[HPforGrownups] Re: Is Snape nice or good?

[Magda Grantwich]

No: HPFGUIDX 127454


--- nrenka <nrenka at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> What I would disagree on is the (perhaps implied--correct me if I
> am wrong) labeling of everyday behavior as belonging to the
> superficial.  It matters what one does in the grand scheme of 
> things, but you can't 
> completely separate that out from the everyday actions taken.  It's
> not like anyone operates on a strict split of everyday actions as 
> opposed to Big Important War Actions.  

I did not label everyday behaviour as superficial, at least not in
the way you're implying.  What I said (and I thought I was clear) was
that what you see on the surface can be different from what a person
is really like.  Lockhart is a pleasant nice person in public but is
a supremely selfish cowardly person inside and the public display is
strictly camouflage.  If you're going to consider everyday behaviour
then you have to consider ALL the everyday behaviour.

With regards to Snape, his utter gittishness is what we see in public
and a lot of readers, especially the younger ones, stop right there. 
JKR is counting on this of course because "who's side is he on?" is a
great source of red herrings and plot tension.  But since we're
analyzing his character we don't want to stop there.  And there's a
fair amount of evidence that Snape's everyday behaviour actually does
reflect what's inside and what's inside is more than just
gittishness.

Harry's POV doesn't really go into too much depth with Snape except
to assume that Snape is mean just for meanness sake.  Snape pops up
to stop fights in the corridors because he's a mean teacher who likes
to take off points (Harry's POV).  But in a school where teachers
seem oblivious to bullying, there might be a deeper reason for
Snape's activities in this regard - he knows what its like to be
bullied, even though he despises his weaker younger self and those
who are bullied in the present day.  I think this is the real reason
for his comment about Hermione's teeth ("I see no difference"); he
will intervene to stop bullying (or his perception of it) but if a
victim were to come whining to him for help he'd be contemptuous. 
And while Hermione didn't come to him, Ron and Harry did on her
behalf.  

Snape despises victims, starting with his younger self.  Victims
deserve whatever they get.

But while he despises victims, Snape really HATES bullies who abuse
their power and don't obey the rules.  People like James and Sirius
who pick on other less popular kids and get away with it because
they're charming and bright and are socially attuned enough to
present themselves well to teachers and parents.  And people like
Voldemort who held out the promise of a better world than the flawed
one teen!Snape lived in where rules mattered and it didn't matter if
you were popular or good at Quidditch as long as you obeyed the rules
and worked hard.  Voldemort turned out to be nothing more than the
biggest bully of all, who attacked even his own supporters to keep
them in line and who perpetuated wanton, senseless destruction, who
had no intention of ever allowing anything to grow or develop or
thrive in his presence.  

So to return to the subject line: yes, Snape is good - because he
knows what it's like to be really bad and he rejected it.  He's not
nice but niceness ain't going to win any battles against DE's. 
Molly's nice but her idea of preparing kids for the battle ahead is
worse than useless.

Nice is pleasant but good is tougher.

Magda (amused by the lecturing tone of some recent posts)

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com