"Freedom is slavery..."

[lupinesque]

No: HPFGUIDX 43696

Carol re: 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 think this fits very well with Imperius, which is described as a 
blissful state.  No decisions, no worries, physical pains disappear, 
one can even forget that one is about to be murdered . . . She could 
have written the curse as something that hurts, but in fact it feels 
wonderful; it only hurts if you try to fight it off.  It's thinking 
for oneself that's hard.  

This theme also comes up in Dumbledore's all-too-true warning that 
what is easy is not always what is right.  JKR knows that freedom 
from moral decisions is a very tempting state of being, and it looks 
to me as if she's very interested in exploring what makes it possible 
for some people to shun it and take responsibility (it's in the eyes, 
that's where you see it).  I remember this realization being a very 
important part of my adolescence, so I'm delighted to think of 
adolescents discovering it through HP.

House-elves are a different take on the issue, but I agree, they're 
another kind of illustration of the fact that freedom hurts--in their 
case, because their enslavement literally requires them to punish 
themselves for free acts.

Amy Z