Is Dobby a good house elf/short?

[grey_wolf_c]

No: HPFGUIDX 36818

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., kellybroughton at n... wrote:
> Well.... I wonder. If Dobby truly *is* the Malfoys' house-elf, theirs alone and always will be, WHY then would he make the effort to go to Harry on his own initiative(?) and try to keep Harry from going back to Hogwarts in order to save Harry? In other words, why would Dobby *care* whether Harry goes back or not? Dobby makes it quite clear that the Malfoys don't even know what he's doing, and if they ever find out, they'll put him in a serious hurt.(Refer to Cos, page 14.) I am of the mind that there's something going on to make Dobby go against his nature (being a "good house-elf") that forces him to make such a bold action. 

_Could the reason possibly be that, by going to Harry without the 
Malfoys' knowledge and/or permission, that Dobby actually IS being a 
"good house-elf"?_
> 
> Just something to ponder.

> -kel

Whatever gave you the idea that Dobby is a good house-elf? He's 
probably the worst house-elf ever, mainly because there is something 
appart from air or fluff between his ears. Let me explain this further: 

Dobby is a very strange elf, as we all know. He expects to be payed, 
for one thing, and actually LIKES being free. Whatever his reasons may 
be, they nevertheless imply that he has thought long and hard about his 
condition, both before and after his liberation from the Malfoy family. 
He has reflected on how he was treated and concluded he disliked it, 
and prefered striking out on his own. Normally, an elf's reaction would 
be the traditional "whatever the problem is, it's my fault" which is 
the one Winky takes on every occasion. This second option is the 
easiest for an elf because it needs no thinking, but Dobby refuses to 
take it, thus making him very bad at the job of slave (one of the 
curses of intelligence).

On a side note, ANY slave that thinks too much is normally a bad 
servant, since nature has evolved all creatures to try and survive both 
the other species and his own, and intelligent beings tend to resent 
being placed in inferior positions. If one thinks too much about their 
position, one tends to develop a resentment that is normally vented by 
any one of many forms of rebellion (sloppy work, theft, scape, etc.). 
There are, of course, servants that like their job, and that can be 
good at it even if intelligent, but that's for another reason: no 
matter how bad the job may be, how denigrant or badly paid, if you like 
it you're probably going to stick with it (see Julia Robert's "My best 
friend's wedding" for an example of this in the man's job as sport 
reporter).

In conclussion: Dobby was a very bad slave, and helped Harry as a form 
of rebellion against his owners (choosing Harry because he had 
insider's information on which to work and beacuase, being intelligent, 
he knew Harry was the one to help). Once liberated, however, he 
discovers freedom and the horrible danger it brings with it: boredom. 
thus, he looks for a job, and finds out that, being free, he enjoys 
what he had been doing all along, except for the slave part, so he gets 
a job at being a servant but where he doesn't have to put up with being 
ultimately faithful to his employer. To understand this, think: Would 
Dobby feel any remorse about telling Harry secrets of Hogwarts 
(location of rooms, secret passages, etc)? I think not, because 
Dumbledore it's not his master, just his employer, and there is a 
radical difference between them. That difference, however is what makes 
Dobby a bad house-elf, and a very good ally in case of need (and 
Harry's going to need all the help he can get, as we all know, 
specially help from the amazing powers elves command in HPverse).

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf

PD: All this post is based on the idea that a good house-elf is the one 
that is faithful to his master. If Hermiones pro-elf freedom campaign 
ever wins out, this definition would change, and the new one would 
probably fit Dobby like a glove. However, I firmly believe that, for 
most elves, being liberated would be against their wishes and would be 
extremely traumatic, and hope they don't have to pass through it.