[HPforGrownups] Kreacher and SPEW

[Scott Santangelo]

No: HPFGUIDX 71967



David <dfrankiswork at netscape.net> wrote:
Hermione is fundamentally correct in her assessment of the condition of the House-elves...Hermione doesn't seem to realise that in fact Kreacher strengthens her position ...and ...undermines her(self) by trying to excuse him, and by failing to pay attention to 
Sirius' much more accurate estimate of his character...In fact both Hermione and Sirius have preconceptions about House-elves that hinder them in dealing with Kreacher...Sirius...underestimates Kreacher's ability (like Dobby's)...Hermione, on the other hand, does Kreacher the disservice of assuming that his nastiness is purely the consequence of the way Sirius treats him during the period of the story...because she denies that 
Kreacher is a free moral agent...she does not, unlike Sirius, accept that Kreacher is responsible for his choices. I think that the fact that the House-elves can throw up a Kreacher is one of the strongest arguments for the wrongness of their magical enslavement, and for their essential humanity, and Hermione doesn't recognize it.  Sirius might, but is too wrapped up in his immediate 
personal dislike to do so. I think her introduction of a character like Kreacher shows JKR has a very sure grasp of her subject here, and shows that she intends to 
keep the theme of liberation and its rationale at the forefront of the series.
------------------

Awesome post! I think you might have shorted Sirius a tiny bit (his dislike of Kreacher is well set out in his familiarity with Kreacher and the elf's maintaining an ugly and fanatic loyalty to Sirius' insane mum - he knows too well that Kreacher can't be redeemed), though in fact Sirius has blinders on too - if he had given Kreacher a bit more credit, he might have clamped-down on him harder. Harry gave him a clue, and got him thinking about the "independently acting" elf thing, but he got sidetracked.

owlery2003

Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT

________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________

Before posting to any list, you MUST read the group's Admin File!
http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/admin

Remember to use accurate subject headings and to snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying!

Is your message...
An announcement of merchandise, news, a website etc.? Send it to HPFGU-Announcements.
Movie-related? Book-movie comparison? Send it to HPFGU-Movie.
Referencing *only* the books? Send it to HPforGrownups.
None of the above? OT? Send it to HPFGU-OTChatter.
Unsure? Other questions? Ask your personal List Elf or the Mods, Elves, and Geists -- HPforGrownups-owner at yahoogroups.com or to reach just the Mods -- MagicalMods at yahoogroups.com

Unsubscribing? Email hpforgrownups-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com
____________________________________________________________ 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]