Came here via the "Snapedom member essay" link, and I'm glad I did. There's a great deal that I dislike about Sirius, but I still see enough good in him that I find it maddening that he's so stubbornly unrepentant of things like "the prank," because he ought to know better. It seems like he has the potential to be a much better person than he is, but I couldn't manage to put my finger on what the problem was, other than House prejudice.
You do a great job of articulating Sirius's virtues and flaws, and of explaining the reason behind them. Although it probably should've been obvious, the pack mentality explanation hadn't occurred to me before, but it makes perfect sense. All his loving actions are on behalf of the pack, not strangers or enemies. Interestingly enough, this is how I've always imagined the Slytherins in my fanfiction. I picture them as being capable of great loyalty, and of being willing to risk their lives--but only for the ones that they love; everybody else is on their own. While this was my own fanon interpretation, the portrayal of the Malfoys in DH seems to support that theory, so maybe Sirius was more of a Slytherin than he would have liked to admit.
As for Snape, I hadn't really thought of his actions as "love," but in a sense they are. He performs acts of love even though he perhaps doesn't feel love towards the people that he's helping (at least, not in the "warm and fuzzy" sense of the word). That's in contrast to Sirius, who talks a good game, but doesn't always practice what he preaches--for example when he says that you can judge a man by how he treats his inferiors, in regards to Barty Crouch in GoF. Sirius treats Kreacher at least as badly as Crouch treats Winky, if not worse. It reminds me of a saying, "The smallest action is better than the greatest intention". And Snape's actions come off as much nobler to me than those of Sirius, and the Marauders in general. Even if JKR probably wouldn't agree.
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Date: 2007-10-26 09:55 am (UTC)You do a great job of articulating Sirius's virtues and flaws, and of explaining the reason behind them. Although it probably should've been obvious, the pack mentality explanation hadn't occurred to me before, but it makes perfect sense. All his loving actions are on behalf of the pack, not strangers or enemies. Interestingly enough, this is how I've always imagined the Slytherins in my fanfiction. I picture them as being capable of great loyalty, and of being willing to risk their lives--but only for the ones that they love; everybody else is on their own. While this was my own fanon interpretation, the portrayal of the Malfoys in DH seems to support that theory, so maybe Sirius was more of a Slytherin than he would have liked to admit.
As for Snape, I hadn't really thought of his actions as "love," but in a sense they are. He performs acts of love even though he perhaps doesn't feel love towards the people that he's helping (at least, not in the "warm and fuzzy" sense of the word). That's in contrast to Sirius, who talks a good game, but doesn't always practice what he preaches--for example when he says that you can judge a man by how he treats his inferiors, in regards to Barty Crouch in GoF. Sirius treats Kreacher at least as badly as Crouch treats Winky, if not worse. It reminds me of a saying, "The smallest action is better than the greatest intention". And Snape's actions come off as much nobler to me than those of Sirius, and the Marauders in general. Even if JKR probably wouldn't agree.