Snape and Lupin's Character Arcs (was: Lupin's Char Arc)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 119250


Alla:
> By the way, I did not say that Snape was not a nice guy. You 
can be  not nice, but a good person. I don't believe that Snape is 
a GOOD  guy. I believe that he is a bad person, fighting on the 
side of  good. That is why I think he will redeem himself att he 
end (as if  he did not redeem himself yet).

Pippin:
I think that Snape has redeemed himself already, Harry just 
doesn't realize it. You can be a good person and not do well with 
children. 

Likewise, Lupin has fallen into evil (IMO) and Harry doesn't 
realize that either. You can be a bad person and relate very well 
to children. Ginny adored Riddle.

I don't think it would be in character for either Snape or Lupin to 
evolve into solid effective father-figures.  I think a lot of readers 
yearn for that, if only because Harry needs one so badly. But 
Harry's character arc is the important one, and his journey  so far 
has been to grow up and overcome the absence of a father, not 
to find a replacement for him.

What Harry has to do in both Snape and Lupin's case, and the 
reason why, IMO, they are still in the story, is to grow up. He 
needs to judge people by a more objective standard than how 
well they treat him and his friends. It's a great big world out there 
and being nice to Gyffindors is not the definition of goodness.

Pippin