DD letting Snape abuse students (Re: Harry learning from Snape)

[dzeytoun]

No: HPFGUIDX 114563


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dungrollin" 
<spotthedungbeetle at h...> wrote:
> 
> phoenixgod2000 wrote:
> 
> > Sometimes I do not understand the lengths that people go to in 
> > order to forgive Snape for his actions.  
> 
> Dungrollin:
> It's because he's fictional.  We'd be far more circumspect about it 
> if he might *really* hurt someone.  We're reading about him, not 
> having to meet him - and as a reader one can be a bit more daring 
in 
> one's reactions and sympathies towards characters than one can in 
> real life.  We also recognise that we're only human, and damn - 
> wouldn't these books be boring if all the characters were
> perfect?  We try to forgive others' mistakes that we can imagine 
> ourselves making.
> 
> So you're reading these books and you say 'Oh, that Sirius is 
> *great*, I *like* him!' Then a couple of things about his 
> recklessness come out, so you say 'well - I'm sure it comes from 
> noble intentions'.  Or there are those attracted to the idea of a 
> kind and wise old mentor, and so when *his* actions don't seem to 
be 
> perfect they come up with reasons why he's in a difficult
> position, and can't be expected to be flawless.  
> 
> Then, of course, there are a number of us that occasionally get 
> exasperated with life.  With other people.  With politics, with 
> television, with absurd fashions, with unworkable technology, with 
> inane advertisments, with stroppy teenagers, with people who don't 
> understand simple ideas conveyed in simple words...  
> 
> Occasionally we have bad days, you see.  And we become grumpy and 
> sarcastic, and annoying.  But on *really* bad days we start to 
> *revel* in it.  We wish that we didn't even bother having a good 
> time when we weren't having a bad day.  We wish we could greet 
> everything in life with sarcasm or indifference - good mood or bad 
> mood is fine, it's all the jumping about between them that's a 
> pain.  It'd be much easier just to become a sarcastic... cynical... 
> bastards.  So we've kind of got some respect for Snape for having 
> the guts to do what we would love to do - the difficulty for us is 
> that we're capable of cheering up.  Snape isn't.
> 
> None of us would like Snape if we met him, we'd be treated with 
> scorn and sarcasm from the second he opened his mouth. I'd hate to
> meet Snape - because he wouldn't like me; he doesn't like anyone.
> 
> Dungrollin
> By *we* I don't mean *all* Snape apologists, just some of us.

Yes, we are dealing in archetypes here, aren't we?  I think you are 
onto something very important, Dungrollin.  

Dzeytoun