Choices/Snape as abuser, SKIP if not interested WAS :Re: CHAPTER

[SteveE]

No: HPFGUIDX 188592


> > > Pippin:
> > > As far as whether Rowling wants us to hate Snape or forgive him, I think we might be  missing the point. What she wants us to see, IMO, is how our judgement, like Harry's, is distorted by our feelings. <HUGE SNIP>
> > 
> > Alla:
> > Well, no, unless you are arguing that JKR really is saying that verbal abuse is a good thing and we are supposed to see it as such I do not agree with it.
> 
> Pippin:
> 
> Of course not. If she thought it was a good thing, there'd be no need to forgive it. No one can deserve forgiveness -- the whole idea is that it's a gift, unearned.  But  Harry was willing to forgive people he likes for things that were just as bad, and  wasn't willing to even consider that Snape might be innocent of anything he imagined Snape capable of doing. His hatred made him unfair, and I think it is JKR's premise that hatred makes everyone unfair.   So, IMO, she says we have to choose between hatred and fairness.  We can only have a fairer world if we choose not to bring hatred into it. That means we will have to learn how to forgive. 
> 
<Huge Snip>

Steve replies:  I actually agree to a large degree w/ Pippin's points on hatred vs fairness.  You have to apply it w/ Snape though too, as his hatred for James prevented him from being fair w/ Harry.  But it's a very good point that JKR does present characters hatred clouding their objective judgement and overall fairness.  That's human nature to a degree as well, of course.  It is hard to be fair and objective even w/ fictional characters that we don't like, or even hate.