House Elves & Hermione

[Schlobin at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 14794

We all see the story through our own lenses, and 
> anti-racism is a lens I try to use a lot.  When Amos Diggory 
> says "Elf!" with that terrible disdain, I hear echoes of white men 
> calling black men "Boy!" just because they can.
> 
> Amy Z

The more I think about it, the more I think Amy is right.

(Mercedes Lackey does something similar in her books...is it the 
Hertasi who serve humans, unobtrusively doing laundry, cooking, etc.?
It's nice to fantasize about that kind of personal service and not 
feel guilty).

I think Rowlings IS making analogies to how we treat other people 
when she discusses the treatment of House Elves. The mudblood, 
pureblood issue is just one of the issues she brings up in the book. 
There's the issue about Giants. After all, they are not "human" 
either. Is it okay the way Hagrid was treated?
After all, he's not human any more than Winky is..he's half Giant.
Then there's Lupin..look at the prejudice against him..he's a 
werewolf, and quite dangerous, really.

Susan


The scene with Winky in the GoF is horrible. I wouldn't treat a dog 
or a cat the way Amos Diggory treats the House Elf. 

Susan