Nice vs. Good, honesty, and Snape/Book 7 predictions and Harry's fate

[leslie41]

No: HPFGUIDX 153003

>
> Leslie41:
> Er, remember that Snape, while under the invisibility cloak, had 
> just heard this man "begging to be heard out" state that he wasn't 
> sorry about the prank, and it served Snape right.
> 
> Um, I might agree with you if Snape had heard Black say "I've been 
> thinking about Snape while I was in Azkaban, and I don't think I 
> treated him very well while we were in school. I'm sorry about 
> that."
> 
> So, in what universe should Snape, or anyone else be expected to 
> hear Black out after that or give him a "second chance"? 
> 
> The unreasonable Snape hate is understandable, really it is, but 
> it's not LOGICAL when one considers what goes on in the books. 
>    
> > Joe:
> > Not only is it logical when you consider what has been written
> > in the book but it is what the author intended. Didn't JKR her 
> > self say that the "adoration or liking" that some people have 
> > for Snape and in particular Draco was a bit disturbing to her?

Leslie41:
Authorial intent is really irrelevant.  In many cases, for example, 
we don't *know* what the author of a novel or poem "intended".  As 
for Rowling, what she "intended" may actually be at odds with what 
is actually there in what she wrote.  This happens all the time with 
literature.  James Joyce himself wasn't necessarily trustworthy when 
asked to comment on his own characters.

In any case, she hasn't truly commented comprehensively yet on what 
she "intends" re Snape, because of course that would be giving away 
too much.  What she intends right now is to keep us guessing, which 
we most certainly are!!!

What Rowling called into question wasn't the "liking" of Snape per 
se.  And as an aside, I think that even Snape's admirers (of which I 
am one) don't necessarily "like" him, simply because he's not 
*likable*.  One does not have to like someone one admires.  Often, 
one doesn't even have to like someone one loves.  

What concerned Rowling was Snape and Draco *lust*.  The romantic 
attraction to the "bad boy," which Rowling thinks is unhealthy.  And 
I agree with her!    

But that really isn't the issue in this discussion (though it is in 
another thread).  
    
> Joe:
> We are supposed to not like Snape and that is pretty easy to see. 
> We are supposed to like or at least feel sorry for Sirius and that 
> is also easy to see. This is reinforced by what JKR has written in 
> the books and what she has said in interviews.
>    
> So who is not being logical?

Leslie41:
Oh, but as I said, I don't like Snape either.  He's not particularly 
likeable.  But I admire him and I think he does the right thing, and 
I think that he is good.

Anyone out there remember who Rowling's favorite author is? Jane 
Austen.  Jane Austen is famous for presenting us with characters 
that are eminently unlikeable but who end up being noble and good.  
And characters that are likable who end up being thieving, 
irresponsible ingrates.

Mr. Darcy insults Elizabeth at the beginning of _Pride and 
Prejudice_, and we are left to think for most of the book that he is 
nothing more than a proud, unpleasant, judgemental man.  

He most certainly is not *nice*. It's Wickham that we are supposed 
to like, Wickham who is nice.  It's Wickham who our clever heroine 
Elizabeth likes and with whom she sympathizes.

And it is Wickham, of course, who turns out to be a reprobate of the 
worst possible sort.  

By the end Elizabeth discovers that it is Darcy who is the noble 
man, someone who in all situations tries to do the right thing. She 
discovers that she has been wrong about him all along.