[HPforGrownups] Dobby Vs. Kreacher

[Wendy St John]

No: HPFGUIDX 74814

Lady MacBeth wrote:


"People like to get really pissed off at Kreacher because of how he behaves
toward Sirius, Harry and their friends, and how he stays loyal to his family
by trying to save all of the Black family things that Sirius and Molly are
trying to throw out.  He disappears from sight whenever someone actually
WANTS to find him, avoids being useful around the house, badmouths
houseguests and is an all-around "anti-house elf".

Now, on the other hand, while Dobby's Jar-Jar Binks impression gets
irritating after a while, people generally are ok with him.  He's worshipful
toward Harry, acts like wizards/witches who give him things, especially
clothes, are the greatest thing since sliced bread, etc.  He cleans the
Gryffindor Common Room by himself when Hermione insults the others by
leaving the hats around.  He helps Harry out with the Triwizard Task by
stealing the gillyweed from Snape's stores.  While he praises his freedom,
he is seemingly the "ideal house elf".

But is he?

In a lot of respects, I think Dobby and Kreacher are two sides of the same
coin, because they are loyal to two sides of the same coin.

<big snip>

I think Dobby and Kreacher are BOTH "anti-house elves" - they just go about
it in different manners, because each is exhibiting their own preferences
and attitudes toward those around them, rather than being faithful,
un-biased servants."

Now me (Wendy):

Great post, Lady MacBeth. But what if the conclusion to be made from this
discussion is the other way aound? In other words, what if Dobby and
Kreacher are both *entirely typical* house elves? Here's what came to me
while reading your post:

First of all, in canon we've seen three individual house elves in some
detail: Dobby, Kreacher and Winky. But let's leave Kreacher out of this for
a moment. Before OoP, the only experience we had was with Dobby and Winky.
And I think the conclusion we were supposed to take away with us when
comparing the two of them is that Winky is the "typical" house elf, and
Dobby the anomaly. Dobby had betrayed his family, he was eager to receive
clothes and be free, he didn't seem to feel demeaned at the thought of
being paid for his work. Whereas Winky went to great lengths to protect her
family, didn't want to be freed, felt humiliated by her new status after
being released by Crouch Sr. In the scene in the Hogwarts kitchen, the
majority of house elves seemed to sympathise with Winky and act as though
Dobby was a troublemaker. 

Okay. Now, in OoP, we meet Kreacher. And I think you are correct saying
that he and Dobby have a great deal in common. Both of them exhibit strong
loyalty to people who are *not* their masters, and both betray their
masters for a cause in which they believe.

It's this idea of a "cause in which they believe" which has gotten me to
wonder if maybe we haven't been hornswoggled by JKR into believing
something about house elves which is not quite true. I think that house
elves are actually far more powerful and far more autonomous than anyone in
the Wizarding World wants to believe. They have powerful magic, which they
seem to be able to use in situations where other magic is forbidden (Dobby
apparating within Hogwarts, for example), a fact which I think is
underplayed (as in unnoticed) by the actual characters in the story. More
importantly, as the series has developed, we've been introduced to
progressively more examples of the way the WW has tried to oppress non- or
part-humans: the enslavement of the house elves; the controversy over the
definition of "beings" vs "beasts" - in which the centaurs and merfolk have
both been involved; that goblins are being denied certain freedoms; that
giants have been forced out of their homes and forced to live together in
unsuitable conditions; legislation banning werewolves from employment.
We've also *begun* to see these groups respond to these situations (the
centaurs refusing to involve themselves in the Voldemort situation, the
possibility that the goblins will side with Voldemort because of the way
they've been treated) - but I think we've only touched the surface with
where this will go in future books. 

Earlier this afternoon, I was re-reading the chapters where Harry has his
hearing at the Ministry, and sees the statue in the lobby. I think the
description is very important to the point I'm making here:

(OoP, page 156, US hardcover): "He looked up into the handsome wizard's
face, but up close, Harry thought he looked rather weak and foolish. the
witch was wearing a vapid smile like a beauty contestant, and from what
Harry knew of goblins and centaurs, they were most unlikely to be caught
staring this soppily at humans of any description. Only the house-elf's
attitude of creeping servility looked convincing."

Hmnnh. If the depictions of the goblin and centaur are wrong, maybe the
house elf's portrayal was, too.

I think that house-elves are not as servile as everyone in the Wizarding
World (and, therefore, the reader) thinks. We've been told that they can't
disobey direct orders from their masters, which seems to be true. It does
appear as though Kreacher and Dobby both were not able to divulge certain
information during their betrayals of their respective masters. But they
both *did* betray those masters. And the house elves at Hogwarts have now
decided to stop cleaning Gryffindor Tower because Hermione's knitted gifts
have offended them. I assume that if Dumbledore *told* them specifically to
start cleaning the tower again, they would. But in the meantime, they're
sure doing their own thing, aren't they? Although it is their *job* to
clean the tower, they aren't doing it, and it is apparently a decision
based on what they think is right and wrong. Based on their own
sensibilities, in any case. Just as it was Dobby's moral beliefs which
moved him to betray the Malfoys and support Harry, and it was Kreacher's
moral beliefs which moved him to betray Sirius to Narcissa. Of all the
house elves we've known, Winky is the *only* one who apparently continued
to faithfully serve her master in all ways in spite of the fact that she
didn't agree with what was going on in her household. Assuming that she
really did disapprove. Perhaps she didn't, and was only upset because of
the destruction all of this caused to her family. So while we seem to be
*told* that house elves must serve their masters unquestioningly, this
certainly doesn't appear to be the reality of the situation. 

I'll also add that this isn't about whether or not the elves want to be
freed. From all we know, Dobby is definitely the anomaly in this regard.
Winky, Kreacher and all the Hogwarts elves don't appear to want their
"freedom." They are quite happy to do their jobs well, as long as their
masters don't do anything with which the elves don't agree. This is another
thing which suggests to me that perhaps they aren't really as enslaved as
we (and the WW) believe them to be. Perhaps they are mostly happy because
over time the relationships within families don't change that much. Elves
who work for dark wizard families like the Malfoys and Blacks tend to
develop attitudes similar to Kreacher's, while elves who work for families
with other attitudes will likely agree with those attitudes. But every so
often, something happens to change the balance. An elf decides that he
doesn't actually agree with his family's beliefs (Dobby). Or a family
member whose beliefs are far different from the family norm becomes master
over an elf who still believes in the old ways (Kreacher). The relationship
falls apart, and the elves do what they feel needs to be done to restore
what they consider to be "right." More importantly, the elves have the
*autonomy* to do this, in spite of their apparent enslavement. They punish
themselves, yes. But that doesn't stop them from doing the things in the
first place, does it?

So, my overall conclusion is that the elves are happy to serve their
families as long as nothing happens to insult their own sense of morality.
But if an elf decides that his or her master is in the "wrong," than said
elf will go to any length *short of disobeying a direct command* to
undermine the master. Or said elf will just cease to attend to the
questionable duties. This would seem to conflict with the "creeping
servility" of the elf in the MoM statue, wouldn't it?

So, what happens if a majority of elves start believing that their masters
are "wrong?" I think it's entirely possible that all h*ll would break loose
in the Wizarding World.

:-)
Wendy