Severus Snape

[-okonomiyaki o konomu-]

I have to say... I do not like this character (well, the character himself. He's very well-written and certainly interesting as a subject though). I don't think I would ever want someone like him teaching my children.

I can understand people who do like him, because I used to. I do tend to like jerk characters who really aren't bad (for example, Dr. Cox on "Scrubs"), and after I read the first book and discovered that Snape was trying to help Harry during the Quidditch match, I thought that Snape wasn't really that bad a guy.

However, when I read the third book for the second time, I realized that he is, in fact, quite pathetic. He seems to have some serious emotional and developmental issues. One part that particularly irked me was during Lupin's first lesson, when Snape was leaving the room before the class took on the boggart. As he does, he makes a mean comment to Lupin, in front of the whole class, about Neville, because earlier in Potions, Neville managed to make a potion correctly with help from Hermione after Snape told him he'd be feeding it to his toad (You'll have to forgive me, I don't have a copy of the book on hand to quote from). I find Snape's immaturity in this instance astounding. His age and status as a teacher should make him superior, for lack of a better word, to Neville, yet he treats Neville as his equal by feeling threatened by him and by responding to this so-called threat (That he should view a student doing well on an assignment as a threat seems a little problematic to me). Furthermore, it is highly unprofessional of him to talk badly about a student to another teacher, especially in front of the class.

Snape definitely has a problem with holding grudges. He has let his experiences at school become a much bigger part of his adult life than they should. While I'm sure Snape dislikes Harry for legitimate reasons, as well, a lot of his dislike for him obviously comes from or is exaggerated by Harry's resemblance and relation to his father. Yes, Harry does get away with or at least get off easy for much of what he does, but I wonder if any punishment short of expulsion would satisfy Snape? I think it's interesting how Snape and Sirius parallel each other in this way; both have trouble seeing Harry as Harry and not as James. And certainly Sirius is also letting his schoolboy rivalry with Snape carry on longer than it should, but Sirius was in a mind-crushing prison for most of his adult life (which would seriously stunt the emotional growth necessary to get beyond such a rivalry) - Snape was not. I think much of this has to do with Snape's apparant notion that emotional strength means to not show any emotion at all. While this supposed "control" may help in Occlumency, it also makes for a very emotionally immature person.  

[Baby Phantomhive]

Severus Snape is my least favorite character, mostly because he reminds me so much of myself. (In attitude, not looks. sweatdrop ) I'm reminded of his moment, I think when Harry and him were playing the Occlumency lesssons, where Harry peers upon child Severus crying, adults yelling.

Really, I'm not an angsty kid, I deal, but in the same sense I know what it's like. I'm really afraid of growing up to be a person like him. He has such an inability to 'let go', he holds out on the wrong ideas way too long. I'm sure there is more too him that adds to his attitude, but just like I trust I'd make a horribly violent teacher, I also seek him as dangerous to teach children.

Of course, that won't keep him out of a job. I've seen many a teacher blow up immaturely and not at all fit to be teaching youth, yet they still got their jobs. I guess I'm trying to say everyone has issues and even though I think Snape is a very difficult person, he'd still be a professor. I wonder if we'll ever see him 'tip the cauldron' of sorts. Harry got pretty close when he upset him during those lessons.  

[DarkAngelPoetess65]

But if Snape is so 'evil' like you said why is he a part of the Order of the Phoenix and denying the dark mark to go back to the Death Eaters?  

[-okonomiyaki o konomu-]

DarkAngel65

But if Snape is so 'evil' like you said why is he a part of the Order of the Phoenix and denying the dark mark to go back to the Death Eaters?

I'm sorry, who said he was evil?  

[TheAntiSora]

Oh no! My main man's being attacked! *To the rescue*

Whenever I see someone badmouthing Snape (or any other character, for that matter), i have to come to his defense.

