[HPforGrownups] Re: Lupin's resentment : An inside to Snape's resentment

[Silverthorne]

No: HPFGUIDX 93978

{Witch Writer}
    I have been following all the mails on this topic and it has been
very intriguing to me, indeed. I would like to address it in two
part, first focusing on the main content of this topis: Lupin's
resentment towards Harry and secondly Snapes issues.

Lupin does not resent Harry at all. He merely is stern and authoratative and
does not loose his sight and mind like Sirius. He addresses the problem and
calmly handles the issues. He does suggest that he would rather talk to
Snape, because Snape would only mock at Sirius and also Sirius was involved
in disgracing Snape in the school
ground. Lupin, did not participate(neither did he stop it). Lupin thus my
opinion is not atall resentful towards Harry.

{Silverthorne}

I also do not think Lupin resents Harry. Actually, I doubt he resents very
many, if any, people at all. Lupin strikes me as the man who follows a path
a lot of other people would only give lip service to--that of non-judgement,
making an effort to understand *all* sides of a story, trying to mediate
instead of aggravate a situation, and so forth. In short, the man is a
pacifist in all but the strictest sense of the word (He isn't a 'true'
pacifist, though, because he *will* defend both himself and others). He is
the ideal that a lot of people wish this world as a whole would develop
into, and would like to think they themselves are capable of. So, resent
Harry? No, I don't think so.

I also think that out of all the four, Lupin is the only one Snape *would*
listen to in present time, if he were to listen to anyone, simply because
Remus at least would attempt to stay pleasant and polite with him. Note that
although Severus treats Remus with suspicion when they are in the same room,
he at least is polite to Lupin in return. It may be grudgingly, with
mistrust in every fiber of his being, but he is still polite. That doesn't
change until they're in the shack and Snape is convinced that what he is
doing is 'right' in regards to dealing with the three remaining marauders.
(Yes, I know, we can argue his motives there til we're blue in the face, but
he *was* polite. At least allow for that)....

Anyhow, back to Lupin...

I also would like to believe that at some point Lupin may have even defended
Snape to his friendsduring the school years...at least until it became clear
that James and Sirius both weren't about to back down off their favorite
chew toy (As well as realizing Snape  a) would not walk away from being
picked on and b) was going to defend himself....sometimes you just can't
keep people from fighting who want to fight. Remus was smart enough to see
this, thus the regret despite not stepping in.).

Needless to say, Lupin is one of my favorite characters as well...



{Witch Writer}

Secondly: Snape Attitude.
   I have many things against Snape. I am sorry and apologize in hurting the
Snape fans, but I assure you I really like his character as well. But that
definitley does not stop me from having issues with his attitude. >>Snips
the issues....we all know them by now, more or less...;)<<


{Silverthorne}

Hey, no problem. It doesn't hurt, but it does get the 'defender' part of me
up and going.

 I like Snape, I'll defend him, but that doesn't keep me from knowing he has
an attitude, possesses an acid tongue, and can be amazingly immature in
certain situations. I know he's an ass--I never denied that, and will never
doubt that he is. BUt you know, not everyone can be someone people like. ^^

My problem comes from people who bash Snape and yet cannot see those very
same traits in Sirius or other chracters in the books. To me, it's a
hypocritical treatment. Both men have had hard, abusive, unhappy lives that
very likely screwed them both in the head. But because one of them  loves
the main character and the other appearently doesn't, only the one that
'hates' the main character consistently gets bashed for being arrogant,
cruel, thoughtless, bullying and immature (and yet both men exhibit all
these traits--it's only thier target that differs). Just because one of them
'limits' himself to 'grownups' and 'evil creatures' doesn't make it any more
right. In fact, I think it's worse because it really *IS* Hypocritcal at
that point. ('Oh, you're mean, nasty, evil and old, so it's okay if I treat
you this way, even though I'd scream holy hell if I saw you treat some kid
this way'...Say what? Isn;t this person a being who should be respected as
well...? Nevermind, self righteousness only extends to certain levels, and
rarely to the 'enemy').

They're two sides of the same coin, but people can't seem to get past the
'cool' packaging on Sirius to see that. Great, he loves Harry and the like,
very commendable--but look at how he treats Kreacher! Is it any wonder the
house elf turns on him?  He bullied other kids(not just Snape) in school
because he *could* bully them, right along with James--Lupin even admits to
that. He baits Snape in OotP (and yes, Snape baits right back, but the point
is Snape is not the *only* 'adult' engaging in immature behaivior in the
scene! Talk about immature--he still holds onto old grudges that shouldn't
even matter anymore! Geez, Sirius, just walk away for gods sake!) but does
that get acknowledged? No. Somehow, Sirius is 'okay' with what he does
according to the audience...Snape? Nope. No go. Total ass, so he *must* be
the only person 'wrong' in this scenario.

