Snape can do nothing right. Was: Ministry going to punish Snape...?

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 169118

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "leslie41" <leslie41 at ...> wrote:

> 
> But this brings up an issue with me and the Snape critics, which is 
> that because of what I perceive as an unreasonable anti-Snape 
> prejudice, Snape can NEVER do anything right.  Snape's actions, even 
> if they save people's lives, or put his own life in danger, are 
> always somehow wrong or lessened or called into question because of 
> his unpalatable personality.  I freely admit he's an unpleasant 
> person, a teacher with a very sadistic streak.  But he is also very 
> brave, and intelligent.  He's an effective teacher.  And when push 
> comes to shove, when the stakes are high, he always ACTS properly.
> 

Does he always act properly?  Not to those of us who think very 
strongly that he is a constant abuser of children.  Which brings up a 
point -- personality and action cannot be so easily separated.  It is, 
in fact, perfectly appropriate to insist that Snape apologize for his 
personality and the way it leads him to interact with others, 
including what I'd say is his contemptible abusive behavior.  And it 
is, in fact, perfectly appropriate to insist that, short of an 
apology, punishment is in order.  Frankly, if JKR does go the way 
of "nice is not good" and "actions excuse an abusive personality" then 
I'd say the messages she has encoded in her books are -- <chuckle> 
unfortunate.

So, in this instance, the issue isn't that Snape hasn't done anything 
good.  Of course he has.  The issue is that what he's done, at least 
for some anti-Snapers, is beside the point.  His good actions, to 
continue with the line of thought you want to explore, are real, but 
in no way excuse his abuse of Harry and Neville, nor do they release 
him from punishment therefor.  His status as DDM!, if DDM! he is and I 
wouldn't be surprised, is not, once again in the line of thought you 
are challenging, important or relevant.  And if JKR attempts to say 
that they are -- well, once again, unfortunate.

Now, I rather suspect that IS where she's going.  <Shrug>  It's very 
sad, but on the scale of Britney Spears and Donald Trump, not that of 
Darfur and lung cancer.

So the issue in the end, at least for some of us, isn't that Snape 
can't do anything right.  It's that what he does right is pretty much 
irrelevant to the moral issues at stake.


Lupinlore, who observes that other characters, D-dore in particular, 
have the same problem