Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Difference between revisions
→Literature
Line 46:
** It's very easy to paint {{spoiler|Snape}} as a 'bad guy' due to his personality and the ambiguity of what side he's on, but once you realize what he's been through in life, it's apparent that he isn't an evil character at all.
** In addition, Sirius Black was initially believed to be an unrepentent traitor to the titular character's parents. Sirius states that he is, in fact, not evil, and proves it as well, by revealing the real killer of Harry's parents.
** Slytherin House could be considered this as well. Slytherin values ambition, and cunning, produces the majority of dark wizards. However, it is not evil itself, and according to JKR, most Slytherins are not evil and there are many examples of Slytherins who are good; Snape is the most well-known example, plus Slughorn, who is shown to be a good teacher and a nice man, and Andromeda Tonks, who went against her family's racism and helped the Order of the Phoenix in the last book. Probably the biggest reason Slytherin gets a bad rap, quite simply, is because Voldemort was a Slytherin student. The founder of the House being a prejudiced antisocial who hid a monster in the bowels of the school can't have helped their reputation. In the end even series-wide jerkass Draco Malfoy turns out to not have it in him to be evil, even when he genuinely tries. Also, at no point in the books or films is it ever stated that Voldemort's minions and the Death Eaters are exclusively Slytherin; for all we know, there could be Gryffindors among them too.
*** ''And'' at least one of them is. Pettigrew was a Gryffidor, his cowardly and toadying nature contradictory to that house's philosophy, and showing this sort of thing works both ways.
** In fact, in the first book, the Sorting Hat actually thought Slytherin might have been the best House for Harry, thinking that the focus on ambition fit him well (which few would deny) and in a later book, still stood by that opinion. It didn't because Harry asked it not to. Dumbledore thought differently, however, saying in Chamber of Secrets that only a student who had been favored by Godric Gryffindor himself could have pulled his Sword out of the Hat, as he did in the fight with the basilisk. Not that the qualities are mutually exclusive, of course.
* In ''[[For The Love Of Evil]]'', we see an interesting side of how Satan is this. Although his job is to promote evil (and, according to Archangel Gabriel, he is one of the best at it), he himself is a good man. In essence, he is not his job.
* [[Frankenstein]]'s Monster was rejected by his "father" and forced to run through the wilderness, his only friend was taken from him by relatives, and he can't even face himself in the mirror. He just wants a friend.
| |||