Snape really was a Good Guy - Canon in the House

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 174469

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip>
> > Gryffindors don't have moral struggles because their moral 
> > supremacy has already been determined at the                     
> > Sorting.  "Convenient outs" are their due for being so golden and 
> > pure.

> >>Chuck:
> I respectfully disagree with this last point.  As Sirius said, the
> world is not divided into Death Eaters and not.  And Dumbledore
> himself has proven himself not to be infallible (As an aside, I have
> much trouble with the description of the Harry Polyjuice Potion).
> 
> Are you saying that Dumbledore was entitled to not having to make a
> hard decision of "sacrificing" Harry because, as a Gryffindor, he   
> was due this out?

Betsy Hp:
I'm saying that this is what JKR is saying.  I don't agree with it.  
I think Sirius was right.  But JKR either changed her mind or didn't 
agree with Sirius (or maybe went with the technical out of the world 
being divided into Gyffindors and Slytherins?).  For JKR, 
Dumbledore's fallibility was just a bit of spice to make him 
more "interesting".  While I personally think it made Dumbledore a 
monster I'm under the impression that I'm *supposed* to still see him 
as a good guy.

> >>Chuck:
> It would have been much more interesting if Dumbledore was faced    
> with the true decision of sacrificing Harry "for the greater
> good."

Betsy Hp:
I totally agree.  [As an aside: "Ender's Game" by Orsan Scott Card 
does a wonderful job demonstrating the difficulty faced by putting up 
a child as a sacrifice for the greater good.]

> >>Chuck: 
> JKR prepares us for this out as she describes Dumbledore's look    
> being victorious when told of the Dark Lord's use of Harry's blood 
> at the end of GOF.  Conversely, at the end of OOTP, she sets up the
> possibility of a dilemma when Dumbledore  confides in Harry that he
> cares too much for him, and what did it matter if countless,       
> faceless people died other than Harry?  For me, it's too bad that   
> we didn't see this struggle in Dumbledore with respect to          
> Harry's "death."  The fact that Harry (and, for that matter, Snape) 
> has to make a sacrifice, but Dumbledore doesn't is uneven.

Betsy Hp:
I absolutely agree.  JKR doesn't like her heroes to suffer morally.  
So Dumbledore is given an out with Harry, and we're supposed to see 
Snape as something less than human so the "sacrifice" isn't really 
one on Snape's part.  Which leads to a rather ugly world-view, IMO.  
But there we are.

> >>Chuck:
> Indeed, JKR makes Dumbledore's path clear and free from decision by
> condemning him to death so early.  I feel cheated that Dumbledore
> never seems to struggle the way he did with the death of his       
> sister. 
> Maybe I'm just a sadist :-)

Betsy Hp:
Since I agree with you, I'll say that we're both just discerning 
readers. <bg>

Betsy Hp