Sadistic Snape

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 140405

vmonte wrote:
"It's fine with me what people choose to believe about Harry and
Snape. It's the smug comments that are used against posters that don't agree with DDM!Snape that I don't like."

Del replies:
Smug comments are used by people on both sides of the Snape fence. I
even remember several instances of people saying that whoever defends
Snape is just as evil as he is. *shrugs*

Vmonte wrote:
"The simple fact is that if you are going to attack someone for not
using canon when stating an idea, you should then use canon on a more
regular basis yourself."

Del replies:
Betsy does use canon regularly. The problem is that she doesn't
necessarily interpret it the same way others do.

vmonte wrote:
"If Dumbledore could find it in his heart to forgive Snape, who was a
DEATH EATER (and God knows what he did when he was one), then Snape
should also be as generous to his students."

Del replies:
Why? Just because you and I think it's the best thing to do doesn't
mean Snape "should" do it.

RL example: I'm a Christian, and Jesus taught in the Bible that I must forgive other people if I want Him to forgive me. So because I have promised to obey Him, and because I really want Him to forgive me, I do try and do my best to forgive everyone else. But if a friend tells me that they don't believe in that line of thinking, I won't go and tell them that they should do it anyway.

If Snape thinks it's OK to keep small grudges even after someone
forgave him something big, that's his right. If he doesn't think that
DD's choices should have an influence on his own choices, that's his
right. And he's definitely not the first human being to transfer a
grudge against the father on the son. In some circles it's even
considered the right and honourable thing to do, for a son to pick up
his father's fights. It's definitely not the way I want to live my
life, but if other people want to do so, who am I to tell them they
are wrong? I can try to show them how they end up hurting themselves,
how they spend so much energy and time on things that don't deserve it in the end, and so on, but I can't pass a moral judgement on them,
because they don't share my moral system anyway.

vmonte wrote:
"I also want to add that Snape was never punished for his crimes
(while innocent people like Sirius and Stan Shunpike have), and that
Dumbledore treats Snape with respect, and expects others to treat him
with respect as well. "

Del replies:
DD's choices, not Snape's. If Snape doesn't want to feel bound by DD's choices, that's his right.

vmonte wrote:
"In light of this, how appropriate is it for Snape to assume anything
about Harry, and before he even meets him?"

Del replies:
Appropriate by whose standards? By Snape's standards, it's apparently
a most appropriate thing to do.

vmonte wrote:
"If Dumbledore is willing to give Harry a chance, who is Snape not to
do the same; considering that he was forgiven for the real sin of
being a DE, compared to Harry who has not committed any crime. "

Del replies:
Snape is his own man. If he doesn't want to be bound by DD's choices
and morality, that's his right.

vmonte wrote:
"And why is it OK to be so disrespectful to Harry for the actions of
his father?"

Del replies:
It's not OK by your and my standards. But for someone with a vendetta
kind of mindset, like Snape, it's not only OK but to be expected.

vmonte wrote:
"(The fact that Snape is emotionally arrested is not Harry's problem.)"

Del replies:
More precisely, it's not something Harry is responsible for, and it's
something Harry can do very little about. But it is very much Harry's
problem, just like it is our problem if our neighbour hates us.
Pretending the problem doesn't exist isn't going to help.

vmonte wrote:
"If Snape had any "real" epiphany about the mistakes he made in his
past he would never do what he is doing in the present. "

Del replies:
First, it would depend on what kind of epiphany he had. And second,
simply having an epiphany doesn't automatically mean that someone is
going to change their life. Many people have "epiphanies" where they
realise that something they have done was horrible, but they don't do
anything about it, and after a while the epiphany fades away and they
go back to their old ways.

vmonte wrote: 
"In the end something spectacular may happen to open Snape's eyes
about his true self (I just don't think that moment has yet happened)."

Del replies:
Maybe it will, maybe it won't. In RL, it wouldn't necessarily happen.
Snape would just keep going on with his miserable, hate-filled, bitter life. If Harry survives, Snape might decide to move away from Britain, but that's about it.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that what Snape is doing is nice.
I'm just saying that it's his right to act that way if he wants to. I
personally aim for a different kind of morality (some would call it
"higher", but that's a moral judgement in itself, which can't be made
as long as we don't agree on a common moral system), and I'm teaching
my kid to do so too. But there's nothing inherently wrong in being
bitter, vengeful, unfair and cruel. It's a perfectly human way of
life, that many people around the world choose as their own (or don't
decide to get out of). It's sad, but it's perfectly valid.

JMO, of course.

Del