Snape's the Rescuer - Really?/Justice to Snape

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 170967

> houyhnhnm:
> 
> He makes me think a little of Florence Nightengale 
> (mutatis mutandis), the founder of the modern profession 
> of nursing, whose achievements as an activist in 
> sanitation were a major turning point in the history 
> of health care. Celebrated in popular sentimental 
> imagination as The Lady With the Lamp, in actuality 
> she was a hard headed administrator, an ambitious and 
> sometimes abrasive woman who drove other people 
> ruthlessly and didn't suffer fools gladly.
> 
> Some quotes:
> 
> "I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took any excuse."
> 
> "The martyr sacrifices themselves entirely in vain. 
> Or rather not in vain; for they make the selfish more 
> selfish, the lazy more lazy, the narrow narrower."
> 
> "There is no part of my life, upon which I can look back without 
pain"
> 
> Sound like anyone we know?  Which house do you think 
> she would have been sorted into?

lizzyben:

Oh, I love those quotes! Sounds like Snape to me. He has very high 
standards for both himself and others. It also reminds me a bit of 
quotes from Mother Teresa, who was devoted to helping the poor & 
needy, and also became a hard-headed administrator of her charity. 
(not that Snape is a saint!) But any cause needs someone who can 
organize & *act* when necessary.

I'd never claim that Snape is kind or even compassionate, but IMO 
compassion isn't a necessity for a healer. I'd feel compassion for 
Draco after Harry's curse, but I'd also just be screaming along 
w/Myrtle. Not very helpful. In an emergency situation, you need 
someone who can keep calm, quickly evaluate the situation, and take 
immediate action. To find a cure for a disease, you need someone who 
is both analytical & creative, who has a wealth of medical knowledge 
& the ability to apply it to a specific situation. Snape has all 
those qualities - I think he'd be a great Healer. Indeed, it's hard 
to think of many characters in the Potterverse who could 
successfully do that job - Healer Ron, anybody? Lily is one of the 
only characters who seemed to have those abilities, & I have a hunch 
that was part of what brought those two together.

It seems like the image of the "Lady with the Lamp" is echoed in how 
Snape first appears in HBP - at night, carrying a lamp, taking an 
injured Harry to safety. It's sort of funny to me how often Snape is 
placed into these feminine roles. Snape's a brilliant 
wizard, an accomplished duelist, a Death Eater & a spy. And what 
does he spend his days doing? Cooking. Teaching. Watching over 
children. Giving medicine. Healing. Heartless, cruel Snape is 
continually placed in situations in which he must take care of other
people. And he does. IMO, this isn't a coincidence. I think it's 
central to his character. 

lizzyben