Nope, no consensus on Snape / Snape a decent person, a hero, or somebody else?

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 142767

> >  > Alla:
> > <SNIP>
> > > Woudn't you agree that Snape did what ANY half decent person was supposed to do after such person realised that being a member of terrorist organization is very very WRONG?
> 
> Montavilla:
> > If ANY half-decent person would defy their own colleagues and 
> bosses to do the right 
> > thing, then there would be a lot less casual evil in the world.  
> Yes, they should.  We all 
> > should.  But very few do.
> 
> Alla:
> 
But  defining casual evil does not mean that you were an evil person in the first place, IMO. It seems to me that it is not that casual if you turned to Grand evil first. Am I making sense or not much?



Montavilla:

It's far more likely that I'm the one not making clear sense.  But you said "after such person realized" which implied to me that he (or any hypothetical person) might not have 
realized how truly evil the Death Eaters were when joining.  

Joining it in the first place is a separate thing.  Interestingly, I was just given this link: <a href==http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-665564.html>Klansman who became civil rights activist dies</a> that addresses a similar situation.  It's a story about a Klansman 
who realized after joining and working his way up to a powerful position, changed his mind.  

In this story, the Klansman is seen as a hero for changing his mind and working for a better cause.  At some point, he had to have joined the Klan.  But that's not relevant to the story.  What is important is that he turned around fought for what he realized is right.

How does this relate to Snape?  It's really the same story, isn't it?  (Provided you believe in DDM!Snape.)  Why Snape joined the Death Eaters is ultimately less important than his conversion back to the side of Good.  If he did that, then he acted heroically.  

He also reacted the way any half-decent person ought to.  But plenty of half-decent (and 
mostly decent people) don't.  Many lack either the detachment to re-assess their 
convictions or the courage to follow their new convictions, or both.


Montavilla.