is james evil?, i need an explanation Options

[harrypotteraddic...]

i was reading the OOTP and noticed somethign that was left unsolved, other than the big mystery of the prophecy.
when harry enters through the penisive and views a memory of snape's he sees his father along with sirus,lupin and wormtail. when sirus says he is bored james starts to pick on snape.
he reminded harry of draco's arrogant behaviour.
harry starts to have some theories of his own.he thinks that maybe his father was so evil,that he bewitched lily to marry him, he saw the look of pure hatred on lily's face, so naturally he cant expect that look of hatred to simply turn into affectionate love,so could harry's theory be true?
i mena i know harry asked sirus but sirus did not elaborate
he certainly was positive alogn with lupin that james was nothing like draco
what do you think?

[baty4potter]

There is a difference from being evil and being a jerk. James was being a jerk, he was not evil.

[Hermione@13]

OMG! This is like saying if Hagrid is evil! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) Evil is a strong word! Yes, he was a bit stupid and immature for his age, but evil?! I think that's a little harsh!

[the_prisoner_of_...]

Alot of people act like that at their age. And remember, Snape wasn't exactly nice to James either. It's just this particular memory showed more of James being a jerk then Snape.

James was a member of the Order. The other's members respected him. He was in Gryfindor because he was brave and courages. James fought AGAINST Voldemort. He died fighting him and proctecting his family. The phropehcy states that James and Lilly had "thrice defied him (Voldemort". These are not the actions of someone who is on Voldemort's side.

And when Harry asked Sirius and Lupin about it, they said exactly that. That James grew up and changed for the better.

This post has been edited by the_prisoner_of_azkaban: Jan 17 2007, 12:20 AM

[harrypotteraddic...]

Alot of people act like that at their age. And remember, Snape wasn't exactly nice to James either. It's just this particular memory showed more of James being a jerk then Snape.

James was a member of the Order. The other's members respected him. He was in Gryfindor because he was brave and courages. James fought AGAINST Voldemort. He died fighting him and proctecting his family. The phropehcy states that James and Lilly had "thrice defied him (Voldemort". These are not the actions of someone who is on Voldemort's side.

And when Harry asked Sirius and Lupin about it, they said exactly that. That James grew up and changed for the better.

you guys didnt undertsand my point i am not saying that james was evil in a way that he was a death eater sirus once said the world isnt divided into good people and deatheaters.
oh wait dont understand that i think of james being as evil as umbridge, no way, i am just sying that james did seem like a show off for simply picking on snape when he was sitting revising his paper.

This post has been edited by harrypotteraddict{liza}: Jan 18 2007, 06:06 AM

[Perseus_Evans]

How was your point anything but the title of the thread:

"is james evil?"

And everyone has answered you.

No.

He was a jerk in Snape's memory... when he was 15, but that doesn't make him evil. It makes him a teenager...

Please stop creating what I call "boredom threads"!

And mods, please forgive me... this is as nice as I get...

[potter_freak24]

I think I know what you are asking, because I have made the comparesion myself.
That James has some of the same personalty traits of Draco. But Draco's are more crule and he picks on people weaker, like Neville mainly.
James isn't evil. He is a jerk and very childish but so are most 15 yr old boys.
And as for the "look of pure hate" (I think that is what was said) it is more likely a look of annoyense or anger because of James picking on Snape.
So I hope this helps

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

Funny, I just read this part to my girls last night. Okay, what James was doing was picking on Snape because he was being a bit of a prat. Just like Draco does to Harry. The reason for this is because James and Snape had a long-standing loathing for eachother, just like Draco and Harry. From day one they simply did not like eachother at all and all that happened is that that hatred continued to grow throughout their school years. So, when Sirius was bored and Lily was down by the lake edge, James thought he might show-off a bit and pick on Snape. He enjoyed doing so and was really hoping it would impress Lily. Of course, that last bit of it backfired for the time being, but as we learn later, he stopped picking on Snape as much as he and Lily grew more and more together and eventually she fell in love with him. And honestly, from my own experiences, I can totally understand. What is it about bad boys that seem to attract us women? LOL! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[potter_freak24]

when Sirius was bored and Lily was down by the lake edge, James thought he might show-off a bit and pick on Snape. He enjoyed doing so and was really hoping it would impress Lily. Of course, that last bit of it backfired for the time being, but as we learn later, he stopped picking on Snape as much as he and Lily grew more and more together and eventually she fell in love with him. And honestly, from my own experiences, I can totally understand. What is it about bad boys that seem to attract us women? LOL! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I agree totally. That James wanted to show off and it completely backfired. Well most teenage boys plan to impress seem to backfire. I also agree about the bad boys, huh I wonder why. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[iareaj]

you guys didnt undertsand my point i am not saying that james was evil in a way that he was a death eater sirus once said the world isnt divided into good people and deatheaters.
oh wait dont understand that i think of james being as evil as umbridge, no way, i am just sying that james did seem like a show off for simply picking on snape when he was sitting revising his paper.

