[HPforGrownups] Re: Potter as a Social Commentary?

[Barbara Foster Williams]

No: HPFGUIDX 14699



Margaret Dean wrote:
> 
> The main question about the house-elves (in my mind, at least) is
> how close their nature is to human nature.  Hermione's reaction
> to their enslavement is what most of us would consider "right" --
> for humans.  And if they are "human" (or maybe I should say
> "beings"!) in their nature, then =their= reaction to =her= (apart
> from Dobby) is presumably due to cultural conditioning and only
> needs education to be ironed out.  But what if it is as much in
> their nature to serve humans as it is for, say, cats to chase
> rats?  (Interesting that Ron and Hermione were on the opposite
> sides in =that= particular conflict!)
> 
> And even if not, do house-elves really =want= to be part of the
> "rat race" that =only= values work in terms of the money that can
> be obtained for it?
> 
> --Margaret Dean
>   <margdean at erols.com>

This kind of reminds me of the passage in _Stranger in a Strange Land_
by Robert Heinlein, where they talk about the grass carpet and how it is
the proper state of the grasses to be walked on.  It's possible that the
house-elves have a similar trait.  The house-elves in the kitchen at
Hogwarts, if you'll recall, react quite violently to the idea that they
might be free, or even paid for their work.  This suggests to me that
this sort of treatment would go against their very nature.

Barbara :)
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|                       Barbara Foster Williams                      |
|                       bafoster at mindspring.com                      |
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|I wanted a perfect ending..... Now I've learned, the hard way, that |
|some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear         |
|beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to     |
|change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without        |
|knowing what's going to happen next.               -Gilda Radner    |
----------------------------------------------------------------------