TBAY - CholericSadist!Snape

[Judy]

No: HPFGUIDX 47392

Judy strode over the Snapetheorists table, where Eileen, Eloise, and
Diana were having a drink.  

"Why were you away so long?" Eileen asked.  "I thought you were just
taking a bathroom break."

"Sorry," said Judy.  "I was at a lecture on the Death Eater rampage at
the campground and why it's a classic case of deindividuation. 
Anyway, it looks like I picked the right time to be gone."  She looked
at the mess all around her: ketchup packets stuck to the ceiling,
guacamole on the floor. "What happened?  Food fight?" 

"More like a tantrum," Eloise said. "You don't want to know the
details.  Anyway, it's high time you were back. Right before you left,
you had misunderstood something I said.  You thought I was claiming
that Snape only left the Death Eaters because he felt that Voldemort
wasn't sharing power enough.  But, I meant that something caused him
to realise that Voldemort's philosophy of there being no good and evil
was wrong and only suggested, as I don't favour his conversion being
as the result of a Bang, that it might have been because he realised
that the only person to benefit fully from Voldemort's philosophy was
Voldemort himself. That the father figure he thought he had seen in
Voldemort wasn't there, or wasn't the kind of father he wanted (or
perhaps was too like the father he had). I don't know what made him
realise, but it was this dawning realisation that there *is* such a
thing as good and evil and that we *are* accountable for the way we
behave towards others that made his leaving the DEs imperative. That's
the core philosophy of George's Sister Diana: 'Giving Evil Overlord's
Regime Genuine Effort, Severus Soul Is Severely Troubled, Eventually
Rendering  Defection Indeed A Necessary Act.'"

"Oh, I see now," said Judy. "Yes, I misunderstood. You aren't saying
that he left the DEs because he decided Voldemort wasn't giving him a
good deal.  You're saying that Snape eventually saw through
Voldemort's act and realized how selfish Voldemort was, which led him
to re-evaluate the whole DE philosophy.  That's possible. We're in
agreement that *something* made Snape question the Death Eater
philosophy.  I'm of the opinion that it was his love for Lily, but I'm
afraid the details are 'teww eww' to discuss in polite company."

"I'm not sure I'd call the crowd here *polite* company," Diana said,
looking at the food spattered everywhere. 

"Well, let's hope that Magic Dishwashers have a setting that allows
them to magically clean floors and walls, as well as dishes," Judy
said.  

"Really," said Eileen, looking with distaste at the cheese sauce on
the floor.  "Judy, I agree with you that Snape did question
Voldemort's philosophy, and came to the conclusion that it was wrong.
Is there anyone on the Bay, btw, who disagrees with this? Does Cindy
still promote that Prince of Lies rubb... errr, theory?"

Everyone shrugged their shoulders.

"Well," Eileen continued, "The real question is how cruel Snape is. I
don't really see Snape sitting down every morning, and going, 'Must
get my daily fix of Muggle torture.' McNair, as you pointed out, I do
wonder about, but Snape I see more as like a Komsomol woman I once
read about. This woman took part in a rather vicious attack on certain
'kulaks' for no reason whatsoever.(It wasn't ordered by anyone, but
when they went to tell these people to move out, things got out of
hand.) Years later, she was extremely remorseful about this (though
sad to say, there were plenty of others who weren't in the slightest,
as far as can be seen.) She emphasized the fact that she and the
others had numbed any original feelings they might have for the
'kulaks' with the idea that they were not human, 'vermin' was the word
she repeatedly used. And, once she thought of them as 'vermin,' she
could take pleasure in stomping them out."  

"If you're asking me if Snape might have taken part in an attack like
that, I would have to say yes," Judy replied.  "However, I believe
that just about any person might do what this Komsomol woman did,
under certain circumstances.  When I was younger, I used to agonize
over how cruel people can be and wonder if cruelty was part of human
nature. I still agonize over how cruel people can be. But, I now think
that 'Are people naturally cruel or naturally kind?' is not a
meaningful question.  People are heavily influenced by their situation
and by those around them.  Most people have the capacity for great
cruelty *and* the capacity for extreme kindness, depending on the
situation they are in. The important question is not 'Is human nature
cruel or kind?' but 'How do we bring about situations that promote
kindness, and end situations that promote cruelty?'"

"So," said Eileen, "you are saying that Snape might have been 'in up
to his eyebrows' in Death Eater misdeeds, but so might have any other
person who happened to come within Voldemort's sphere of influence?"  

