We see these characters so differently that I do not think we can possibly achieve a meeting of minds. But I must comment on a couple of things. First, you say, when explaining that you like Sirius, Adult Sirius, mind. Too many people jump to the conclusion that anyone who claims to be a Sirius fan must also be a 'marauder' fan, but I am not that at all. Young Sirius had a lot to answer for, no question about it.
This, I have to say, is strange to me, for two reasons. Those of us who love Snape love him, boy and man. It's the same character! That's part one. But, if this is true of Severus, it is even more true of Sirius, who, as Jodel points out, never grows up. There are clear reasons for this - his obviously psychologically abusive childhood and his imprisonment in Azkaban. One can, as you say, cut him some slack. But, as a man, he is not sorry for anything the Marauders have done. He never apologizes to Severus for the attempted murder, never stops sniping at him or putting him down, and is also inconsistent in his treatment of Harry, trying to lure the boy out of the castle in OOTP when that is a dangerous thing to do. I also dislike his mistreatment of Kreacher, who is after all, his slave - however nasty- , and his callous dismissal of his (dead!) younger brother. In other words, he remains impulsive, thoughtless, aggressive, and rather self-absorbed. I repeat, Sirius is the same person, boy and man. Either you like him, or you don't. You can't dislike him as a boy and like him as a man. At least, I don't see how. BTW, another thought - these books, up to HBP, were full of twins and twinning. Severus's spiritual twin is Harry; Sirius's is Bellatrix
And Severus, as a young man (and quite possibly throughout his life) does come across as clinically depressed. You should read Marionros on this. It all hangs together - the irritability; the self-absorbption; the suicidal tendencies when he is in despair as a young man; the lack of self-esteem, such that he lets anyone and everyone he cares for push him around; the insomnia, the gauntness, the poor grooming - altogether, he is a figure of mourning. And that is exactly why Rowling punishes him so cruelly, IMHO.
As for "entitlement" explaining his sniping at the kids - I don't see this at all. ALL wizards are "entitled", and act as such; as I've said, this is one of my problems with the Wizarding World. Snape is not more so than anyone else - including Sirius.* What's actually going on here is threefold. Snape can actually be nasty at times, and there are times when any reasonable reader would dislike him. Also, though he's a very emotional person, the only emotions he seems able to express freely are grief and anger. There's a lot of displacement going on here, I think. Finally, he has a sarcastic sense of humor, and no real knowledge of how to relate to people other than sniping at them - he comes from a severely dysfunctional background. You don't need to reach for a concept like "entitlement" to explain his behavior. It's all much simpler and more comprehensible than that.
*(Note. Of couse, Severus and Sirius are also practically twins - they are very alike in some key ways. It's interesting that there is such a gulf between Severus and Sirius fans, that being the case. Maybe it all boils down to a fundamental difference between introverts (like Snape) and extroverts (like Black)?)
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Re: Entitled?!
Date: 2009-08-13 04:42 pm (UTC)This, I have to say, is strange to me, for two reasons. Those of us who love Snape love him, boy and man. It's the same character! That's part one. But, if this is true of Severus, it is even more true of Sirius, who, as Jodel points out, never grows up. There are clear reasons for this - his obviously psychologically abusive childhood and his imprisonment in Azkaban. One can, as you say, cut him some slack. But, as a man, he is not sorry for anything the Marauders have done. He never apologizes to Severus for the attempted murder, never stops sniping at him or putting him down, and is also inconsistent in his treatment of Harry, trying to lure the boy out of the castle in OOTP when that is a dangerous thing to do. I also dislike his mistreatment of Kreacher, who is after all, his slave - however nasty- , and his callous dismissal of his (dead!) younger brother. In other words, he remains impulsive, thoughtless, aggressive, and rather self-absorbed. I repeat, Sirius is the same person, boy and man. Either you like him, or you don't. You can't dislike him as a boy and like him as a man. At least, I don't see how. BTW, another thought - these books, up to HBP, were full of twins and twinning. Severus's spiritual twin is Harry; Sirius's is Bellatrix
And Severus, as a young man (and quite possibly throughout his life) does come across as clinically depressed. You should read Marionros on this. It all hangs together - the irritability; the self-absorbption; the suicidal tendencies when he is in despair as a young man; the lack of self-esteem, such that he lets anyone and everyone he cares for push him around; the insomnia, the gauntness, the poor grooming - altogether, he is a figure of mourning. And that is exactly why Rowling punishes him so cruelly, IMHO.
As for "entitlement" explaining his sniping at the kids - I don't see this at all. ALL wizards are "entitled", and act as such; as I've said, this is one of my problems with the Wizarding World. Snape is not more so than anyone else - including Sirius.* What's actually going on here is threefold. Snape can actually be nasty at times, and there are times when any reasonable reader would dislike him. Also, though he's a very emotional person, the only emotions he seems able to express freely are grief and anger. There's a lot of displacement going on here, I think. Finally, he has a sarcastic sense of humor, and no real knowledge of how to relate to people other than sniping at them - he comes from a severely dysfunctional background. You don't need to reach for a concept like "entitlement" to explain his behavior. It's all much simpler and more comprehensible than that.
*(Note. Of couse, Severus and Sirius are also practically twins - they are very alike in some key ways. It's interesting that there is such a gulf between Severus and Sirius fans, that being the case. Maybe it all boils down to a fundamental difference between introverts (like Snape) and extroverts (like Black)?)