Understanding Snape

[severelysigune]

No: HPFGUIDX 91043


> > Jim Ferer-Snape's on the right side, and he's done the right 
thing 
> more than once.
> 
> Animagikat's opinions of Snape
> 
> I agree with you 100% about Snape suffering from social 
> phobia. Also, IMO, Snape has been made this way, not only from his 
> treatment as a child, but also from his treatment as an adult. His 
> support from the other members of the order is non existent, except 
> perhaps Dumbledore. And even from him we have seen very little. He 
> is met primarily with contradicion, hate, and superiority. Never is 
> he met with acceptance. I, as someone who has been accused  of 
being 
> a social phobic myself, can tell you that this behavior does not 
> breed good feelings within the recipiant.
> 
> That said, IMO, Snape's decision to do the right thing springs from 
> some deep seated hatred of Voldemort, and/or his followers and a 
> need for revenge. I do not believe he has had a change of heart and 
> if that is the case, his 'right' decisions, made for the wrong 
> reason's, can be wrong decisions. (Where have I heard that before?)
> This I can also attest to: By acting out of hatred, anger, 
> and a want revenge, you usually end up hurting yourself in the long 
> run. He is on a very self destructive path, even if he doesn't see 
> it.
> 
> His intentions are not pure. Possibly, he is not fighting for the 
> same end as the other members of the Order: the ultimate downfall 
of 
> Voldemort. Vengence is his goal(IMO). Being a social phobic, and a 
> slytherin, his number one intent is to see that his own 
> wants and needs are met regardless of what the Order wants. 
> 
> This is not to say that he can not be useful. We already know he 
is. 
> But if his needs are eventually met before the goals of the Order, 
> what will become of him then? I would like to think that he would 
> continue to fight for the order, but with so little acceptance from 
> them, and being a social phobic, why would he? He really supports 
no 
> one, because no one really supports him.
> >  
> >Animagikat

Sigune here:
I agree pretty much with your analysis, especially when you say Snape 
does the right thing for the wrong reasons. He does have his own 
agenda, and I think that comes from the fact (my own hypothesis) that 
he was treated even worse by the DE's than by the 'good guys'.

Still, I am not all that pessimistic about what will happen "if his 
needs are met before the goals of the Order." We don't see a lot of 
interaction of Snape with Dumbledore, but there /must/ be much more 
than we know of. I think that a man like Snape can only agree to work 
for Dumbledore provided that he has a very deep respect for him - I 
can't imagine him taking orders from someone he considers inferior to 
himself. Maybe it is just me, but I think that even our cold and 
calculating Potions Master is prepared to go to great lengths in 
order to support Dumbledore, even if that means doing things that do 
not, strictly speaking, serve his own interests. He is not the kind 
of man who does things only half; so if he has decided to side with 
Dumbledore, IMHO he will do so with full dedication.

Yours severely,

Sigune
> >