House elves

[honeycakehorse03]

No: HPFGUIDX 58214



Melanie Ellis:
>Now, as to the future of the elves, I hate to say it, but I really 
feel
>that the whole S.P.E.W. thing was a machination for GoF, and we 
won't
>hear much if anything more about it. I hope I'm wrong, but I really 
felt
>that the whole thing was nothing more than a plot element used to 
get HHR
>into the kitchens to find out about Winky - and Dobby, too, of 
course. 

I also feel that the whole debate about house elves was mainly there 
to make a point for the further plot. Not necessarily only to meet 
Winky but also to show more about a Master-servant dynamic and make 
us think about it from different PoVs.

IMO the treatment of the house elves shows definite parallels to 
Voldemort's treatment of his servants.
(And isn't that just too ironic for Lucius Malfoy *g*) 
1.  Both parties are not allowed to diobey their master
2.  They are punished if they step out of line
3.  Their punishment is uncommonly cruel.
4.  They have special orders they have to fulfil for their master, 
even if it changes their whole life (eg. Barty Croch Jr.)
5.  They are magically bound to their master (Dark Mark).

In CoS we don't know about Death Eaters yet but we already know that 
there are certain ways somebody can be magically bound to a person 
and not be able to do something about it. I see this similar to the 
relationship between Voldemort and his Death Eaters. When they 
accept the Dark Mark they bind themselves to Voldemort and from then 
on are always in his service. (eg. Even though he has been dormant 
for years Snape's Dark Mark starts to darken in GoF and shows that 
their "contract" is still alive). 


Sabrina