Re: Severus snape´s possible ethnic background

[subrosax99]

No: HPFGUIDX 75577

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Chrissi" <chrissilein at y...> 
wrote:
> Dear Cindy,
> 
> all that funny speculations like "Snape is a Vampire", or "James
> switched body with Remus" and so on are much more weird and
> unbelievable than my odd Gypsy idea. I´d never said I know it, but I
> got an impression he maybe could be one. And why not? What´s wrong 
to
> be a Gypsy? Or why shouldn´t he be a pureblood who is unnamed 
because
> of the arrogance of the English purebloods? 
> 
> Ok, I hope you now understand better what I was talking about. Once
> again: I don´t know it, I just combinated several facts from the 
books
> with antropolgical facts and my knowledge of ethnical sterotypes 
which
> still exists among people and their myths about "weird strangers". 
> 
> From my point of view JKR uses stereotypes to teach the readers
> lessons. A very good example is the treatment of Snivellus by the
> Marauders, who first seemed to be the nice guys, but in fact were
> nothing more than nasty bullies (as I thought long before the fith
> book released). By the way, I don´t mean Snape maybe had been the
> better one, but he has been alone and they were two, if not four,
> which made them in my eyes cowards.
> 
> > 
> > > Several prejudicies are:
> > > 
> > > 1.they are untrustworthy
> > > 2.they are curious, sneaking around, try to harm the "others" 
(people
> > > who live at one place)
> > > 2.they are very advanced at dark magic, do potions, are good
> > > mindreaders, know a lot about the "others" weakness
> > > 3.they are filthy, live in mess
> > > 4.they praticise vegeance
> > > 5.they hold grudge in generations against their enemies
> > > 6.they are proud
> > > 7.they are "ugly"
> > > 8.they strengthend their kids to fight with all resorts they 
learned
> > > by parents and family
> > > 9. they are thieves
> > > 10. they are jealous because of the good life the "others" seem 
to
> > > have
> > > 11.they have no place to live, because they are always drifting 
from
> > > one place to an other
> > > 12. they are simply weird, in different ways
> > > 
> > > These are typical stereotypes about the gypsies, and Severus 
Snape
> > > could be of a gypsy origin. Even he lives an assimilated life.
> > 

I'm not a fan of the "Snape is a vampire" theory, but it's proponents 
at least have some circumstantial evidence to back up the idea. I 
can't see any reason to suppose that Snape is a gypsy.

I haven't seen anything in the books that suggests wizards 
discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity. The only thing they 
seem to care about is the supposed purity of one's wizarding heritage.

As for your list of...um, "ethnical" stereotypes, I don't see how any 
of them fit Snape particularly. Do people find Snape untrustworthy? 
I'm sure some do. Just taking a shot in the dark here, but it may be 
because he was (and still may be) a Death Eater! Does he hold 
grudges? Yeah, but we know at least some of the reasons why and none 
of them so far include a gypsy feud. Is he an oddball? I don't know. 
Probably. But aside from these few instances, how does Snape fit into 
your profile of gypsy stereotypes?

I don't see any evidence that he is being discriminated against by 
snooty English wizards. In my experience, predjudice against gypsies 
is far more prevelant in Continental Europe, particularly in the East.
Even if his parents ran a corner shop, I don't think anyone would 
care, as long as they had pure wizarding blood. After all, the 
Malfoys are about as snobby as you can get, and they seem to like 
Snape just fine.

Sorry, but your evidence seems a little thin. Maybe Snape is a gypsy. 
I could be wrong. But as of now, I find that about as likely as him 
being a Mexican. Though I do like the idea of Mum and Dad Snape 
running a corner shop!!! 

Allyson