Let's start with how Snape treats Neville. Although a lot of people think Snape just enjoys torturing this kid, there are better reasons that canon portays for this attitude. Simply put, Snape sees Neville as being weak, and he doesn't like that. Remember, Snape wasn't always as self assured as he is when we meet him in Sorcerer's Stone. In Neville, Snape sees himself as a weak, helpless kid. (The same is true for Harry. Remeber Occlumency lessons, when Snape was angry at Harry for not trying hard enough?) So his way of "toughening up" Neville is to chide him and make him work harder. He doesn't want Hermoine spoon feeding him the answers.

This is one of the reasons Snape dislikes Hermoine; she always has the answer. Remeber Snape in OOtP? This kid constantly had his nose to the books, so when a naturally talented girl like Hermoine shows up, it irks him. The same holds true for Harry's skills, both at Quidditch and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Snape really had to work for his expertise, and it annoys him to see people who are born with ability. (This holds true for James and Sirius, as well as the kids Snape teaches.)

As for his temper, I'm not even going to try to justify it. Do remeber, though, that Snape has been denied glory all his life, so when someone snatches his chance for recognition, it pisses him off ( And remember, the hatred between Snape and Sirius is diferent for both of them. Sirius hated Snape because Snape was always trying to get the Marauders in trouble. Snape hated Sirius because the guy tried to get him killed, so he has much more reason to still hold a grudge, in my opinion.[/rant]  

[KimCL]

I like Snape, I think he's a very interesting person.  

[darkangeloflight14]

I have to admit, I do like Snape. I draw a parallel between him and one of my former high school teachers because they're both snarky. I think Snape may have had students attempt to remove him early in his teaching career, and decided that instead of being nice to students, being snarky and showing favorites for those who have proven themselves worthy in their knowledge would be more beneficial to him.

Hey, it's what happened to my former high school teacher. My 'rents actually were in on trying to remove him, and this teacher was my fave when I him.

Just thought I'd inject my two cents into the conversation (although I'm sure it's not worth that much).  

[Sakura_kura]

Although the original post had a lot of things I agree with, after hearing the other side of the argument from TheAntiSora, I believe it sounds more realistic. While sometimes people like him might just generally get mad, and I know that from experience, it does seem in the long run, that Neville will be helped by this, he can do good things, but not if people like Hermonie, who are just being nice, help him all the time.  

[DarkAngelPoetess65]

KirikoAkushi

DarkAngel65

But if Snape is so 'evil' like you said why is he a part of the Order of the Phoenix and denying the dark mark to go back to the Death Eaters?

I'm sorry, who said he was evil?

Well maybe not evil but not all that good.  

[DarkAngelPoetess65]

I think that Snape just gets jealous easily. He always had to work for things and he sees people getting things so easily and things happening to them that are good and they don't apprecieate it or don;t do anything about them and he get angrey and annoyed. Deep down I think that he has to be good because he is denying the Dark Mark and he is on the side of Dumbledore.  

[Empress_Kat]

Severus Snape is the most complicated, complex character in the books, in my opinion. People look at him and see 'mean, snarky teacher' and/or 'emotionally pathetic grudge-holder'. But Severus is so much more than that (although I can't actually disagree with the first part).

I can't help but be slightly offended by the people who are saying that he's not fit to be teaching children. He's, like, my role-model when it comes to teaching (and I do plan to teach). He does not suffer fools gladly, I'll give you that, but he is gelping the kids in his own way. You think life after Hogwarts is going to be all rainbows and roses? You think Hermione will never come up against someone who is tired of her know-it-all attitude, or that Neville will nbever meet someone he's afraid of? He is preparing these kids for the real world, where there are angry people, many more of them, and ones who won't have to maintain some professional distance. I think that, with the experience that Snape is giving them, they will be at least a little more capable of dealing with these things as adults.

People here are ragging on him for 'seeing Neville's completed potion as a threat'. No. I don't really have any idea where you're getting this 'threat' thing. Severus Snape is a spy for the light. Against Voldemort. Every single day, he risks his life, every action he takes is watched by the Slytherin's with death eater parents, he can't be nice to Harry, proud of Neville, they (the Slytherins) have to see him as a Death Eater, or else they will tell their parents, who will tell Voldemort.
And do you really think he sees a thirteen year old boy's anything as a threat? He can lie to Voldmort's face, and does, frequently. Coward is not a word that can describe him, not by any means.

