You made a couple of very interesting points I fully agree with. For one thing, I had actually not remembered/reaslized that Tonks would have needed advanced potions! And the idea that Snape might be criticizing *her* present weakness, without necessarily being opposed to love or seeing love as weakness, is brilliant. It rings true to me.
As for the disdain for Lupin, and childhood blame - I think the werewolf caper actually *is* enough to explain it. As I've said elsewhere, this was an attempt at murder in which Sirius Black used Remus Lupin - knowingly or unknowingly - as the murder weapon. At least, Snape to this day sees it as attempted murder, and the one thing *everyone* has conceded is that his life was in danger. I'm not sure you can even find an equivalent situation in the real world, but, as a pretty new driver, I got into a couple of accidents. In the first one, an older lady came barrelling through a four-way-stop and hit me in the side. For a long time after that, my stomach would clench when I got to that intersection, and I still feel very slightly nervous when I go through it. That's more than ten years ago. And yet there was no setup, no former history with the other driver, no malice, and no real injury. One might argue that there was no injury from the werewolf caper, either, but I think the psychic damage to Severus was severe. And he is not a forgiving soul and cannot easily put the past behind him - a definite weakness of *his*, and one I think he's not fully aware of. I agree with Jodel from aol (at the red hen website) that, one way or another - whether as Albus Dumbledore's willing agent (her theory) or simply as a messed-up kid bent on revenge - it was the werewolf caper that sent him straight to the death eaters. And, since it's clear to both Jodel and me that Severus became Albus's agent very young, he was in a difficult and dangerous position with that crew. And it's a position Sirius Black, in particular, had nothing but scorn for. If Severus blames the marauders for his choices, this would only increase his hate for them; if, as Jodel and I think, he was aware that he was doing harder and more dangerous work than any of them, while having to suffer their censure, he would scorn them. Not a very spiritually mature attitude, but then Snape just isn't very mature. I'm rambling a bit, too, but I hope all this is clear to you?
For another look at Snape's attitude to the marauders, you might check Helen Ketcham's excellent essays on the hogwarts professor website. She points out that, as far as we know, none of the marauders have ever apologized to Severus. They may now understand they treated him cruelly, but he has never heard this from them. And this makes it impossible for him to forgive them fully, especially since by nature he finds forgiveness challenging.
So those are my thoughts on his animosity to the marauders generally. He's certainly not fully rational about them, and it is a weakness. Thanks again for your comments.
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Date: 2006-02-20 08:33 pm (UTC)As for the disdain for Lupin, and childhood blame - I think the werewolf caper actually *is* enough to explain it. As I've said elsewhere, this was an attempt at murder in which Sirius Black used Remus Lupin - knowingly or unknowingly - as the murder weapon. At least, Snape to this day sees it as attempted murder, and the one thing *everyone* has conceded is that his life was in danger. I'm not sure you can even find an equivalent situation in the real world, but, as a pretty new driver, I got into a couple of accidents. In the first one, an older lady came barrelling through a four-way-stop and hit me in the side. For a long time after that, my stomach would clench when I got to that intersection, and I still feel very slightly nervous when I go through it. That's more than ten years ago. And yet there was no setup, no former history with the other driver, no malice, and no real injury. One might argue that there was no injury from the werewolf caper, either, but I think the psychic damage to Severus was severe. And he is not a forgiving soul and cannot easily put the past behind him - a definite weakness of *his*, and one I think he's not fully aware of. I agree with Jodel from aol (at the red hen website) that, one way or another - whether as Albus Dumbledore's willing agent (her theory) or simply as a messed-up kid bent on revenge - it was the werewolf caper that sent him straight to the death eaters. And, since it's clear to both Jodel and me that Severus became Albus's agent very young, he was in a difficult and dangerous position with that crew. And it's a position Sirius Black, in particular, had nothing but scorn for. If Severus blames the marauders for his choices, this would only increase his hate for them; if, as Jodel and I think, he was aware that he was doing harder and more dangerous work than any of them, while having to suffer their censure, he would scorn them. Not a very spiritually mature attitude, but then Snape just isn't very mature. I'm rambling a bit, too, but I hope all this is clear to you?
For another look at Snape's attitude to the marauders, you might check Helen Ketcham's excellent essays on the hogwarts professor website. She points out that, as far as we know, none of the marauders have ever apologized to Severus. They may now understand they treated him cruelly, but he has never heard this from them. And this makes it impossible for him to forgive them fully, especially since by nature he finds forgiveness challenging.
So those are my thoughts on his animosity to the marauders generally. He's certainly not fully rational about them, and it is a weakness. Thanks again for your comments.