Question for Snape Bashers

[naamagatus]

No: HPFGUIDX 101766

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> 
wrote:
> We are concerned for Neville and Harry because we agree that 
> abuse can cause lasting damage, meaning symptoms that 
> persist even in the face of powerful incentives to change. These 
> symptoms may include paradoxical effects like sadism and 
> inappropriate aggression. We agree it would not be realistic to 
> deal with abuse in the novels and not show these effects. 
> 
> Why, then, are Snape's sadism and inappropriate aggression 
> not read as  the realistic results of abuse? If abuse causes 
> lasting damage, why expect that Snape should have gotten over 
> it?

I would indeed be most concerned if I thought that Harry or Neville 
might end up in any way similar to Snape. So far, thankfully, it 
doesn't seem that JKR is taking either up that route. 

Harry, in OoP, has tantrums, takes his temper out on his friends, 
even shows a certain sadism at times. But this is clearly something 
he *struggles* with. And when feels guilty and ashamed for his bad 
behavior (or even uncharitable thoughts), he tries to modify the way 
he behaves.
In fact, we see both Harry and Neville trying to overcome their 
failings. In this sense, they are both truly growing up. Do we see 
any such thing with Snape? For five years now, he is stuck in an 
obsessed, completely irrational resentment of Harry. Such is his 
resentment, that his venom spills over to Harry's friends. He has 
always displayed rank favoritism of Slytherins over Gryffindors. And 
we see no change in his behavior. We also have no hint that he is in 
any way reflexive about the way he behaves and hurts people around 
him. Does he ever think about his behavior? Does he have pangs of 
guilt about what he does to Neville, for instance? We see no 
indication for it. 

Abuse? Well, certainly early childhood abuse can cause lasting 
damage. The clearest manifestation of this in the books is Voldemort 
himself. So, Snape is horrible because he was abused and/or neglected 
as a small child. In the real world, I would not expect him "to get 
over it" - at least not without a good many years therapy. In JKR's 
world, however, we have Harry, who suffered terrible abuse and 
neglect for ten years, and yet is not morally defective because of 
it. We have Neville, who is finding self-confidence and courage after 
having it hammered out of him throughout his childhood. Even in 
Snape's case, we see that JKR gave him moral freedom - he did break 
out of the Evil rut, going against (I assume) a lifelong conditioning 
for the pure-blooded, Muggle-hating, Dark-Arts-Loving ideology. We 
have Sirius, who broke out of the same rut. In JKR's world, then,  
early childhood abuse doesn't determine who you will be. 


Naama