[HPforGrownups] Re: In Defense of Snape (long)

[Amanda Geist]

No: HPFGUIDX 122709

Great heavens, I'm combining posts. Too bad Anal P. Lardbottom is no longer
on list, he would be crowing in triumph.

Dungrollin interrupts:
> Snape was never taught how to be a teacher.

Amanda:
You know, all of this "teacher" variant of this thread puts the
responsiblity squarely on the teacher for getting knowledge of their subject
inserted into the heads of their students.

I postulate that Snape never *wanted* to be a teacher, at least not of those
who do not show a clear affinity for his particular discipline. He does
genuinely seem to be a master of what he does, and you simply are not a
recognized master of anything unless at some level, displayed or not, you
have a passion for that skill.

Braiding those two thoughts together: A master of a subject prepares lesson
plans; he interacts with his students during classes and provides them
feedback on their work; he attempts to motivate them to achieve better
scores than they currently are. How is this a bad teacher?

Ah, you will tell me that the *way* in which he does these things is nasty
and oppressive. That's true. But. I believe students have a certain
responsibility to learn. They are not little kings of the world, and I think
there is a certain value to students to learn that there are vastly
different personality types among adults; that not all adults are fair; that
not all situations are fair; and that they have to bring a certain
willingness to work and adapt to the table.

Why should teachers be held responsible when students do not learn, when
those students do not use the opportunities given them, to learn? Why should
teachers be held responsible for the happiness level of their students, when
they are not the parents of those students?

It seems to me that the whole attitude of Hogwarts--NOT just Snape--is that
authorities in certain subjects are made available to students, and whether
the students make the most of the opportunity is up to them. The onus of the
responsibility is on the student. This distribution of responsibility in
learning is most *definitely* not what exists in America today, where it's
all on the teacher.

The balance may have shifted too far to the students in the case of
Hogwarts; I feel it's too far on the teachers in this country. But my bottom
line has always been: if you filter out his *manner* and just look at what
he's doing *as a teacher,* Snape is fulfilling his obligations to the letter
and more, and the list of his "atrocities" shrinks considerably.

Which brings me to something Charme said, in another Snapethread:

Charme :

There's only one observation I have that I haven't seen mentioned:  while
Snape is strict, sarcastic, and occasionally (that's a little understated,
isn't it? :)) unfair, he also can be what some would perceive as physically
abusive when angered.  There's only one time it occurs to the "physical"
level, and that's when Harry sees Snape's "worst memory." Snape bruises
Harry's arm after grabbing him, and throws him forcefully enough that Harry
hits the dungeon floor. Right, wrong, or indifferent to whether Snape is
evil, has his heart in the right place or not, he appears to have an anger
management issue where Harry and Sirius (recall, PoA when Sirius escapes at
the end and Snape is disappointed about the Dementors not getting Sirius)
are concerned.

Now I can tell you some of the parents I know, regardless of what their kid
did, would not condone a teacher treating a student in that manner. Neither
would the public or the school system.

Amanda:
As Charme points out, this is the *one time.* And I think that this instance
is not applicable to any analysis of Snape as a Hogwarts teacher, or of his
standard teaching methods. This incident is outside the standard school
system as well as the standard teacher/student relationship.

For one thing: this is not the potions master interacting with a student.
This is an operative of the Order trying to convey a critical skill to a key
player in a major conflict that could change the world as they experience
it. The key player has been sabotaging himself in acquiring this skill,
because the enemy is already affecting him (via the dreams, causing a desire
to see more that makes him not want to block them), which has been
frustrating, but that frustration and the anger it produces are, I believe,
because Snape knows the stakes and Harry won't recognize them or rise to the
moment by applying himself fully. I think it's partly because Snape can't
communicate those stakes or the actual situation very well (but Harry has
all the facts at his disposal and ignores Hermione, who *does* appear to
recognize the situation, so I'm not prepared to *blame* Harry's lack of
progress solely to Snape's poor communication).

For another, Harry's actions in invading Snape's privacy took this incident
out of the realm of any sort of instructor/student applicability, into the
personal. Harry knew perfectly well that Snape had put those memories in the
Pensieve to keep Harry from seeing them. Snape was shaken when Harry saw
memories that Snape left in his mind, that Snape accepted the risk of Harry
seeing. And yet Harry stuck his face into the Pensieve deliberately and with
full knowledge of what he was doing; he deliberately invaded Snape's privacy
for no other reason than curiosity. I believe any person so invaded would
react with rage--to the other party as an invader, not as a student or
anything else.

If my students went rummaging in their teachers' desks, purses, cars,
personal belongings, etc., I would be infurated with them myself. If the
teacher in question struck them, I'd probably want an explanation for my own
understanding. But I don't think the lesson here: it's both wrong and
dangerous to violate other people's privacy--is misapplied. Note the word
"violate." **Snape was violated by Harry here.** Appropriate or not, the
intensity of Snape's reaction is understandable--and it has *less than
worthless* as a point of comparison to any other teacher/student
interactions he has with Harry or anyone else. It's a totally different
level and type of interaction.

So, to circle round, if there is only one instance of physical abuse, and
that instance is outside any standard teacher/student interactions, I
disagree that Snape can be considered physically abusive.

~Amanda