Snape - a werewolf bigot?? Was: Say it isn't so Lupin!!!

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 170127

> > > Sherry:
> > > 
> > > I think Snape is prejudiced against werewolves in general--the
> > > way he refers to and speaks to Lupin--and against Lupin in 
> > > particular.  <snip>
> 
> Mike:
> It's funny, how Hagrid can call Filch a "sneakin' Squib" and that 
is 
> called a prejudicial remark, yet when Snape makes his numerous 
snide 
> werewolf comments and calls Lily Evans a "filthy Mudblood", they 
are 
> put down to situational animosity. What, praytell, was Snape's 
> animosity against the girl who seemed to be trying to stop the 
> bullying?

Magpie:
I agree--it's prejudice in all three cases. That's why I think it's 
unhelpful to look at bigotry as something one is or one isn't, as if 
if someone is not a bigot then it's just situational animosity and 
if they are it's bigotry. Whether or not Snape supports werewolf 
legislation or not, and no matter what he believed about pureblood 
superiority intellectually, he chose in two cases to use bigotry 
against people because he could.

(Though as to what Snape's animosity was towards Lily, obviously it 
was for humiliating him by coming to his rescue.)

If Snape has outed himself as a bigot, which I think he has by using 
those words, so did Hagrid. Every character is different and using 
the word "squib" or "werewolf" doesn't automatically make the person 
a Death Eater who supports all kinds of bigotry to the most extreme 
levels, but it is all bigotry. When Snape and Hagrid choose to use 
those words to put the other person down, they're taking advantage 
of the greater bigotry that exists, which they can because they 
aren't in the minority groups in these cases.

> Mike:
> Here I disagree. We *have* only one instance in canon from Snape's 
> school days. As I said above, if it was good enough to brand James 
> and Sirius, why isn't it good enough to brand Severus? Draco 
doesn't 
> call Hermione a Mudblood every time he's in close proximity to 
her, 
> yet we are all convinced of his pure-blood superiority beliefs. 
> 
> But we have a one-for-one correlation with Severus and Lily and 
the 
> use of "Mudblood". Until I'm informed differently, I'm calling 
Snape 
> a bigot on this account. There is a lot of water under the bridge 
> since that utterance, yet Snape has no problem using another 
bigotted 
> term in PoA. Now, where's the canon that proves he's not a bigot?

Magpie:
I would add further evidence that Snape was a Death Eater, a group 
that's pretty open about its own bigoted beliefs. This, too, I've 
certainly heard as being about something other than bigotry, but I 
don't see that it matters. I was very surprised when Snape's use of 
the word Mudblood was considered just an aberration by many readers--
as far as I remember, don't we have three student characters who 
ever use the term? Snape, Draco and Tom Riddle. I can't even 
remember any adults using the word--oh wait, Kreacher and Mrs. 
Black. It seems unlikely the word could ever be dismissed in canon 
as not being serious.

Mike:
That 
> Sirius had turned traitor and become a DE, something that Lupin 
and 
> his running mates suspected Snape had done (and in this case, 
their 
> suspicions were well founded - Snape had become a DE). Why 
shouldn't 
> all the evidence point to Snape as Sirius' accomplice, from 
Lupin's 
> perspective?

Magpie:
Ooh--good point. I suppose one could say that while Lupin could 
believe Sirius would join Voldemort, he couldn't ever believe he 
would be anything but hostile to Snape...?

Dana:
That is what people say Lupin should have done while they are
forgetting that Lupin actually never was a threat to anyone because
Sirius was there and Sirius, like he did during their school days,
can keep a werewolf in check. Lupin did not think about taking his
potion, he forgot the time but there was still a safety precaution
present and although not consciously thinking about this probably
Lupin did know Sirius was there before he went to the shack. Does
this mean he should not think about what could have happened if
Sirius had not been there to get him away? Yes, he should and he
takes responsibility for it like he should but it is in hind-sight.

Magpie:
I think this is stretching a bit. Saying "does this mean he should 
not think about what could have happened" in hindsight is like 
already assuming he was thinking about it beforehand, which he 
wasn't. The mistake he made certainly were all about his being 
human, of course. Just as Snape's actions all come from Snape's own 
issues. He's hardly acting with any more of a cool head than Lupin. 
All these older men are making mistakes, just as they did back the 
first time everything went wrong. 

Catlady:
What about the fact that he almost always ignores Hermione
each time she raises her hand in class. I realize that she
is one who knows most of the answers through her studying
prior to class, but to simply ignore her and grudgingly
calling on her seems to me to be a muggle resentment as
well as perhaps a prejudice against the group. 

Magpie:
I actually don't see any sign of Muggleborn prejudice in the least 
in the way Snape treats Hermione, so I don't think of it as any kind 
of sign. His treatment of her completely suits her personality (in 
Snape's terms, of course). She's "a know it all." He snipes at her 
for helping Neville. But I see no sign that her parentage has 
anything to do with it. He seems to go after Harry, Neville and 
Hermione all in different ways because of things he doesn't like 
about them as individuals. Ironically, Slughorn has beliefs in 
Pureblood superiority, and praises Hermione a lot. She's one of 
those funny situations, an exception.

I think Snape has done things that do point to blood prejudice--
using the word Mudblood and being a Death Eater. I just don't 
honestly see any sign of it in his treatment of Hermione. If it's 
secretly informing his actions and complaining about her blood 
status off page, I just haven't seen evidence of it yet. I'm not 
saying that it couldn't ever be true because we do have a past 
history of virulent anti-Muggle-born prejudice is Snape's past. I 
just think trying to read it into his behavior towards Hermione is 
difficult--a bit like reading it into Molly's behavior towards 
Hermione, which could also be done.

-m