Maybe Snape has held on to his grudge against Sirius and James for a while too long, but has anyone here been bullied that badly before, and if so, can you really claim full forgiveness to your tormentors? Not to mention, there is no doubt in my mind that the Marauders treatment of young Snape was the main factor influencing his descision to go over the the 'Dark Side of the Force'.  

[darkangeloflight14]

Amen!

That probably had a lot to do with it.  

[-okonomiyaki o konomu-]

His behavior during their DADA class is not an example of tough-love; it's just plain immature. He didn't need to say anything at all, let alone try to get back at a student for ruining his vindictive fun. I'm sure he wasn't thinking, "This will teach him how to deal with mean people in the future;" his motivation was purely to get back at Neville (And it should be noted that there were no Slytherins in that DADA class, so he wasn't trying to maintain a Death Eater-persona in front of the DE kids). And how was it a threat, you ask? It was a threat to his ego. He was going to give himself and all the Slytherins a good laugh from Neville's incompetence, but failed because Neville managed to make the potion correctly. He was angry at Neville and inappropriately, both due to his age and his occupation, displayed that anger. It shouldn't have even mattered, but his immaturity let it matter to him.

While I agree that Neville needs to learn to do things himself and Hermione needs to tone it down a bit, I don't think that justifies Snape's teaching methods. In fact, I find that by threatening a humiliating punishment for incorrectly making potions, he is actually discouraging Neville's self-sufficiency, because he'll be more focused just on trying to get the potion correct (in any way), rather than trying to get the potion correct on his own.

A good teacher should be able to successfully teach most, if not all, of his/her students, not just label some students fools and ignore/ridicule them. Sometimes that means varying teaching styles and giving some students more attention. Neville may not be naturally good at Potions, but it's Snape's job to try to make him learn to be good at Potions. Yes, there is a limit to how much any teacher can do, but Snape's not even approaching that limit. Positive, encouraging teaching does not mean making a student weak. In fact, many times, it does quite the opposite. They have more confidence which ultimately means they'll perform better. For a student with as little confidence as Neville, teaching that is more negative and discouraging can be detrimental to their education. Neville is wasting his years in Potions class because of the poor learning environment Snape maintains. Yes, a stronger student could rise above that and learn anyway, but education shouldn't challenge a student beyond what they're capable of achieving. For Neville, making potions is a challenge enough, why should there be added (and unrelated) obstacles to that challenge? After all, Potions class is for learning Potions, not for learning how to deal with jerks in the real world (besides, the students at Hogwarts can have plenty of practice at that by dealing with certain fellow students).  

[darkangeloflight14]

let's face it...Not everyone has a good teaching style. All a student can do when faced with a teacher like Snape is grin and bear it. Sure, he makes lives a living hell, except if you're a Slytherin. However, it's part of the role he must play, being the snarky, unfeeling professor, giving out good grades to all the DE's kids and being a jerk towards everyone else. However, the Ravenclaws don't seem to suffer so much from his attitude. I wonder if he secretly thinks the Ravenclaws are the smartest in the school, even through all his snarkiness, they still EARN good grades (one would assume, since we've never been told).  

[Empress_Kat]

darkangeloflight14

let's face it...Not everyone has a good teaching style. All a student can do when faced with a teacher like Snape is grin and bear it. Sure, he makes lives a living hell, except if you're a Slytherin. However, it's part of the role he must play, being the snarky, unfeeling professor, giving out good grades to all the DE's kids and being a jerk towards everyone else. However, the Ravenclaws don't seem to suffer so much from his attitude. I wonder if he secretly thinks the Ravenclaws are the smartest in the school, even through all his snarkiness, they still EARN good grades (one would assume, since we've never been told).

Harry passed his class too, he's mean to them, but he is fair, when it comes to marks. They do learn potions, whether they enjoy it or not, and that's what matters. Except Neville, but he's pretty much the village idiot of Hogwarts.