public place. If he were a psychopath, he'd 
be happy to let Harry get himself killed. Ditto his saving Harry's life 
on the  Quidditch pitch in PS/SS. Also, his genuine anguish at the end 
of CoS over the fact that a child had been taken by the monster. The 
fact that most of Snape's emotions get rendered as anger does not mean 
he doesn't care, but simply that he has a hard time managing them. He is 
profoundly emotional.

> -Things that applied to normal person would assist to smooth things
> over, work just opposite to psychopaths - hating his lifesaver *more*?

Eloise has covered this, but I need to reiterate it in my own words. 
There is absolutely nothing psychopathic about resenting the guy who 
saved your life. Snape is exptremely proud and loathes being caught in a 
vulnerable position (remember his reaction when Harry finds him with a 
mangled leg?). Being tricked into stumbling upon a werewolf was already 
humiliating for him because it made him look gullible (I'm sure he 
normally prides himself on his shrewdness). Plus it put his life in 
danger. That's bad enough, but to be rescued by someone you already hate 
it just too humiliating to bear for someone that proud and independent. 
*I* understand how he must have felt, and I'm quite safely neurotic. 
Snape's emotions here are simply an exaggeration (and perhaps an 
immature one, but still understandable) of what any honest person would 
admit they felt in the same situation.

> -No conscience, no empathy. (Ever seen Snape regret anything?)

Snape's reaction to "Moody" in the staircase scene in GoF is one of 
profound guilt on an operatic scale. He turns brick red (which is 
extraordinary for him) and feels a phantom pain in his arm. Plus he lets 
his guilt blind him to what "Moody" is really up to here; he loses his 
normal suspicion because he's too busy feeling remorse and regret about 
himself. These are the reactions of someone who is tortured by his 
conscience. I admit that he doesn't seem to care much about what he does 
to his students, but this is (to him) a very trivial issue. He's guilt 
stricken about the big things.

> -Ambition (EVERY Slytherin is - that's why they're sorted there!)

I hope this is not an indication of psychopathy. Personally, I'm always 
a little curious about Snape's ambition. He's proud of what he does in 
Potions, but there is no indication he's ruthlessly trying to move up in 
any hierarchy, either inside or outside the school. His loyalty to 
Dumbledore outweighs whatever ambitions he may have towards the 
Headmaster position.

> -good at cheating

Not sure exactly what you have in mind here, but even some of his 
'cheating' has more to do with the protection of the student body than 
anything else. If you mean his exposure of Lupin, I'd defend him on that 
same ground: it's quite understandable to not want a werewolf teaching 
school children, especially when he winds up transforming despite your 
best efforts. What other incidences of 'cheating' do you see?

> -like to make all unacceptable things seem to be the fault of their
> "enemies" (Snape *does* do that. Why did he blame *Harry* for
> Neville's first accident in Potions? It's *his* job to assure the
> potions are securedly made, not that of another students!)

I'm pretty sure Snape doesn't take himself that seriously here. He's out 
to take points off the Gryffindors, anyway he can. He's quite dramatic 
and even playful, in a nasty sort of way, about it. But I don't think he 
really believes that Harry was responsible for Neville's accident. He's 
really making a rhetorical point, that he won't cow-tow to Harry for any 
reason. Which might, to some extent, be to Harry's benefit.

It's still a pretty normal human reaction to blame someone else for your 
problems, but in most cases when Snape genuinely gets upset about 
something (as with Sirius) he at least has a valid point.

> - How opinions are divided into two about the person...

Not sure what you mean here.

> - Being ruthless.

This isn't limited to psychopaths either. He's determined to do the 
right thing when he believes he knows what that is, but he still has 
limits as to how 'ruthless' he really is about it. For instance, he does 
everything he can in PoA to protect Harry from Sirius Black while he of 
course thinks the Black is the bad guy. He's quite ruthless about 
hunting Sirius down in the Shack and threatening him with the dementors, 
etc. But when he finally finds Sirius passed out at his feet, he's quite 
restrained. He makes no attempt to really call the dementors and he 
treats the unconscious body quite humanely. He's not aware of being 
watched now either, so he's not trying to impress anyone. A psychopath 
would choose this moment to do something quite vicious, but Snape is 
actually kinder when he's offstage. Thus, his 'ruthlessness' is part of 
an act; it's more scary than real.

Amanda added:

> > Still, it is a fact that if you ignore the delivery system (nasty,
> mean,
> > spiteful, etc.), the product that Snape delivers most often is
> protection.
> > How is this reconciled with your thought?

Finwitch replied:

> Duty. Rules. Importance of Life-Debt(both making debtors to him - and
> paying his *own* debt to JP). Gaining and keeping the trust of the
> boss. Keeping good face to his superiors.
>

A psychopath wouldn't care about duty or rules or life-debts. Snape's 
loyalty to Dumbledore is real; a psychopath wouldn't care if "Moody" or 
anyone else accused him of duping Dumbledore, but Snape gets really 
upset about it.

I also don't think it's fair to characterize him as a psychopath just 
because it appears he has no friends. He might have sort of a friendship 
with McGonagall; there is some evidence of this. But even if he doesn't, 
his irritability and introversion are just as easily signs of clinical 
depression (which is incompatible with psychopathy), or simply signs of 
someone who has been through a war and come out fairly scarred.

Furthermore, I doubt that JKR would put this much effort into 
highlighting a character who is really a psychopath. It fits more with 
her style of storytelling that he be a character with secrets, one who 
is more than he seems, and we have plenty of evidence of that already. 
Hasn't she herself said in interview that he was at least a 'principled' 
character? That strikes me as a good sign. :-)

~~Porphyria


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