 So to me, it isn't that I think Snape is all wonderful...it's that I think
people dump *all* the nasty crap on *him* and refuse to see that other
characters have some of the same faults--including the beloved 'good guys'.
Just because we haven't seen Snape with a loved one, doens't mean he's
incapable of the same caring acts that Sirius has exhibited towards Harry.
What it means is that we haven't seen who Snape cares about in that way yet.
Same thing with his 'immature' reactions. Okay, so he freaks out. So does
Sirius, sometimes with as little cause

And if you think trying to be a spy doesn't mess with your head as much as
dealing with Dementors, then you might want to study up on spying, the
techniques used bopth in training a spy and what gets used on the feild
afterwards, and what they have to do to thier own thought processess in
order to be sucessful at their jobs. There's a reason they burn out
quickly...there's a reason they have regular pysch evals too (something else
I doubt Severus has access to).

Not to mention that Rowling has hinted that Snape *may* (--this word is here
for those of you who think Snape is not the boy in those pensieve scenes)
was abused as a child himself. Okay, so now he has a tie to Harry in being
another abused child--but one that it seems did not get 'rescued' from his
life like Sirius and Harry did...and you don't think that affected him as
much as the Dursely's affected Harry, or Azkaban affected Sirius? No? Sirius
is just as much an adult as Severus, with the same capabilities to think out
his actions despite his feelings before he reacts (which is what everyone is
expecting Severus to do, without fail, if he's ever to 'redeem' himself in
their eyes), but that doesn't stop Sirius from engaging in violent,
thoughtless, immature acts any more than it stops Severus. But hey, it;'s
Sirius...so it must be okay.

Hypocracy yet again!

Don't get me wrong, I actaully like Harry *and* Sirius, for all that I tend
to unload on them when subjects like this come up...but the thing is, I'm
unloading because someone somewhere seems to have forgotten that Severus
shares a lot of the same experinces that those two characters have had. Yes,
Severus grew up shaped differently than they did, he isn't all light and
sweetness. Then again, it would seem he didn't get the same 'outs' along the
way as he was growing up, so it isn't like he had similar chances to apply
himself towards 'changing his attitude' to a more positive one. So to me,
it's no wonder he's the way he is...and yes, because of it, I have a harder
time condemning him than those who have 'huge issues' with him and how he
acts. I suppose my stance is this:

If you can give Harry a break because he's 'young and has lost everything'.
And you can forgive Sirius's faults because 'he went through hell and has
been in Azkaban'

Then, at least try to give Snape a little credit for not being as bad as he
could have been, considering his own life experiences (what we know of them)

Quite frankly, if that he was the boy in the pensieve (and I do indeed
beleive he was), then he came from an abusive household--one that likely was
a Dark Wizard household since he arrived at Hogwarts already knowing Dark
Art spells. He then went on to be an unpopular kid at school, definetly
picked on by the 'In' crowd (the Marauders), and therefore, as is usual in
such situations, probably by other kids as well who would have followed the
Marauder's lead, and then finally on to being a DE--and from little we've
seen of THAT culture, it's not exactly a gentle balm to the soul to be part
of that little clique either. One little mess up and old Voldy really takes
a few chunks out of you.

Now, add to that as he 'grows up', walking away from the DE to join the good
guys--getting marked as a 'bad guy' anyway during a trial (Dumbly may have
gotten him out of that mess, but it likely Tarnished Snape's rep for good,
no matter what he does now), having to essentially lie to your former
'friends' in order to do your job and help your new 'friends' and
allies...and so on and so forth. It may not be as spectacular to watch, but
it leaves a scar just as deep (if not deeper) than the ones Harry and Sirius
carry around.

And yes, he gets harsh with Harry--I won't deny that. I *do* have trouble
calling it abuse for two reasons--one, I'm a survivor of the RL thing--both
mental and physical. Two, for all the scathing nasty things Snape may do
(and except for a thrown jar of cockraoches, it's all been easily ignored
words and nothing else), it really does not affect Harry one bit, other than
to make him hate Snape. It's rather hard to be abused when it has no affect.
Harry sure as hell doesn't 'enable' Snape, so for me, it's not abuse.
Annoying and pissy, yes, but not abusive.

Anyway, sorry if I went off, but I feel that really, the viewpoint is rather
lopsided. It's a lot easier to relate to the children and heros of the
story...far far harder to relate to the pissy, underdog 'antihero'. I just
wish more people were willing to give as much for Snape as they are for
Sirius, Harry, any of the others.

In other words, try using Lupin's view and see it a little differently...and
with a little compassion for *all* the players...

Silverthorne/Anne
**Spazzing while Defending the Snark. Sorry for the tirade...^^;**



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Anne/Silverthorne
Silverthorne.Dragon at verizon.net (Nights and Weekends)
Anne-TMC-RCVG.Campbell at tenetheath.com (6am-3pm American Central, Mon-Fri.)