We know now that Snape's attitude in festering over his schoolyard days is perfectly understandable, that he is more correct in his analysis of James's character than Harry ever was. Of course, we also know by said festering that these issues and differences were clearly never resolved, or talked over between Snape and Sirius (duh), Lupin, or even James I suspect. And it's really basically the classic Carrie story, only with far less violence and the grudges being held for much longer...yes, the mindset is understandable and sympathetic, but that doesn't make it any more healthy, or even productive for anyone else who would have to deal with the situation.
This isn't meant to sound like "Well, Snape didn't do it, so Harry doesn't have to do it either"...it's more that Snape didn't do it, and therefore Harry can't really do it, either...which is only making things worse with Harry's character.
They are nearly direct products of each other, Snape and Harry...Snape is the only one bringing up perfectly valid points about Harry's worst traits (yes, I do agree that at certain times he can be right on the mark about Harry), but Harry isn't listening because Snape wiill hate him no matter what he does (thereby rendering his points invalid, in Harry's opinion) due to his father; and Snape can't let go of hating James because James was so horrible to him, and God only knows why James was so horrible to him...but it's a long and ugly cycle. I keep emphasising it here because it's perhaps the main representation of the essential futility of childish outlooks on fighting, that nothing can be resolved until someone takes on a truly adult mindset, and hopefully it's the one example of this that will actually get resolved in the books...but you see this sort of thing inherent in all the characters in this series, this inability to actually talk through problems in a rational manner: you see it between Molly and Hermione in GoF, between Fred and George and the Slytherins, between Hermione and Pansy, even between the main founders of the series (Slytherin, who supposedly dropped a deadly monster into his Chamber and then left the school altogether because he had a fight with Gryffindor).
So, I hope I'm making myself clear here. Yes, it's a sign of a lacking character that Harry can't even consider the option of talking out his problems with Snape, but I strongly believe that the context in which he's being judged (ie, the HP-verse, where it's supposedly illogical to think as an adult) has to be taken into consideration when assuming what the best course of action would be in a conflict. The range of options is limited in these books, limited between ignoring someone or duking it out -- of the two, I still believe the former to be the best option. Not the best option in existence, perhaps, but the best option of those given in HP.
And damn, I know this sounds like "They don't do it, so he doesn't have to do it either", but it's really the way I see things in this series right now.
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Date: 2006-01-19 09:24 pm (UTC)This isn't meant to sound like "Well, Snape didn't do it, so Harry doesn't have to do it either"...it's more that Snape didn't do it, and therefore Harry can't really do it, either...which is only making things worse with Harry's character.
They are nearly direct products of each other, Snape and Harry...Snape is the only one bringing up perfectly valid points about Harry's worst traits (yes, I do agree that at certain times he can be right on the mark about Harry), but Harry isn't listening because Snape wiill hate him no matter what he does (thereby rendering his points invalid, in Harry's opinion) due to his father; and Snape can't let go of hating James because James was so horrible to him, and God only knows why James was so horrible to him...but it's a long and ugly cycle. I keep emphasising it here because it's perhaps the main representation of the essential futility of childish outlooks on fighting, that nothing can be resolved until someone takes on a truly adult mindset, and hopefully it's the one example of this that will actually get resolved in the books...but you see this sort of thing inherent in all the characters in this series, this inability to actually talk through problems in a rational manner: you see it between Molly and Hermione in GoF, between Fred and George and the Slytherins, between Hermione and Pansy, even between the main founders of the series (Slytherin, who supposedly dropped a deadly monster into his Chamber and then left the school altogether because he had a fight with Gryffindor).
So, I hope I'm making myself clear here. Yes, it's a sign of a lacking character that Harry can't even consider the option of talking out his problems with Snape, but I strongly believe that the context in which he's being judged (ie, the HP-verse, where it's supposedly illogical to think as an adult) has to be taken into consideration when assuming what the best course of action would be in a conflict. The range of options is limited in these books, limited between ignoring someone or duking it out -- of the two, I still believe the former to be the best option. Not the best option in existence, perhaps, but the best option of those given in HP.
And damn, I know this sounds like "They don't do it, so he doesn't have to do it either", but it's really the way I see things in this series right now.