"Freedom is slavery..."

[Carol Bainbridge]

No: HPFGUIDX 43674

I was looking through the archives for discussions on the slavery/house 
elves issue and found quite a bit, but nothing that relates to a thought I 
had about it -- or at least I couldn't find anything on it.  In the book 
_1984_ George Orwell wrote "Freedom is slavery and slavery is 
freedom."  Has anyone thought about this in connection to the situation 
with the house elves?

Here's my thinking on this: if one is a slave, they don't have to think 
about what to do.  They are simply told.  They don't need to agonize over 
any moral decisions (generally speaking).  Therefore, in a sense they are 
free.  On the other hand, if one is free, they have to constantly make 
decisions and figure out what to do.

I had wondered why JKR stuck the house-elves subplot in book 4, which 
seemed to have quite a bit to deal with already.  Now I do think that some 
of it has to do with the idea of tolerance, but surely this could be 
handled another way, within the main plot.  The recent discussions on the 
list about free will and decision making made me start thinking that maybe 
there is a connection between that idea and the subplot of the house elf 
slavery.  It could explain why the house elves don't much like the idea of 
being free.  Not that slavery is a good thing, mind you, but maybe it's 
there as a contrast to show what it means to be free, that freedom does not 
come without responsibilities; that is, if one wants to keep that freedom.

I don't know.  Maybe it's just a wild thought.  I just started thinking 
about it and decided that the slavery of the house elves would make a nice 
contrast with the freedom Harry has, including the freedom to make 
choices.  If he isn't free to make those choices, wouldn't he be a slave to 
something?  Like his destiny?

Apparently I have entirely too much time on my hands or I am really trying 
hard to avoid doing some unpleasant chores (succeeding to by the look of 
all the writing I've been doing recently.)....

Carol Bainbridge
(kaityf at jorsm.com)

http://www.lcag.org