In defense of the Snape apologists :-)

[Mari]

No: HPFGUIDX 136018

My third post for the day so after this I'll have to shut up for a while 
;-)

First, to Lisa:

I'm so glad you are enjoying the debate too :-) ESE stands for 
ever-so-evil, I haven't been posting that long myself, lol so didn't 
know at first either. Its a shorthand way of saying it I guess.

Now, over to dan:

Dan wrote:

> 
> So, an analysis of Snape that doesn't take into consideration 
certain
> things he's done is not complete - it is open to criticism. And I
> submit that we know enough about Snape to agree he's a 
nasty person.
> 
> Does dropping the potion in OOP count for nothing? Or trying to 
get
> Harry kicked off the team in CoS. "I see no differnence." Now, 
unless
> you can argue that Snape sees things really weirdly different 
than the
> rest of us, like, sees people's souls or such instead of their 
bodies,
> that comment was pretty telling, eh?
> 
> That is Snape. He joined the racist DE, and then he betrayed 
them,
> ostensibly, and repented.
> 
> All I want is to move the debate beyond ESE or not, and into 
what is
> the fundamental character of Snape. And it is not pleasant. 

Yes, all of the actions you point to have to be taken into account. 
Snape is clearly horrible to certain people throughout the 
books.The strange thing is they don't necessarily fit with some of 
his other  choices in the books.

The ones I can think of I am setting out below (I know these 
would have been brought up before). I summarised some of this 
in post  number 134540.

1) Saving Harry's life in PS

2) Choosing to go after the trio to the shrieking shack, to protect 
them from someone he believed was in league with Voldemort, 
in PoA.

3) Trying to convince Fudge in GoF that Voldemort is back, when 
Voldemort didn't want anyone to know this.

4) Alerting the order to what was going on in the Department of 
Mysteries.

To me Snape's character is a puzzle because of this 
inconsistency; why does a person who is clearly unpleasant  
make such choices?

My final question is this: is there any difference between pointing 
to the incidents you highlight, and considering the ones I have 
listed? Don't *both* have to be taken into account for a complete 
picture of Snape's character? He comes across as conflicted 
more than anything else over the course of the series as a 
whole.

Putting all of the above together, along with what happens in 
HBP, which I won't repeat because its been aired so often, I 
would deduce the following about Snape's character:

1) He is petty, sarcastic, and unpleasant.

2) He has favourites and scapegoats among his students.

3) If he has agreed to do something, or feels he should do it, he 
will go through with it regardless of the consequences to 
himself.

4) He craves respect and admiration.

5) He has learned not to need friends or close confidantes; if you 
are playing both sides (or pretending to) you can't afford them.

6) He is highly intelligent.

7) His actions so far don't suggest he fears personal danger. 
Whatever his allegiance he has been prepared to take 
enormous risks up to this point.

8) He is bitter and feels unappreciated.

9) He does not easily trust people.

10) He despises people who show fear or weakness.  I suspect 
this is  because he sees in them what he used to be like 
himself, and wishes he wasn't. Of course, this is open to 
argument.

I hope this makes sense,

Mari.