Hermione, House-elves and Centaurs

[davewitley]

No: HPFGUIDX 89127

Despite her compliment to me, I want to only half-agree with Debbie 
(89097).  I also want to disagree with Pippin (89121).

I agree that Hermione lacks crucial understanding of the elves and 
their desires and, indeed, lives by a different value system from 
them (and the centaurs).

However, I believe that, in the values implicit in JKR's writing, 
Hermione is fundamentally right about the house-elves: it's merely 
her strategy that's misconceived.

My understanding is that in reality the same underlying value system 
is being applied across all species, but each species is blinded in 
a different way.  I think the Sorting Hat's message about house 
unity can indeed be extrapolated to other species: in fact it is not 
the position of elves and centaurs that is problematic for me in the 
context of the series' ethics, but that of Dementors and other 
apparently intrinsically dark beings.

I find it hard to give chapter-and-verse canon support for this kind 
of thing, as it tends to be formed from minor impressions made by 
seemingly sympathetic characters.

In the case of House-elves, both Arthur Weasley and Dumbledore 
appear to support Hermione's basic thesis, not that an unfairly 
enforced (magical) contractual arrangement should be enforced 
fairly, but that it should be abrogated.  I have (I suspect now 
frequently) pointed out before that the house-elves own nervousness 
of Hermione in GOF speaks to me that her campaign touches an 
unconscious appreciation of this by them.  In that sense I disagree 
with Pippin about Hermione's heart; I think that it is in the wider 
text's right place, with Ron's.

Where Hermione tends to go wrong, IMO, is in her estimate of the 
dignity and individuality of *all* other beings, including humans.  
In her worse moments, she regards them as things to be manoeuvred 
and manipulated.  She does this most famously in COS when she uses 
emotional blackmail on Harry and Ron to make he Polyjuice Potion.  
But her whole deconstruction of Cho Chang, although it is presented 
as sympathetic, comes across to me as frighteningly detached: she 
really has swallowed the 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus' 
textbook.

I think the centaurs are enlightening in this respect.  Hermione 
tries to manipulate them (admittedly under pressure of an extreme 
crisis) and it's her bad luck that, thanks to past history, it is on 
this score that they are peculiarly sensitive.  The centaurs go too 
far the other way, because they assume that all wizardly actions are 
manipulative.

Most interesting of all, IMO, is the case of Kreacher.  Hermione 
agrees with Dumbledore that he should be treated well.  However, 
throughout she gives the distinct impression of believing that with 
a little bit of TLC Kreacher will turn into a paragon of liberal 
virtue, willing to fight against everything the Blacks formerly 
stood for.  IMO, JKR distances herself from this thinking crucially, 
by allowing Kreacher to make evil choices.  Thus the very thing that 
might argue for continued repression and control - that elves can't 
be trusted - is turned into a key plank of the case for their 
freedom.  Just as in COS, Dobby is in essence a free being long 
before Harry formalises it, so in OOP Kreacher is.  Both Dobby and 
Kreacher basically do what they want while nominally enslaved.  In 
my opinion, between them they completely make the case for 
Hermione's vision, while destroying that for her strategy.

So, I think that the text is moving decisively against subtle hands-
off manipulativeness with the partial eclipse of its two chief 
practitioners, Dumbledore and Hermione (I leave the case of Lupin to 
Pippin).  Oddly enough, these usually unrepresentative wizards are 
here completely in the tradition of the historically weak wizarding 
world, which achieves its ends through secrecy and manipulations 
such as the memory charm.

However, I do not believe the text is abandoning its implicit claim 
of universal values.  To me, werewolves, giants, house-elves, 
centaurs, merpeople and goblins are all morally and ethically 
speaking human beings in this universe.  The differences between 
them are not essential but cultural.

David