[HPforGrownups] Re: Snape! Snape! Snape! Snape! Loverly Snape! Wonderful Snape! (long)

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 148197

On 15 Feb 2006 at 22:32, dumbledore11214 wrote:

> Shawn: 
> > I also think people can make too much of precise words used in 
> > interviews. I don't think all that many people have been 
> > interviewed by the media really. I have been on several occasions, 
> > although on only one of those occasions did the details of that 
> > interview wind up in the media. I don't think that using a word 
> > imprecisely in a media interview is a sign that a person is sloppy, 
> > it's just a reflection of the fact that you are having to think on 
> > your feet and often condense quite complex ideas into a fairly few 
> > words. <SNIP>
> 
> Alla:
> 
> See, I don't understand this at all. How do you know that JKR used 
> the word imprecisely? IMO it is more logical to assume that she meant 
> precisely what she said.

Shaun:

Two reasons.

First of all, it's because if she used the word precisely, she 
would be claiming that Snape got sexual pleasure out of what he 
does. That is the precise definition of sadism. And, frankly, I 
don't think there's even a shred of indication in the text that 
Snape gets sexual pleasure out of anything. So at the very least, I 
think she must be using the term in a non-sexual sense, which is 
already showing a lack of precision (admittedly a very common lack 
of precision when it comes to that word).

But secondly and more importantly, it's because she doesn't just 
say that Snape is a sadistic teacher. That's not the whole quote.

"Snape is a very sadistic teacher, loosely based on a teacher I 
myself had, I have to say. I think children are very aware and we 
are kidding ourselves if we don’t think that they are, that 
teachers do sometimes abuse their power and this particular teacher 
does abuse his power. He’s not a particularly pleasant person at 
all."

She doesn't just say he's a sadistic teacher. She goes on to 
clarify this point, and explain in more detail the ways she sees 
Snape. As somebody who abuses their power. As someone who isn't a 
particularly pleasant person.

In context, it seems to me from this quote that when JKR calls 
Snape sadistic, she's referring to the fact that he (in her view) 
abuses his power, and that's he not particularly pleasant.

Neither abusing power, nor being unpleasant are definitional of 
sadism. They are similar concepts (especially the first) but they 
are not the same concept. When you look at the whole quote, it 
seems clear to me that JKR is using that word as shorthand for what 
she elaborates on later in the quote, she's not using it with a 
precise dictionary definition.

Could I be wrong. Easily. But I think focusing on one word in one 
interview is assuming an awful lot.


Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia