Snape Question

[demetra1225]

No: HPFGUIDX 104888

> Alla:
> 
> OK, people insist that "good" and " nice" somehow have to be the 
> opposite definitions. Why? 
[snip]

Demetra:
I look at it not as they are opposite, but they are not necessarily 
similar.  
> 
Alla:
> So, the person who treats others with kindness is a bad person? I 
> believe that such person falls under the definition of "good" much 
> better than Snape. > 
> 
> Please don't argue the Fake!Moody example. He was just pretending 
> to be nice, he was not really. [snip]


Demetra:
That last paragraph says it all, to me.  IMHO, people who are truly 
nice (like Lupin) are good people.  But you can't assume that someone 
is good because they act nice.  Evil, manipulative people can *act* 
nice to get what they want. After all, Tom Riddle was supposedly very 
charming, but you wouldn't call him good, would you? I think maybe 
JKR was trying to show us that first impressions can be wrong and we 
can't judge who is good/evil based on whether they are nice or 
pleasant to be around.  

Demetra - who believes that Snape nastiness is necessary for him to 
continue to play his role, but also believes that he thoroughly 
enjoys it.