Slytherins: selfish, not evil

[Erin Ridgeway]

No: HPFGUIDX 172768

Julie said: 
 <<I think this is an unfair assessment though. In reality there is some
 measure of self-interest in *everything* we do. <snip> Snape's sacrifices were in part motivated by selfishness (assuaging his guilt over Lily's death) but
 especially as time went by, he acted selflessly on numerous occasions.
<snip> Too many things Snape did were not motivated by pure self-interest, as supposedly befits a Slytherin, IMO.>>

Right-o, Julie. I think the point I was trying to make was that self-interest is the *dominant* trait that defines a Slytherin, not the only one. All of their actions are colored by that trait, but that alone doesn't make them evil. Just selfish. Fiercely individualistic. Machiavellian. And those are traits that can easily be preyed upon by Evil. They leave Slytherins more susceptible to Dark, IMO, than the others, who value other things more highly than self. My thesis is that not all Slytherins are bad, but all are more self-interested than Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws. Students Sorted into the other houses are certainly self-interested as well, it's just not their most dominant characteristic.

I think Snape is an example of a Slytherin who transcends the basic self-interest that dominates his personality and his value system to take the well-being of others into account. He's not the only one, just the best example.

I might even argue, just for kicks, that the Slytherin good guys (Snape, Slughorn, Phineas Nigellus, Regulus, even Narcissa Malfoy for a minute there at the end), have stronger characters than the other good guys because their natures leave them so susceptible to the temptation of evil, yet they resist or overcome their selfish desires and do what's right.

Erin

       
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