[HPforGrownups] Re: Potter as a Social Commentary?

[Doreen]

No: HPFGUIDX 14713

I've spoken to people who really don't like JKR getting into the whole
racism thing, and that she is treading on thin ice there.  I'm not
sure I agree - I kind of like how she approached the topic of racism
and injustice.  We all want Dobby and other elves to be free and well
treated, and we as adults realize the connection between slaves and
elves, but children may not.  It is a nice introduction for children
to start to think about how unfairly some people are treated in our
world.  I'm very curious, though to see where JKR will take the idea -
the elves we've seen generally do NOT want freedom.  Should they be
convinced?  Or are they really creatures who, in the magical world,
relish being owned and serving their masters?

I did not care for the manner of speech that JKR gave to the house-elves. If
this was an effort to make them sound "cute" ... maybe it works for the
school children reading HP ... but it reminded me too much of the demeaning
dialects depicted in stories such as Gone With the Wind and all those slave
books.  For example: "Massuh" or "I'se doan know nuthin'  'bout birthin' no
baby."

As for the elves relishing being owned and serving their masters, this was a
statement widely used by slave owners in their defense for keeping human
beings in bondage. I truly do hope that JKR rectifies this situation in
future books. I was hoping that since she brought it up in GoF so strongly,
that she would solve it there too, rather than giving people over a year to
dwell on it.

Doreen

--Je



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