If you like Snape but dislike F&G for being bullies, isn't that an unfair judgment?
Heh, I always think that many of the characters in HP are similiar (Harry and Draco are like mirror images, to me anyway), the only difference is how they're treated by the world around them and the authorial voice. So Snape, while I have many problems with him including his treatment of students, is at least acknowledged as a bully: no-one could/would/does defend him from the charge, everyone, even his closest friend (I suppose would be Dumbledore, by default *shudders* Until we find out more about him and Lucius, perhaps) and worst enemies recognise this. And although he doesn't face consequences for his actions as frequently as some (Dudley and Draco seem to be the two that are 'punished' the most, probably because they're Harry's age - there's something more pathetic about an adult being humiliated) he's not rewarded either - he's ugly, he's nasty, he's alone and he has a dead-end job that he clearly doesn't enjoy. Whereas Fred and George are popular, beloved, funny and presumably successful. No-one, from their worst enemies (Slytherins, I guess!) to their closest friends has ever contemplated accusing them of being bullies (as far as we know.) Likewise, I don't resent Harry for being arrogant, or self-centred or cruel; or Hermione for being vicious because I adore Draco and Pansy for the same qualities; I resent them for the kidgloves they're treated with, both on a meta-level and within the text.
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Heh, I always think that many of the characters in HP are similiar (Harry and Draco are like mirror images, to me anyway), the only difference is how they're treated by the world around them and the authorial voice.
So Snape, while I have many problems with him including his treatment of students, is at least acknowledged as a bully: no-one could/would/does defend him from the charge, everyone, even his closest friend (I suppose would be Dumbledore, by default *shudders* Until we find out more about him and Lucius, perhaps) and worst enemies recognise this. And although he doesn't face consequences for his actions as frequently as some (Dudley and Draco seem to be the two that are 'punished' the most, probably because they're Harry's age - there's something more pathetic about an adult being humiliated) he's not rewarded either - he's ugly, he's nasty, he's alone and he has a dead-end job that he clearly doesn't enjoy.
Whereas Fred and George are popular, beloved, funny and presumably successful. No-one, from their worst enemies (Slytherins, I guess!) to their closest friends has ever contemplated accusing them of being bullies (as far as we know.)
Likewise, I don't resent Harry for being arrogant, or self-centred or cruel; or Hermione for being vicious because I adore Draco and Pansy for the same qualities; I resent them for the kidgloves they're treated with, both on a meta-level and within the text.