House elves; religion

[Hillman, Lee]

No: HPFGUIDX 14760

> 
> Message: 3
>    Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 14:27:29 -0000
>    From: rainy_lilac at yahoo.com
> Subject: Re: House Elves & Hermione
> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., naama_gat at h... wrote:
> 
> 
> It's true that "inherent" arguments were made about 
> > human "races" with obvious political purposes, but we're talking 
> > about an imaginary world and an imaginary species. It seems to me 
> > that, according to the books, house elves do have an innate 
> tendency 
> > to serve human beings (after all, they are HOUSE elves, and houses 
> > are human habitats). Since humans do not have a similar tendency to 
> > serve elves, I don't see how a relationship of equality can exist...
> 
> 
> Although I do believe that JKR is making social commentary here, here 
> is a little bit of folkloric background:
> 
> The House Elves are based upon the Brownie, a creature that exists in 
> folklore. Brownies live in a house and will do all of the work humans 
> need to have done, but they wear very dirty and tattered rags 
> and will 
> vanish the moment you offer them clothing. In every story I have read 
> about Brownies, they are magically bound to do all of the 
> work (and do 
> it quickly and easily and are rather boisterous about it) and the 
> grateful housewife thinks "Wouldn't it be nice to at least make new 
> suits for them to show my thanks!" The Brownies then snatch 
> up the new 
> clothing, make some triumphant (or rude) cry and run off into the 
> night. Rowling said in a  recent interview that she thought it would 
> be an interesting twist if the house elves considered being given 
> clothing to be a kind of disgrace.
> 
> I think it is great that JKR can take a traditional story and give it 
> a nice social twist. She has done a great job of extending these 
> creatures and thinking "Hmmm... So how would some humans react to 
> having a house elf and how would the house elves feel about it?"
> 
> --Suzanne
>

I agree with Suzanne, here, and I'd also like to go one step further
(quoting my own fanfic, the epitome of cheek). I had to deal with the
implications of house-elves in my story, and I decided that, not only do
they feel it is their privilege to work for humans, they actually _derive
their powers_ from doing so. Their magic is inextricably linked to having a
household to serve--if not one person's, than another's. From Fred and
George we learn that "house-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but
they usually can't use it without their masters' permission." (CoS, chapter
3) This would explain why it is crucial for Dobby and Winky to find another
position after being freed.

However, just because they aren't "paid," doesn't mean they don't have
standards and a social hierarchy of their own.  Fred and George also tell us
(same scene) that "whoever owns him will be an old wizarding family, and
they'll be rich" and explain that "house-elves come with big old manors and
castles and places like that." George indicates that a house-elf's pride is
a factor in choosing a family, but it may imply more that they are a
throw-back to an older, grander age, or perhaps a more powerful bond than a
poor family can "afford." 

It's my belief that Dobby is a visionary among house-elves. His presence at
Hogwarts will create a slow realization among the others that there are more
equitable arrangements to be made than willing slavery. However, consider
the implications to Hogwarts' fees if suddenly more than 100 personnel are
added to the payroll! ;^)

The lesson Hermione is learning here is that social reform takes time to get
rolling, but that the actions of a few may begin a movement. However, it's
not her place to force it to happen. She needs to reason with them, not
mandate that they "should" feel one way or another. I think there is an
intrinsic value to the house-elf to be employed, especially if his powers
derive directly from that state of occupation. As long as the fear of losing
their powers--and maybe their existence--is greater than their discomfort in
servitude, the majority of house-elves will not change their position.

> Message: 12
>    Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 15:56:24 -0000
>    From: absinthe at mad.scientist.com
> Subject: Muggle and Magical Worlds (Re: Wizarding Holidays)
> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., Margaret Dean <margdean at e...> wrote:
> > meboriqua at a... wrote:
> > 
> > > Okay, in relation to all the postings about how witches and 
> wizards
> > > get educated when they are young and if they study Muggle 
> subjects, I
> > > was wondering why the magical world celebrated holidays like 
> Halloween
> > > and Christmas.  Does magical history cross with Muggle history, or
> > > shouldn't they have their own holidays?  Does that mean that all
> > > witches and wizards are Christian?  Just a thought.
> > 
> They also have Easter holidays at Hogwarts: in GoF, Mrs. Weasley 
> sends Easter sweets to them all including Hermione who gets a rather 
> small treat in comparison to the rest. Easter Holidays is probably a 
> 4 day-weekend affair in which students don't generally go home 
> (Afterall, it takes a day on the Hogwarts Express to get to King's 
> Crossing and another day to get back to Hogwarts, leaving only 2 days 
> to do whatever.)
> 
> 
> :-) Milz 
> 


This is, not surprisingly, something else I addressed in my fanfic. I think
that the Wizarding world, like the secular one, unwittingly or unconsciously
reflects the habits of the majority of its inhabitants. Though we have never
seen evidence of wizarding families going to church, it would not surprise
me to learn that most of them, if asked on a survey, would consider
themselves C of E (if in England), just as many people in America,
regardless of whether they attend a church regularly or belong to a
congregation, will identify themselves as "Protestant" or more generally
"Christian" on a census. That's not to say there aren't significant
populations of other religions, but Christianity still appears to be the
norm, and is assumed to be the default for most institutions.

Likewise, the wizarding world, I think, has adjusted its attitude toward
church involvement in this century, just as Muggle education has done. In my
story, I deliberately indicated that in the previous century, Sunday church
was mandatory for all students. Now it isn't. This isn't an indication that
wizards aren't Christian; it's an indication that wizarding families no
longer necessarily feel that Hogwarts is also responsible for their
children's religious instruction while at school. There are American
boarding schools who used to require church attendance as well, until the
laws prohibited them from doing so.

Why did those laws change? Because we (meaning society in general) have
become more sensitive to the numbers of students in schools who do not
participate in the dominant religion. Yet our holidays, our schedules, and
our activities are still built around them. (For example, we and Hogwarts
have breaks at Christmas and Easter, not Ramadan or Passover.) The Halloween
Feast isn't really a holiday--though they have a Hogsmeade weekend
traditionally around Hallow's. But they still celebrate the calendrical New
Year, not Chinese New Year, not Rosh Hoshanna, and not Samhain.

(I don't want to get into a discussion of holiday origins, but it should be
noted that almost all Christian holidays correspond to a pagan festival of
some kind: soltice, candlemas, hallow's, etc., and not incidentally with
their Jewish roots as well.)

I would think that the kitchens receive instructions about providing kosher
meals for Jewish students, pork-free dishes for Muslims, vegetarian meals,
etc. Rowling hasn't focused on this in the books because none of these
special restrictions apply to our terrific trio. Even the Dursleys, who are
our quintessential example of Muggles gone too far, exhibit no evidence of a
devoutly religious participation. I believe this is a side-effect of the
secularization of society, not a conscious decision to be atheistic on
Rowling's part.

Hope that makes some sense.

Gwen