Snape a hero?

[quigonginger]

> Kneasy:
> >>> No, I don't think so, he doesn't qualify.
> 
> If someone acts as a double agent for 16 years,
> reporting from the heart of the enemy camp, living
> a double life, keeping up a front in his public life,
> finally dying at the hands of the enemy just before
> victory is achieved, but none-the-less surviving
> long enough to pass important information to the
> leader of the struggle, he'd normally be hailed as
> a hero with no hesitation.
> 
> If, that is, he did it from a sense of moral or ethical 
> conviction.
> 
> That's not ole Snapey.
> There was no such conviction. It was a sort of half-
> cocked combination of revenge for the death of the
> girl who threw him over plus emotional blackmail
> from one of the most practiced fixers in the business. 
> 
> Shame, really. I had hoped that Jo would have come up
> with a more gutsy motivation for him. 16 years mooning
> over some dead slapper? Nope, that's not how I've been
> reading Sevvy. A definitive un-romantic IMO.
> 
> Yes, he was probably being brave, but I doubt that ever
> crossed his mind. But pride rules. Once he'd given his
> word he'd do his damndest to play his part to the hilt
> in an attempt to stab in the back those whose actions
> had reduced him to such a pitiful pass, if only to show
> that he was cleverer than they.
> 
> And he pretty well succeeded.
> But he was still a miserable old git - and probably proud
> of that too. <<<
> 
> 
> SSSusan:
> Couldn't agree more... about bravery vs. being a hero and about his 
being a miserable old git.

Now Ginger:
Sorry, but I have to disagree.  

What makes a hero do what a hero does?  

If there was a madman out there killing all known Potter fans, how 
many of us would wipe our hard drives clean and thank our lucky stars 
that we didn't use our real names?  How many would take on a madman?

If there was a prophecy that the madman (we'll call him Lord Bob) 
would be defeated by a boy, how many of us would risk pain, torture 
and death to keep that boy safe?  The killings are not limited to 
this list. (RIP, Steve.  Nice knowing you, Randy.  Hope that's the 
last of us to go.)  

Let's say that the prophecy said that an American boy whose first 
name was the same as an American President's last name would defeat 
Lord Bob, but he would be as cursed as his mother's favourite sports 
team.  How many of us are jumping up to defend the boy?  (Fond 
farewell, Potioncat.  You were a great filker, CMC.)

The boy's parents die trying to save him.  Sure, we'd all say how 
tragic it was.  We may even chip in for a statue in the 
Crawfordsville town square in their honour, but how many of us are 
ready to risk life and limb for a child we've never met?  (Too bad 
about Deb.  Always liked her posts.)

So some guy who loved the boy's mother keeps him safe, and because of 
that, Lord Bob is defeated?  Is he a hero, even though he didn't do 
it for a great love of JKR?  Or of HP?  How do we feel about him? 
(Good thing he's defeated... was supposed to be a double killing in 
Texas, followed by massive bloodshed in California.) 

Maybe he isn't a great hero in the literary sense, but what if you 
had been the next on Lord Bob's list?  Is he a hero to you now?  

A hero who acts out of duty or sense of right and wrong is a great 
hero indeed, but a hero who acts out of love is no less a hero.  We 
consider the boy's fallen parents to be heros, even though we know 
they were motivated by the love for their son.  Why is the one who 
acts out of love for the boy's mother any different?

I'm sure the boy's mother would consider him to be a hero seeing as 
he saved the boy's life.  Wouldn't you think?

Ginger, who considers Snape to be even more of a hero since he left 
the comfort of the side that was winning at that time.