Cataloging Snape's Behavior, Pt. II CoS (very long)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 116004


I (Carol) wrote:
> 
> I think a catalogue of Snape's behavior in PoA need not be
incriminating as long as we realize that he is not privy to our
after-the-fact knowledge and that he has reasons for being unable to
view either Lupin or Black objectively. Snape is Snape, and of course
he's very far from perfect, but mistaken assumptions and prejudice
against werewolves (viewed by the writers of Harry's textbooks and the
entire WW as Dark Creatures) don't make him evil.
> 
> Sophierom responded:
> 
> When I get to cataloguing Snape's behavior in PoA (which will be
soon, I hope), I think, like Carol, that canon won't show Snape to be
evil ... but, I do think we'll see Snape in a much less complimentary
light than we saw at the end of PS/SS and CoS (and that's saying a lot
as he's certainly not looking very nice - from Harry's pov - in either
of those books.)  In the first book, he's the villain who turns out to
be on the good side.  In the second book, he's mean, yes, but in
comparison to Lockhart, he looks like a pretty decent teacher (aside
from his cruelty to Neville) and an important member of the staff.  
> 
> In contrast, PoA puts him against Lupin, a very sympathetic character.
> And even if we take those things into consideration that Carol
> mentions (Sirius's practical joke, very real fear of Werewolves, and -
> the one I think most important - Snape's belief that Lupin is helping
> a murderous Sirius Black) - even if we consider these things, Snape
> comes out looking foolish (at least from my earlier readings of the
> book).  Not evil, but foolish for holding onto prejudices and
> assumptions that don't fit reality by the end of the book.  This is
> purely an impression I've gotten from reading PoA in the past, which
> is why I want to go back through and look specifically at all the
> Snape scenes/references in the book again and try to investigate
> whether this impression is really as valid as I think it is.  But hey,
> as potioncat's recent TBAY "Rolling Cannon" post points out, we can
> often use canon to back up our interpretations, rather than use canon
> to create out interpretations. We'll see.
> 
> Sophierom

Carol responds:
I think his "foolishness" is again partly our perspective. One thing
that's important is how much he does--and doesn't--overhear in the
Shrieking Shack, a point that Pippin addressed in detail a year ago if
you want to hunt up the post. (It might be in Fantastic Posts or
Recommended Posts, but I don't know for sure.) Anyway, he doesn't
*see* Scabbers turned into a man, and I can understand why he would
think the story was preposterous and the kids had been "confunded." I
suppose I'm responding prematurely to a post that hasn't been written,
but I'm just suggesting things to look for in an objective, careful
reading that doesn't attribute our knowledge of events to Snape (whose
state of mind regarding the werewolf and the "murderer" as he hears
this information also needs to be considered. We can tell exactly when
he comes he enters the shack (a door slams or something), but even
then he wouldn't be within hearing range until he climbs the stairs
and stands outside the doorway of the room where the bed is.

Also, of course, Lupin, though sympathetic, also has some faults that
perhaps Harry isn't fully aware of. He's hiding a lot of secrets from
vaeious people in PoA, and Snape knows three of them: that Lupin is a
werewolf, that Lupin was a close friend of Black's, and that Sirius
knows how to enter the Shrieking Shack and could be using it as a
hideout. The only secrets he doesn't know are that three of the four
Marauders were animagi and that they created a map showing secret
passageways that Black could be using. Note that Dumbledore
(apparently) doesn't know these last two items, either. So Lupin, who
also is fully ready to cooperate with Black in murdering Pettigrew,
may not be quite as worthy of our sympathy as he seems. (No, I don't
believe in ESE!Lupin, but I think you might consider the POV when you
compare the two professors. And note that very interesting "seems"
rather than "is" that JKR uses to indicate Lupin's maturity in
relation to the rash and "unstable" Sirius Black. Maybe, then, Lupin
isn't quite the rational, calm fahter figure that he appears to be in
PoA and OoP?

Also, I can understand Black, who had escaped Azkaban with the
intention of murdering Pettigrew, being more than ready, even able, to
cast an AK to do it. But Lupin? Knowing that using an AK means life in
Azkaban or having your soul sucked by the Dementors? Does Lupin have a
death wish? And could he even conjure up the cold indifference to the
life of a former friend necessary to cast an AK? (Well, maybe
murderous rage would work, too, but I'm thinking of Peter Pettigrew
and Cedric or Voldemort and the Riddles.) 

Anyway, just some points I hope you'll think about. I'm not trying to
influence you, only to suggest that just because Lupin is presented
more sympathetically than Snape and Snape's actions in the Shrieking
Shack appear irrational and foolish doesn't mean that Lupin is fully
justified and Snape is wholly wrong. Which I'm sure you knew already
without my pointing it out! :-)

Carol, looking forward to your analysis of PoA and expecting it to be
as insightful and entertaining as the previous two