Unfinished Business (was: did Lupin kill Sirius)

[B Arrowsmith]

No: HPFGUIDX 83021

 >
Nora:
....please feel free  to clog my email box with  replies...
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Kneasy:
Email? Much more fun to spread oneself over the site, sprouting 
fallacies, prejudices and misconceptions from every orifice. After all, 
a major part of a posters raison d'etre is to entertain, being right is 
a very minor consideration. (Pause while spasming LOONs regain their  
composure.) IMO the great sin is to be boring and the character 
analyses have as much, if not a greater fascination than  those of the  
action bits.

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Nora:
This may be true, but it's incredibly unfortunate. Corrosive,
unending anger, without a target or the impulse to turn it into
something corrective, is what makes cynics, and Cynicism is Bad, as
I've posted previously before. :)
 >

Kneasy:
Sorry, I've missed that one. Can you identify the post, please?
You'll not be  surprised that I  don't agree. Cynicism bad? It's 
lovely! I've had it for  years! Gives  one such a satisfying disbelief 
in the motives and and stated aims of others.

A good working definition of a cynic is someone who is  disillusioned 
with the idealism of others; regular readers of my vapid maunderings 
will know without prompting just what I think of idealists.

We agree, I think, that Snape has suffered unquantifiable damage in the 
past and he  needs to act to ease his suffering. What he (or any 
gravely injured party) seeks is catharsis. This will provide release 
and closure (horrible word); it is repression that poisons. I contend 
that he has a target, he just can't get at it.


 >
Nora
It strikes me that as of yet we don't really know why Snape is so
angry (if he really is), unless you're of the opinion that all of his
troubles in life stem from the abuse he suffered at the hands of
James and company...I suspect that the story there is more complex
than we know as of yet. And Snape? Avatar of Justice? The thought
is so tinged with bitter irony as to be almost unthinkable.
 >

Kneasy:
I've come up  with the reason he's angry; it might not be correct, but 
it would be compelling motivation for Snape's actions to date.
I think James and Co. are just a small part of it. If they were that 
important there would be no way that Snape would hand in his 
resignation to the DE Fun Club and work for the Order. Something much 
bigger and more important has occurred that over-rides his antipathy to 
James et al. Oh, he still  bears  a grudge, but it is  not the focus  
of his hatred.

 >
Nora:
Snape is a bully. He abuses his power. I was actually less troubled
about this before the revelation that he was bullied when he was
younger. Now, what right does he have to claim retribution for those 
wrongs done to him when he has inflicted the same (or worse, because 
the abuse of a position of power *is* worse) upon others? His behavior 
of punishing the child from the sins of the father shows profound 
emotional immaturity and the severe lack of a moral backbone.
 >

Kneasy:
Hate to  keep mentioning it, but you need to  read 69509 to see where 
I'm coming from. I don't think he does hate Harry; doesn't like him 
much, but he doesn't like anyone, so  that's  no big deal. Snape is 
acting a part, in a John Le Carre spy story it would be his legend.

He's partial towards Slytherin, sarcastic, gives low marks, "points 
from Gryffindor!", right. Now how often does he give 'personal' 
punishments -  detentions and the like? Very, very rarely. Compare and 
contrast with Umbridge who *really* hates Harry.

 >
Nora:
Does that mean that we can cheer when all of the wrongs he's done
come back to bite him, too? I, for one, will wait for some more
Grand Revelations of backstory, but my intution is telling me that he 
ain't exactly an innocent himself.
 >

Kneasy:
Sevvy's no innocent.  Of course you can cheer. I just have a feeling 
that you won't want to when the moment arrives. But there may  be a 
chance that his death may expiate his wrongs as well as satisfy his 
thirst for revenge.
Won't that be nice?


 >
Laura:
I do think, though, that some of Snape's anger is not justified.
I'll buy your theory that he's acting with Harry (and enjoying the
part immensely), but his anger at James and company was and is
real. And that's what I don't think is justified. Canon suggests
more than once that James and Snape hated each other from the very
first moment they met. Neither seems to have had any reason for
this other than instinct. James soon learns that SS is heavy into
the dark arts, though, and that gives him a very good reason to hate
and mistrust Snape. But what about Snape? It seems entirely
personal with him-he doesn't like James because James is arrogant,
doesn't follow rules, is popular and good at everything he does.
They both find their natural allies and spend the next 7 years
tormenting each other, with no clear winner, although James does
score big on Snape by saving his life. Then, a few years out of
school, James dies and Sirius goes to prison. The game is over and
Snape still has tons of rage he hasn't acted on.
 >

Kneasy:
There was a thread a few weeks back that delved into this.

On top of the mutual instinctive loathing between Snape and James comes 
the 'Prank". Old Snapey would be feeling very hard done by with the 
lack of repercussions from this. He himself had done nothing wrong, but 
Sirius had placed him in very real danger. Was Sirius punished? No. It 
was all hushed up. To add insult to injury, those in the know regarded 
James as a hero! Just for trying to cover up Sirius' stupidity! Snape 
would be absolutely steaming. Justice denied. He probably suspects that 
James and Sirius were in collusion; he's  the injured party, DD tells 
him to forget it and James  ends up looking good. Insufferable!

 >
Laura:
But he's angry at everything and everyone all the time because that's 
just who he is. There can't be any satisfactory resolution because 
there wasn't any real injury to begin with. That's the sense in which 
Snape's anger is not a healthy thing. (I"ll get rid of the sandals and 
beard now.)
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Kneasy:
It's for the recipient to judge if there has been any real injury.
We all have differing personal standards as to what is acceptable and 
unimportant and what is not. A minor put-down to one may be a festering 
insult to another. One thing about Snape, he's proud. Never slight a 
man in his pride; the reaction may not be immediate but it is 
ineluctable and may be devastating.

I like Snape. He's  not a nice person but he is satisfying as a 
character with depth and credibility. I bet he'd go along with 'an eye 
for an eye' - without anaesthetic.

Kneasy








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