Is Snape good or bad? Support your stand with textual evidence plz.?

Question

(I believe he is good b/c of his remark to Harry as he was fleeing with Malfoy...

" Blocked again and again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!"

Snape just spent the school year teaching the class how to perform spells without speaking. Why would he choose to give Harry insight on how to become a better wizard as he was fleeing if he wans't actually on the good side?

Answer 1

Ive heard people pick out tons of individual passages and paragraphs, and, when you look at them all individually, the argument could go either way. There are passages that support both views.

I came to my conclusion based on the plot in entirety. I think Snape is evil. I want him to be good, but I strongly suspect he's going to end up a villain. Why? Because he is more profound as a villain.

Take a look at the heroes of the series for a second. All the members of the trio are fairly realistic for a series initially aimed at children. They have flaws and quirks and idiosyncrasies. So do most of the "good" supporting characters. Now look at the villains. Voldemort has appeared in person so little that we know next-to-nothing about his actual personality. Other villains, like the slew of dark arts teachers, are uncomplicated and one dimensional. Draco is a little better, but he's not really a powerful player or mastermind behind the huge scheme. Besides, he has potential to turn good as much as anyone.

J.K. Rowling is a master storyteller. She made her heroes believable with flaws, and it would be a shame if she didn't make her villains believable with a few good redeeming qualities, a villain we could really identify with and understand. Hmmm. Who's left to fit that role?

How about Snape? We can certainly pity Snape and understand why he would turn against the Order of the Phoenix. Snape is complex. And really, there are few that don't get some kind of emotional reaction or even sense of attachment to him. People WANT him to be good. And that's exactly why it will illicit a greater emotional response if he's evil. Think about it. If Snape is good, everyone will be. "Hmm. I'll be damned." or "Aha! I knew it." but will think little beyond that. If he's evil, there will be heart-wrenchig dissapointment. A villain with redeeming qualities is almost always more profound than a hero with flaws.

The big counter: Than why did Dumbledore trust him? How could Dumbledore not know what Snape's intentions were? Well, he could have and gone along with it. It wouldn't be far-fetched for him to have somehow known he was going to haveb to sacrifice himself for the greater good.

Why would Snape train Harry? Simple. Harry, while talented, has got nothing against the experienced older wizards and would take years of experience before he could become a threat. Severus himself easily countered any damage Harry tried to do to him during the battle of Hogwarts. Also, a villain doesn't have to be all bad. Snape doesn't necessarily want Harry dead; he just wants what's best for Severus Snape, and that includes fighting against Potter.

I can't wait for book 7.

Answer 2

Snape is good. He has taught Harry how to do a lot of things to protect himself. Now some may say that it was because there would be a better fight in the end if Harry knew how to fight but that is bunk. Think about it. Snape knew that Malfoy was to kill Prof. Dumbledore. He made a promise to kill Dumbledore if Malfoy couldn't. So he goes back to Dumbledore with the polyjuice potion and someone else is Dumbledore, maybe even Snape himself. I am thinking that Snape became Dumbledore and Dumbledore became Snape. This would put Dumbledore in the right place cause he would know where Voldemort was at all times and could protect Harry too. Dumbledore is still alive.

Answer 3

When Snape tries to teach Harry occulemency, he sees Harry's memories. He is responsible for Harry's parents deaths. His childhood to wasn't all that great. When Harry does the shield charm he sees into something of Snape's past. Snape kills Dumbledore. All the way whatever he has done has in some way or the other affected Harry. Harry knows it and Snape cannot stand it. Whether there is some feeling left inside of him, we will find out in the next book. I think he is going to help kill Voldemort and get killed in the process either by Harry or Voldemort. Then again it could be that Dumbledore took the polyjuice potion and became Snape. Since Snape could'nt break his promise to Narcissa, he and Dumbledore planned it. Now it is really Dumbledore as Snape who's gone with the death eaters to seek out Voldemort. Snape is the one who actually died. Just like Barty Crouch Junior and his mother had switched places in Azkaban. No one found out. I DID NOT READ THE OTHER ANSWERS BEFORE I TYPED THE ABOVE.

Answer 4

To me Jesus was saying something like, you can have faith and that is good, but if you act from within faith then it will be seen. Faith itself is substance and evidence. Faith is substance of things hoped for, evidence of things unseen. It's the ability to believe in that which is not seen and then to see what is believed. Faith IS 'fruit'. Now, this is debated over and over through the centuries. That in order to 'have faith' there must be 'hard evidence'. The more I study on and actively demonstrate faith (by my choices and how I deal with difficulties and circumstances that occur daily) the more I 'realize' that faith IS fruit. We also know that by grace we are saved, it is a gift and given out of the incredible divine love God has for us, the offspring of Creator/Abba, and not by works (some call fruit), that no man may boast. So faith is not just blindly believing because there is nothing left to cling to (fear based) - there is that type of faith. But the type of faith alluded to in this Q is the 'fruit' of the believer's heart. And that type of substance and evidence carries us through all kinds of earthly 'negative' circumstances that would otherwise destroy most folk. And that's the type of 'fruit' I believe that Jesus was alluding to here. It's that type of fruit that attracts others and allows them to believe that they too can have a close personal relationship with the Savior. We are made to love and be loved in Christ. Thanks for another great Q :)

Answer 5

good. i think that dumbordor knew it was important to keep draco from killing and snape was doing just this.

there is a very good argument for it on www.mugglenet.com . They talk about snape trying to act fast so that the other death eaters won't notice that harry is on the roof (his broom was still in sight) and other similar things.

Answer 6

well he does act bad. but then he could be good because he always wants harry to pay attention and it think it was the first movie where the professer tries to kill him snape was trying to save him inted of kill him. by the way... your details dont make any sense.

Answer 7

bad. He killed dumbledore. but u have a point but maybe dumbledore told snape to teach them that. Maybe that might be in the 7th book.

Answer 8

i dont know if he is good or bad,personally i think he is a scitzo but i wish i know what dumbledore's reason was for trusting him, guess i'll never know now that snape killed him, the ****

Answer 9

snape is bad because if you read all the book you will see that he is a death eater and at the end of the book he will kill double-door with avanta kantavra.

Answer 10

I guess I would say bad like in the 6th book he tried or did (I dont remember) to kill dumblerdore (sp?)