[HPforGrownups] 7 Heavenly Virtues: Justice (LONG)

[John Walton]

No: HPFGUIDX 5919

Wow, Peg. Fantastic essay!


> And yet, Rowling isn't entirely ridiculing the idea of house elf
> liberation: after all, it is Dumbledore who is Dobby's new employer, who
> tells Dobby that he can say and think whatever he likes.
> 
> My guess is that this storyline is still very nascent, and so we'll have
> to see what Rowling does with it in the future.  She once worked for
> Amnesty International, and has spoken in interviews about how that has
> affected her opinions, particularly about bigotry, so I doubt that house
> elves will continue to be happily slaving for the Malfoy family at the
> end of book 7.  Other than that, I cannot say for certain where this
> plot thread will lead.

Perhaps the house-elves will be part of the Order of the Phoenix -- like the
giants (and, I reckon, the centaurs). I have a sneaky suspicion that this is
where it's all heading.

> The trouble then lies in trying to determine beyond a reasonable doubt
> who committed these crimes (question 2), were they actually responsible
> for the crime (question 3) and if so, what should be done with them?
> (question 4)

Question 3 poses all sorts of moral conundra, especially in today's society.
Having just studied a bit of International Law, the natural law argument
would seem to come into place in the Voldemort years. (Natural law: the
theory that some actions [genocide, for example] are inherently wrong, and
anyone executing those actions should refuse orders to do so or suffer the
consequences. There can be no mitigating circumstances or "I was ordered to
gas those people". It's the Nuremburg thing, for those of you who're
familiar with that.)

It's interesting that many DEs *can* claim to have been under Voldemort's
spell, thus absolving themselves of responsibility. JKR uses this to make us
very suspicious of *anyone* who's been a DE -- including Snape, of course.

--John
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John "there really is a monster!" Walton     john at walton.to    ICQ: 96203920

"Families is when wings take dream." --George W. Bush

Don't blame me -- I voted for Gore.
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