Harsh Morality

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 121078


Alla wrote:
"It seems to be VERY consistent with Platonic view of Good and Evil (I
 only studied Plato VERY briefly during general philosophy course in 
college), but I don't have to like it much. :o)"

Del replies:
I never said I liked it either :-) In fact, I strongly dislike it :-(
But if it is indeed JKR's view, then what can I do?

Del earlier:
"I think Snape is convinced he's already figured Harry out, and that
Harry would lie to him if they talked."

Alla answered:
"100% agreement, but  he is wrong, wrong, wrong. :o)"

Del replies:
Hm, is he really? Let's try to imagine the scene. Let's take Snape and
Harry as they are now, not some imaginary Snape and/or Harry who would
have had some revelation that the other is not like they always
thought he was.
The first obvious thing to me is that they would have to be forced to
talk, because there's no way they would do it willingly. They both
think they've figured the other out and that they can't be wrong. So
they would have to be forced, and they would resent it.
Now what would they talk about? Not James! Everything but James!
Except that James is the very reason they started hating each other so
much, so it would be very awkward for them to avoid talking about him.
Let's say they do find something to talk about. Are they ever going to
agree about anything? Snape is a bitter man for whom most of the
things that matter to Harry don't matter. That doesn't make for
agreeable discussions.
Next : Snape has seen things that Harry can't understand, and Harry
has lived things that Snape can't fathom. And they are both
notoriously bad at explaining themselves, and quite protective of
their private feelings. They are *not* going to confide into each
other, no way!
And then let's say that either of them utters an unfortunate word or
sentence that sends the other into defensive mode. Is there *any* way
they could stop the automatic degradation of the discussion that would
follow? They both know where the other's buttons are and how to best
push them, and they both *enjoy* pushing the other's buttons. So I
would say that hoping they would both restrain themselves long enough
to start having a meaningful discussion is quite unrealistic.
And as for Harry lying... Well, Harry does lie to a lot of people,
including his best friends and DD, whenever he doesn't feel like
sharing his intimate feelings. So where *ever* would he find the will
not to lie to Snape, of all people? And if Snape gets the smallest
inkling that Harry is lying, the talk is over.
In conclusion, I would have to say that any talk between the two of
them is simply impossible. It would never work. IMO only of course :-)

Del