James, a paragon of virtue? Was: Why Do You Like Sirius?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 123215


Michelle wrote:
> The thing I don't understand is why James has become a paragon of 
> virtue to some, and yet Sirius is reviled by the same people?
> 
> Casey responded:
> Well, first of all James saved Snape's life, even though he didn't 
> like him. Perhaps it was  more for Remus' sake but I'll give him the 
> benefit of the doubt. I also think that many believe that since 
> Lilly, a girl that showed she would put up with none of James' 
> nonsense, ended up marrying him, it proved that James had changed 
> greatly.

Carol adds:
I think that James's admirers are generally the same people who like
(I won't say admire) Sirius. They praise James for his "values" or
"principles" because he would never call Lily a "mudblood." (He didn't
say that he wouldn't use the term to insult a Muggleborn he didn't
like, but I suppose it's fair to say that he wouldn't do so, just as
some people would never call a girl a b***ch even if they hated her.
It's just a word that he's been taught not to use and so he doesn't.)

That teeny exhibition of principle is, however, about the only good
thing that can be said of James in the Pensieve incident. Even his
most fervent admirers admit that he was at best "an arrogant little
berk" in that scene. Most of us would use the word "bully." And
certainly that's how Harry saw him. Young James is a show off who
wants to be admired, but hexing people he doesn't like "just because
he can" probably earns him more fear than respect. And of course he's
admired (at least by the Gryffindors) for his athletic skills but they
don't make him admirable in a moral sense. Neither he nor Sirius seems
to respect Remus's feelings about being a werewolf (joking about the
werewolf question and later Sirius complains that it's not a full
moon). Essentially Sirius is a spoiled, handsome rich boy who wants to
be entertained and has no consideration for other people's feelings.
James is a possibly indulged rich boy/athlete who thinks he's better
than anyone else. Neither of them has any legitimate reason for their
unprovoked attack on Severus Snape, who is absorbed in studying the
test questions he has just answered at great length in the DADA exam,
which he clearly takes more seriously than they do. (And Sirius states
that he doesn't need to study for the Transfiguration exam, either.
Thinks highly of himself, that one.) James bases his dislike of the
studious Severus on the mere fact that he exists. No doubt being a
Slytherin and greasy-haired has something to do with it, too, as do
all the hexes Severus knows. No fun to attack an opponent who can't
fight back, but it's okay to do it when he's unprepared and to go two
against one.

*This* is the only James that we actually see, the "arrogant little
berk" who shatters Harry's cherished illusions by proving Snape right.
We know that James stopped hexing people (except Severus) to earn
Lily's respect and affection. We know that he somehow saved Severus
from werewolf!Remus, which makes him at that point a better person
than Sirius, but we don't know whether he was originally involved in
the so-called and got cold feet (Snape's view) or whether he found out
about it (through Peter??) and stopped it when it was already in
progress. (Having saved Severus didn't keep him from hexing him in the
corridors, apparently, nor did it keep Severus from hexing him. I
imagine that Severus was humiliated at least as much by owing his
enemy a life debt as by being publicly turned upside down and James,
being James, probably reveled in Severus's agony. But I'm only
speculating here.) Once James was married and a father, away from
Severus Snape and no longer running around with a werewolf on full
moon nights, he did something that none of the other marauders
(except, to some extent, Remus Lupin) ever did. He grew up.

Paragon of virtue? No way in this universe. But as an adult, he served
in the Order of the Phoenix and died fighting to protect his family.
Not being Snape, who hates him for dying without giving him a chance
to repay the life debt (IMO), we can forgive James for his youthful
arrogance and misbehavior. And I suppose we can forgive Sirius, too,
since he passed through the Veil fighting for the Order and Harry. But
we don't have to like them if their personalities and actions don't
appeal to us, any more than the Snape haters have to like Snape.

BTW, I'm using "Severus" for young Snape to match the names of the
Marauders and "Snape" for the adult Snape. I do the same for Remus
Lupin, and I try to do the same with Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew
when I remember. It won't work for James, though, because there's
another Potter. ("Oh, him!" to quote Harry.)

Carol, who's rather fond of Lupin but doesn't really like any other
Marauder