"Exactly," Judy replied. "I couldn't have said so better myself.  I
think Snape may have done awful things as a Death Eater, but this just
means that he's human, not that he's a natural sadist. Of course, this
still leaves the question of why Snape is so mean to the Gryffindor
students.  I rather like using the concept of the four humours when
discussing Snape -- he does teach potions, after all.  So, I've named
my theory Choleric!Snape. It says that Snape has the sort of
personality that naturally angers easily, that he sees the world as
hostile to him and has a naturally resentful, envious personality.
He's mean to the Gryffindors because he's convinced that they are
getting privileges they don't deserve."

"I think the idea that Snape has an resentful, envious personality
would withstand a vigorous canon offense," says Eileen with a smile.
"Go on."

Judy thought for a moment.  "Well, in saying that Snape tends to be
angry, I may seem to be just stating the obvious.  However, what I
mean is that there's no need to use personality constructs such as
sociopathy or sadism to explain why Snape does things such as insult
Neville. The mere fact that Snape goes around being angry all the time
makes it almost impossible for him to empathize with others. His lack
of empathy provides the explanation of his treatment of Neville, so
there's no reason to believe that Snape has such fairly rare traits as
sociopathy or a natural urge for sadism."

Eileen looked doubtful.  "Are you saying that being angry and being
sadistic are mutually exclusive?  Because I hardly think that's the
case."

"What I'm doing is making a distinction between someone who is cruel
out of anger, and someone who is cruel even when not angry," Judy
said. "I would say that the first is normal, and the second is not.  I
think Voldemort is an example of the second type of person, someone
who is cruel even when not angry. Voldemort, I'd say, enjoys cruelty
because of the feeling of power it gives him over people.  Even if
everything was going his way, even if he had no reason to feel angry,
he would still be cruel. In fact, everything *was* going his way at
the height of his powers, yet he still indulged in cruelty just
because it amused him -- "half of the muggle murders during
Voldemort's reign were done just for fun." Voldemort is not normal; he
is a sociopath. In fact, I've often wondered if JKR studied the
concept of sociopathy when designing his character.  Snape is
different.  I admit that he gets angry too easily.  He doesn't know
how to forgive.  But, he doesn't go after people whom he feels have
never hurt him. You can't say that about the other Death Eaters --
they were torturing the campground owner and his family after the
Quidditch World Cup, just because they *could*.   I don't think Snape
is a sociopath like Voldemort or Lucius." 

"Oh wait a second," said Eileen. "Let's go back to your original
analysis of Snape. 'He's mean to the Gryffindors because he's
convinced that they are getting privileges they don't deserve,' you
said. If there's one thing that's emphasized again and again it's that
Malfoy and the others feel that they are being robbed of something
that rightfully belongs to them, by the entry of muggleborns into
their society. Hardly sane, but neither is this belief that Harry is
getting priveleges he doesn't deserve at their first meeting. (Later
maybe, but not then.) It's the same type of mindset at work. I can see
Snape being very into the pureblood thing as a student."

"I don't know if Snape was into the pureblood thing, or even if he
*is* a pureblood," Judy said.  "Regardless, I think he has a different
mindset from Lucius' elitism.  Lucius knows that he is already
privileged, but feels he deserves even more privileges than he already
has.  He feels that he's a superior person and should be treated much
better than other people. He is very high in self-esteem. (Possibly,
his self-esteem is high but unstable, but that's another topic.) 
Snape, on the other hand, doesn't feel he *deserves more* privileges
than other people, he just feels that he's *getting less* privileges
than other people.  I don't see Snape as being especially high in
self-esteem.  In fact, there are some indications that he is low in
self-esteem, especially when he seems angry with himself after
Fake!Moody taunts him about his Dark Mark. Snape looks at his
half-full glass and sees it as 99% empty, which makes him angry. 
Lucius, on the other hand, knows that his cup is overflowing, but
thinks that he's entitled to everyone else's cup, too.  

"As for Snape's reaction to Harry, well, that's a special case.  Snape
looks at Harry and sees James.  He sees the fame that Harry got as the
vanquisher of Voldemort, and feels that Harry doesn't deserve it, just
as he felt James didn't deserve all the attention he got at school.
Harry is an orphan and has had a hard life among muggles, but Snape
doesn't think of that. His anger blinds him to it and prevents him
from feeling empathy."  

Judy looked at the menu.  "All this talking has made me hungry. Hmm,
the CHOP Platter sounds appealing; I'll buy that." 

-- Judy Serenity
                                                        
****************************

Theory names and acronyms:

CHOP = Cranium of Headmaster on a Platter; the theory that Voldemort
will ask Snape to deliver Dumbledore's head to him as proof of Snape's
loyalty.

"Teeeww Eeeew" is discussed in Hypothetic Alley
http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/faq/hypotheticalley.html