Bullying WAS: Re: Prodigal Sons

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 140943

 
Lupinlore wrote:

Luckily,  as JKR has said she regards Snape as "horrible" and "sadistic" 
and guilty  of "abusing his power," I don't think we will see such a 
contrived and  unbelievable reversal.  Now, we may well see more 
revelations, I will  be shocked if we don't.  But Snape NOT a bully to 
Harry and the other  kids? Snape NOT a reprehensible and twisted product 
of fascination with  the Dark Arts? Snape NOT a horrible, sadistic, and 
poor teacher?   Snape NOT someone who faces very stiff punishment for 
his inexcusable  actions throughout the entire series?  In short, Snape 
NOT what he  has been portrayed as in every word and scene ever written 
about  him?

Excuse me, but I think I'm going to die of laughter right now  :).






Julie:
I must point out that while Snape has certainly had his share of  horrible
moments bullying Harry and Neville and abusing his power, etc, if we  go
by how Snape has been portrayed in "every word and scene ever written
about him," then we are right back to where we started, which is to  say,
completely unable to figure out WHO Snape really is! 
 
And that is because in no way does every word or scene ever written
about Snape prove his horrible, bullying, sadistic, reprehensibleness. 
(I hope that last is actually a word!). Is it horrible of Snape to  save
Harry from Quirrel? Is is bullying for Snape to sing over Draco while
he heals him? Is it sadistic for Snape to reveal his Dark Mark? Is it
reprehensible for Snape to save Dumbledore from the Ring Horcrux
curse? How about saving Katie Bell from Draco's potion? Keeping
Crabbe and whatisface from choking Neville to death? Joining the
rest of the staff in encouraging Lockhart to put his  self-aggrandizing
words into action? Refusing to make more veritaserum for Umbridge?
 
Those are only some of the *larger* actions Snape has taken that 
do not support the one-dimensional horrible reprehensible character
you're suggesting. I could search books 1-6 looking for all the  smaller
moments and scenes with Snape where he is either very neutral 
(acting neither reprehensibly or nobly--greeting McGonagall when
she returns from the hospital for instance), or doing/saying  something 
that is too ambiguous to even judge without further information (the
whole Spinner's End scene for one--or the whole Tower scene for 
another, where Snape ignores every opportunity to gloat over his
supposed victory or to torture that most infuriating of his  students,
Harry).
 
Really, while Snape has enough going against him to be easily
labelled a "horrible" person based on his worst moments, a  carefully
unsentimental look at *all* his moments don't support so simple
a conclusion. In fact our dear ex-Professor of Potions and DADA
is as deeply contradictory a character as JKR has repeatedly told 
us--"Snape is a deeply horrible person." AND "There is *more* to 
Snape than meets the eye." I.e. Snape is definitely more than
just the oh so obviously horrible person Harry (thus, we) sees!
 
Julie 
(trying to look deeper)


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