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

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 153094

Lanval:

> Oh no, you misunderstood me then. My argument was that 
> niceness/kindness cannot simply be ignored, or looked at with 
> contempt, when judging a characters 'goodness'.
> 
> Let me try again.
> 
> Character A works for the side of good, but is a 
> generally nasty, disagreeable person. He tends to 
> hurt others by his attitude.
> 
> Character B also works for the side of good, but is 
> generally a friendly and kind person. He rarely hurts 
> others by his attitude.

houyhnhnm:

I do not look at niceness with contempt.  My problem with Lupin has
nothing to do with his niceness.  He was my favorite character from
the time he was intoduced in PoA up until the pensieve scene in OotP.
 I glossed right over his unprofessionable behavior toward Snape, his
failure to come clean with Dumbledore, his recklessness in rushing out
without taking his potion, his willingness to participate in a summary
execution, even the recounting of his behavior as a Marauder when he
was supposed to have been staying in the Shrieking Shack during his
transformations for the protection of Hogwarts.

I could not overlook his failure to step in, when he was a *prefect*,
and his friends were tormenting another student just because "he
exists". My attitute toward Lupin and Snape, whom I had previously
loved to hate, began to change at that time.  I re-read PoA and I
began to see Lupin's behavior in a very different light.

As a child werewolf, Lupin had no hope of attending school. 
Dumbledore made it possible for him to do so; he even made him a
prefect.  Lupin repaid Dumbledore by abdicating his responsibility as
a prefect and running loose as a werewolf with his three friends,
thereby putting the whole community at risk.

As an adult werewolf, Lupin had no hope of gainful employment.  Again
Dumbledore gave him a chance, and again Lupin betrayed Dumbledore's
trust.  These are serious transgressions.  Yes, Lupin felt bad about
what he was doing or failing to do, but the bad feelings *never
changed his behavior*.

Snape's transgressions are worse.  I grant that.  Even if he never
participated in an act of murder or torture, if he slithered out of
action every time, whatever he did do may have enabled the murdering
and torturing, and just by joining the Death Eaters, IMO, he shares
responsibility for whatever acts they committed.

The difference is that when Snape realized what he was doing was
wrong, *he changed his ways* [I know some people don't think so, but
for me it is a settled question.  I'm not going to argue DDM vs ESE!
Snape anymore].  And he did so with very little prospect of ever being
rewarded.

What keeps people nice or good most of the time? Are we not nice
partly because we want others to be nice to us?  Are we not good
because we want our family and our friends to think well of us rather
than ill?  Isn't it a kind of social inertia that keeps most people on
the straight and narrow?

Lupin wants to be liked so badly he is willing to compromise his
values and commit acts he knows are wrong.  Snape, who had cut all
ties to the law-abiding WW, wrenched himself from his headlong fall
into evil and set himself back on the right path because, when brought
face-to-face with what he had become, he rejected evil and chose good
for its own sake alone.  He will never be liked by those he has rejoined. 

Your hypothetical character B may be better than character A, but
neither is a very good match with any actual character in the Harry
Potter books.  Too much has been left out.