Nice vs. Good, honesty, and Snape: Was Snape, Apologies, and Redemption

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 152953

> >>Lanval:
> <snip>
> Personally I don't think he'd bat an eyelash if Harry got         
> seriously hurt.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Actually, Snape does more than bat an eyelash.  He conjures a number 
of stretchers and carries Harry (and Sirius and Hermione and Ron) 
back to Hogwarts and up to the hospital wing. [PoA hardback, 
scholastic p.412]

And while I'm quite sure you'll be able to come up with some reason 
to casually dismiss Snape's actions here (duty is a popular one 
<g>), it especially interesting when compared to Sirius's treatment 
of the unconsious Snape.

We've also got the kind and compassionate Snape in "Spinner's End" 
when he's doing his best to comfort Narcissa.  And there's the 
touching (IMO) moment when he saves Draco's life in the girls 
bathroom in "Sectumsepra" by singing Draco's wounds shut.  

Again, I'm sure there will be some reason that these incidents don't 
count for you, but this actually does a lot to demonstrate, IMO, the 
weakness of using "niceness" to define whether or not a person is 
good.

Because, yes obviously there's a goodness in being kind, 
compassionate, polite, etc.  For thinking of what others need before 
oneself.  But we don't have the means to judge any of the characters 
on the above (except Harry) because we don't get a peek at their 
motivations.  (e.g. Is Ron truly being nice when he points Fleur to 
the bouillabaisse, or was something else prompting him at that 
moment?)

We *do* see our good guys act in ways that could never be defined as 
nice.  Hagrid attacking a frightened muggle child because the 
child's father has angered him is by no means nice.  Hermione 
branding a fellow classmate on the face is not a nice act either.  
Sirius knocking the unconscious Snape in the head wasn't nice, nor 
was he nice when he told Harry he didn't measure up to James.

It hardly seems fair to suddenly expect Snape to measure up to 
something we don't seem to expect the "good guys" to measure up to.  
But that's the problem with niceness.  It's a faulty and easily 
manipulated measuring stick.  As Fake!Moody knew quite well.

Betsy Hp