Did you LIKE Snape?/ and other characters too

[julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 183296


> > Kemper now:> 
> > Perhaps those who got into HP closer to OP release found it easier 
> to
> > shift their views as their time with the characters weren't anchored
> > as long as earlier HP readers.
> 
> 
> Potioncat:
> There may be something to that. The only change I made was to go from 
> ambivilence about Sirius to disliking him. But I think part of it had 
> to do with all the discussions about Sirius vrs Severus. Honestly, 
> both men could have done more for Harry had they not had their own 
> flaws and issues to deal with.
>

Julie:
I think you hit the nail on the head. *Neither* Snape nor Sirius
are very likeable characters--nor is James--in the sense of being
noble or good-hearted (as, say, Neville is). All three of them
have rather substantial mean streaks. They aren't nice people, 
except to those very closest to them, and have little or no
tolerance for those they consider outside their personal circle
or clique. They are all three pretty self-centered, though to 
be fair James never really got far beyond boyhood so it's harder
to judge him fairly. (And while Remus is more kind-natured than
any of these three, he is self-centered for the most part, and
his continual failure to act, as in the Pensieve incident, rather
makes his kinder nature a moot point.)

Really, the question for me is not "Do you like Snape (or Sirius,
or James, or Remus), but which one(s) do you find easiest to 
forgive for their faults and mistakes? 

Like Kemper, I got into HP after GOF was out, and though I had
no knowledge of Snape or any other character beforehand, Snape
did grow on me as I read through the first four books, since he
was obviously (to me) on the "good" side despite his meanness.
But I also liked Sirius through the first four books, especially
in GOF when he acted as a supportive father-figure to Harry,
even if from a distance. It was OotP that soured me some on
Sirius, and not so much the Pensieve scene (which still stands
to me as a testament to the dislikeable characteristics of the
four Marauders in their completely unjustified treatment of
Severus). Rather it was Sirius the adult, who was unable to
provide any fatherly or godfatherly mentoring or support for
Harry whatsoever mired as he was in his own endless pity party.
Yet I still didn't hate him at the end of the book, but felt
sorry for him because he'd never had the opportunity to grow
up (thanks in part to his years in Azkaban). 

Although it usually comes down to whether you like (or dislike)
Snape or Sirius more, I don't personally think it's a contest
between them. They both were tragic characters who made bad
choices, choices that basically destroyed their lives, or 
at least made them miserable during a good period of their
shortened lifetimes. In both cases, it was a sad waste. 

Julie, who does admit to having more empathy for Snape and
can only guess that perhaps it is because he started out
the victimized, while Sirius started out the victimizer (as
I interpret the Pensieve scene).