HPforGrownups] Simple Snape math

[Ava]

No: HPFGUIDX 99672

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "arrowsmithbt" 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:

 I don't want Snape to have any excuses for his
> behaviour, no matter how fascinating a character I find him.

Ava:
  I think "excuses for his behaviour" may be the wrong way of 
looking at it. JKR focuses on choices - if your past is X, you can 
choose to be Y, or you can choose to be Z.  Or in Snape's case, Y 
and Z.  
That doesn't prevent an abusive childhood from serving as a partial 
explanation for certain behavior.  Just as flies aren't produced 
from thin air, neither are personality traits.  If Snape had an 
unhappy childhood, if he was abused, that may be an explanation for 
certain things, not an excuse.  It also makes his positive qualities 
(loyalty to DD, willingness to risk his own hide, his attempt to 
open Fudge's eyes, etc.) all the more fascinating.  

Now if he is the abusive parent, that would certainly explain JKR's 
description of him as a "deeply horrible person".  And again, his 
positive qualities would be a fascinating counterbalance to the 
nature he exhibited in the Pensieve and the classroom.  (What can I 
say?  He's a fascinating guy.)  

Now, there's a thought - Snape in the classroom, who never has to 
shout, who bullies by insinuation, sly comment and insult.  Is this 
the same man as the putative Severus Snape, screaming at his 
(presumed) wife?  The disparity seems too strong to ignore.