Is Snape a "rules man"? (was: Snape and Raistlin Majere)

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 126487


SSSusan:
> > but I see Snape as actually having a *very* high regard for 
> > rules, indeed.  

Hannah:  
> I always think of Snape as a rules man, yet when I come to 
> write this post, I find it hard to justify exactly why I think 
> that.  Snape certainly seems to be playing by some sort of rules, 
> I'm just not sure whose.  Probably his own.  I would say he has a 
> strong sense of honour and of justice; strong but twisted.  Snape
> is not fair in his treatment of Harry.  Yet he seems to fanatically 
> believe in some form of justice.
<snip>  
> I think those things point to him having a set of highly personal 
> rules that he sticks to rigidly.


SSSusan:
Between some offlist correspondence and the comments phoenixgod 
provided in his follow-up post, I've decided that my blanket 
statement that Snape is a "rules man" was indeed probably going 
overboard.  In fact, phoenixgod's take is probably most accurate:  
Snape is a rules man in the "petty hallmonitorish" sense.  [LOVE that 
phrase!]  

Many people agree with you, Hannah, that Snape seems bound by *some* 
code and has a strong sense of *some* kind of justice, but that it's 
his OWN.  So perhaps the reason he tends to follow DD's instructions 
is that it suits his own internal code, not necessarily that he's a 
rules follower across the board.  And much of the rest of it would 
probably fall under the hall monitor category.
 

Hannah:
> Potions - something Snape has an exceptional talent for - seems to 
> be all about following rules very exactly and precisely.  Snape 
> also would appear to have a skill at logic, despite his irrational 
> behaviour.  Snape strikes me as the sort of man who would apply 
> logic so rigidly and absolutely that he actually ends up with 
> completely wrong conclusions when he applies it to something as 
> illogical as human nature and life in general.


SSSusan:
A point I agree with, Hannah.  Think about the line in TMWSNBN, where 
Sirius says to Snape, "Once again you've applied your keen & 
penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong 
conclusion."  It may not be verbatim from JKR's text, but I think it 
is an understandable accusation for someone to make against him.  
Logic, reason, "rules"-following all work tremendously well in potion-
making, but in assessing human behavior...?

Siriusly Snapey Susan