Is Snape nice or good? (WAS: Snape's Stubbornness)

[Ravenclaw Bookworm]

No: HPFGUIDX 127100


Jaanis:
I wanted to add that Snape *is not* a "good guy", and if I'm not 
mistaken, Rowling has stressed this in a few interviews. Maybe you 
can put the phrase in quotes meaning that he is with the OotP and 
against DEs and Voldemort, but he is not a *good* guy.

Bookworm:
I couldn't find a quote where JKR says Snape isn't a "good guy".  I 
dod find one where she said is isn't a "nice guy".  A subtle 
difference there.

Here are a few of the quotes I found:

Q: Who's your favorite character besides Harry Potter? 
A: It's very hard to choose. It's fun to write about Snape because 
he's a deeply horrible person. 
(www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/1999/0999-familyeducation-
abel.htm)

Q: What about Snape?
JKR: Snape is a very sadistic teacher, loosely based on a teacher I 
myself had .... He's not a particularly pleasant person at all.   
(www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/1999/1099-
connectiontransc.html)

SF: Where as most of the characters, like Snape for example, are 
very hard to love but there's a sort of ambiguity I think is 
probably the best word.... and slowly we just get this idea that 
maybe he's not so bad after all.
JKR: Yeees. You shouldn't think he's too nice, let me just say that.
(www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2003/0626-alberthall-
fry.htm)

There's a quote relating to this subject floating around in my head 
that I think comes from a WWII general - something like "Yes, he's 
an SOB, but he's *our* SOB."  Can any of our military/history buffs 
identify it?

Ravenclaw Bookworm