don't worry, i think they understood, it's just a matter of words.
You're right when you said that there would be doubts about how james finally got married with lily, but what everyone is saying that maybe the word "evil" is a bit strong, we could you another word for him, I like the one that baty used "jerk".
So you're right, he was a jerk. And a show-off, as you said.

[Hermione@13]

What is it about bad boys that seem to attract us women? LOL!

I'm no women, but rule-breakers seem so much more attractive than goody two shoes! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laughing.gif)

Anyway...I now understand your point. James did seem bad to Snape, but he definitely didn't seem evil! Love has a way of conquering everything! Let me compare this to something in real life. My mom was an A+ student in her day and my dad was a sort of a, for lack of another explanation, gang member, but he ended up being a law-abider. (Although, it might have been my mother's influence. LOL!) My point is...is that people aren't evil just because they pick on people they hate. People are evil when they pick on people that are innocent.

[iareaj]

I'm no women, but rule-breakers seem so much more attractive than goody two shoes! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laughing.gif)

My point is...is that people aren't evil just because they pick on people they hate. People are evil when they pick on people that are innocent.

I am a woman, and yes, rule-breakers are way more atractive than good guys!
and i liked what you said about what's being evil, and yes, i agree with you. When you pick on a mean person, well, you can say that you had a cause, you were angry, or ticked off... but people that pick on innocent ones, yes i would call them almost evil. (it depends on what they do to innocent people, if they just annoy them, well, but if thet do harm to them, well, there's an evil person, i think)

[Harry's-Girl]

I don't think James is evil because sometimes in real life people pick on people they hate.

I know I do.

Please do not use other colors than the original color, because it's really hard to read what you're writing.

[the_prisoner_of_...]

You and practically everyone else who has replied to this thread has said the same thing. I think we're all in agreement that James was not evil, but simply a bit of a jerk.

This post has been edited by the_prisoner_of_azkaban: Feb 4 2007, 02:18 AM

[Hermione@13]

What? Are we going to be talking about James being a jerk now? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laughing.gif) I think we're all in agreement that James is evil, so, not trying to be rude or anything, but either this topic seems like it should be closed or change the topic to "is James a jerk?"

[the_prisoner_of_...]

Hermione. Thats what I was saying. I think we've all agreed on the same thing and yet people keep posting the same thing over and over again.

[My Pensieve]

What? Are we going to be talking about James being a jerk now? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laughing.gif) I think we're all in agreement that James is evil, so, not trying to be rude or anything, but either this topic seems like it should be closed or change the topic to "is James a jerk?"

No we are Not All saying James is evil. That is your perception. I think if you look people are saying he was a jerk, not evil. Now Voldemort is evil.

[crmhpfan]

I'm no women, but rule-breakers seem so much more attractive than goody two shoes! laughing.gif

I agree with iareaj there, that rule breakers are definetley more attractive

No I don't think he was evil. Yes he was being a jerk, and Harry did think he was being arrogant like Malfoy, and I agree with that. But...I personally don't think Draco is evil, he was just an arrogant little jerk who was forced to join Voldemort and be branded with the dark mark. But no, I do not think James is evil. (sorry, i kepp on repeating myself) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[WickedWitchOfThe...]

What? Are we going to be talking about James being a jerk now? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laughing.gif) I think we're all in agreement that James is evil, so, not trying to be rude or anything, but either this topic seems like it should be closed or change the topic to "is James a jerk?"

Hermione. Thats what I was saying. I think we've all agreed on the same thing and yet people keep posting the same thing over and over again.

See though, there is no need to close the topic if those who have stated their opinion stop replying to the people who are just starting to state their opinion and keep continuing to keep the thread moving instead of just letting it die. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sleep.gif)

Perhaps my post will be the last one and it will die at last, lol. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[PotterGirl101]

ok WWW my post will be the last but certainly not the least. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) James is not evil just an little pompous, jerk of a 15 year old and as Sirius said "he grew out of it" give me one person that hasn't a rude little brat at some point in their life. even Harry is moody and mad at everyone at the beginning of OOTP right?