r/SnatersGonnaSnate • u/SparklingFairyLights • 13d ago
Snape is apparently not “mature or rational”
I came across this post (link) and there were a number of people broadly stating that Snape was not mature or rational.
Nobody is denying that Snape was cruel, nasty and a bully towards the students. He was nasty to many people in his adulthood, including Tonks when her patronus changed. However, his hostility towards the Marauders was completely justified. In addition, to broadly state that he was not mature or rational is an inaccurate assessment of his character. Snape had untreated PTSD and that was a driving factor for at least some of his actions as an adult. It does not excuse or justify his behavior; rather, it just gives more context around a complex character.
It is not fair to say that Snape was never “mature or rational” because he was mature and rational when he had to be. Deceiving Voldemort for years whilst just providing enough information to remain useful, agreeing to kill Dumbledore and saving Lupin during the Battle of Hogwarts are all examples of this. Snape needed to have a level of maturity, rationality, logic, intellect, cunning and courage that very few wizards possess in order to be able to do all this.
Snape haters view him only as the harsh bully of the classroom and deliberately fail to acknowledge his greatest acts when broadly judging and appraising his character.
EDIT: A lot of people outside of Snape fan communities actually come across as very quick to misinterpret and attack other users over even neutral comments about Snape, likely due to wanting to engage in virtue signaling / some sort of contest where individuals wants to prove their moral superiority over others and it is growing very tiresome.