Mean is not abusive; Dudley; teaching; conservatism

[Bruce Alan Wilson]

No: HPFGUIDX 145742

> Betsy Hp:
> Honestly, you can pull up example after example of Snape 
> behaving badly.  But, as Miles has said, being a scary, 
> badly behaved, unfair teacher is not abuse.

Alla:
> Yes, but if you interpret those examples as abuse, then 
> they are.

BAW:
This makes you sound like Lewis Carroll's Humpty-Dumpty.


Miles:
"I described Harry's reactions to *real* abuse by Umbridge, and 
this is totally different to his reactions to Snape. I do think 
that Rowling described the feelings of Harry and his reactions 
as the ones of an abused child because she wanted to show us, 
that Umbridge is not only "nasty" like Snape, but she is an 
abuser, a criminal."

BAW:
Interesting that many of the people who seem to be most harshly 
critical of Snape's behavior towards Harry haven't said 'boo' 
about Umbridge.  Even if we concede--which I do not for a moment
--that Snape is an abuser, Umbridge is far worse.  Umbridge 
makes Snape look positively cuddly, and makes Uncle Vernon look 
like Santa Claus.


Lupinlore:
"Well, now that's really the nub, isn't it?  I'm afraid trying 
to impose definitions, or even reach them by consensus, isn't 
going to work.  It has never worked with the Dursleys, and I 
seriously doubt, in fact I'm certain, it will never work with 
Snape and his abusive behavior."

BAW:
What abusive behavior?  Mean, yes. Unfair, yes.  Harsh, yes.  
I have yet to see any time when he was abusive.  Umbridge was 
abusive; the Dursleys were abusive. However, compared to what 
I have seen--I won't go into details--Snape doesn't come even 
close.


Gerry:
"True abuse would mean making derogatory remarks about 
Neville/Harry every couple of minutes. Deliberately chipping 
away at his self-confidence again and again every time they 
have potions. Giving random detentions as horrid as possible. 
And so on, and so on. Now we see Snape doing a little of that. 
And for Neville this is certainly not good. But true abuse is 
much, much worse. Could Snape be able of emotional abuse? 
Certainly. He knows how to wound and he has demonstrated he 
can be cruel. Does he do it. No, he does not enough for that."

BAW:
Precisely.  Snape is a meanie; however, it takes a great deal 
more than being a meanie to be an abuser.


hambtty:
"Then I remembered a quote from JKR hinting that someone will 
become magical at a late age.  Late age?  What could be a late 
age - surely 17 is considered late in the WW.  I know most think 
that it will be Mrs. Figg but surely she would have discovered 
her magic, if any by now.  As for me, I think it is Dudley. "

BAW:
JKR has said that Dudley is just Dudley--what you see is what 
you get--and that neither he nor his mother will be the ones to 
become magical late bloomers. I've said it before--I think it 
will be Uncle Vernon.  After all, who would be the most shocked 
at finding out in midlife that he was a sorcerer?


La Gatta:
"Snape's main focus is teaching his students potions. His 
nastiness is *reactive*; that is, he doesn't, except for that 
first day in SS, take the initiative. He *reacts* to things the 
students say and do that irritate him <snip>. He is easily 
irritated; he hates the world, and it doesn't take much to set 
him off, but he does need to be set off." <snip>

BAW:
And, whatever else you may say about Snape, he IS a good teacher; 
those of his Potions who are not totally lacking in aptitude--and 
there are some students whom even the best teachers can't help--
do pass their Potions OWLS.  If you are in Snape's class, you 
probably won't LIKE it, you might even HATE it, but you will 
LEARN.  And that's the main thing, isn't it?  Teaching isn't a 
popularity contest.


Lupinlore:
"In all of this I think JKR is really a certain kind of 
conservative.  <snip>  If you want to put it in religious terms, 
she is the kind of conservative who thinks that original sin and 
its crippling effects are obvious and omnipresent and become 
magnified as levels of authority and sizes of organization 
increase."

She's a Presbyterian, remember.  Original sin, predestination, 
the Westminister Catechism, etc.

BAW