Comments | pharnabazus: Hermione and House-Elves - another non-spoilery reflection

pharnabazus

Hermione and House-Elves - another non-spoilery reflection

Jul 13, 2005 20:26

Another thing that intrigues me is... is Hermione ever going to be reminded that all of the actual reasons that pushed her into the cause of House-Elf liberation were actually misconceptions of one kind or another? For instance, when Winky talked about obeying orders and being afraid of heights (up in the top box at the Quidditch World Cup) she was ( Read more... )

Comments 15

the_gentleman July 13 2005, 12:25:14 UTC

The talk of House Elf pride suggests to me less slavery than working class pride. The idea that you do your job well, you keep your house clean and tidy, all on a miniscule budget... And if a few get ideas above their station and go off to university, or lose their job and take to the booze, then that's out of character...

sonetka July 13 2005, 21:48:13 UTC

That sounds about right. It also reminds me, perhaps a little oddly, of Robertson Davies' The Manticore when Davey is talking about the pitfalls of having a Faithful Old Family Retainer: they know EVERYTHING and can guilt-trip or just bully you into doing stuff you'd rather not, because of your obligation to them thanks to their years of service.

pharnabazus July 14 2005, 15:14:59 UTC

And of course, Winky knew enough to land Crouch (and his son) in Azkaban for life! He was in a nightmare situation. Every day that went by his ability to control his son got weaker, and one day the tables would be turned, and the boy would be free, to bring back his old master. And if his father tried to forestall this, the house-elf would probably have helped the boy escape, rather than risk him being sent back to the Dementors ( ... )

sonetka July 14 2005, 21:08:03 UTC

Makes as much sense to me as anything. What solution Dumbledore could have thought of, God knows, but then, he's Dumbledore and I'm not :).

Am I the only one who thinks that having a House-Elf around would get insanely irritating after a while? But I guess it's different if you grew up with them.

Thread 5

elanor_pam July 13 2005, 13:36:31 UTC

I just want to take this opportunity to tell you that I dig your essays.

pharnabazus July 13 2005, 14:04:05 UTC

Thank you! :-)

dr_c July 13 2005, 16:15:24 UTC

Note JKR's remarks on CBC Newsworld (sorry, I can't get LJ to do the link correctly):

EVAN: You used to work for Amnesty International. Two years ( ... )

Is Dobby more like the others than we think? pharnabazus July 13 2005, 19:56:02 UTC

I've been starting to wonder about Dobby lately - and particularly I'm starting to wonder if he really is as unlike the other House-Elves as he seems to be, and precisely what his motives really are for wanting to remain free and insisting that he should be paid a wage. And I'm starting to suspect that his "real" motives are probably not quite what they seem, and that Dobby has rather more in common with the other House-Elves than he seems to at first sight ( ... )

Re: Is Dobby more like the others than we think? jodel_from_aol July 15 2005, 12:05:11 UTC

I have a couple of essays that deal with the House Elves over on Red Hen. There have been some updates to both this spring. A few newer issues have finally sunk in ( ... )

Re: Is Dobby more like the others than we think? pharnabazus July 18 2005, 12:12:38 UTC

Exactly - they've "always" been manipulating their masters. I would be terrified to have someone like Kreacher serving me. Even if he were totally loyal. Especially if he were totally loyal.

BTW, perhaps the most terrifying post-victory distopia I ever heard of is the House Elf Republic of Hogwarts, with the House-Elves arranging everything "for master's own good, of course."

Thread 6

ashfae July 14 2005, 01:57:10 UTC

Y'know, I hadn't put those things together. This is terrifically interesting.

lavinialavender July 14 2005, 14:58:25 UTC

Points about the successes of house-elves.