[HPforGrownups] house elves

[Sherry Gomes]

No: HPFGUIDX 102324

Hi all,

The whole idea of house elves has bothered me ever since the first
introduction in COS.  It got even worse in GoF.  Lines like Ron's saying
that house elves are happy .... the whole attitude toward them has really
bugged me.  It seems so reminiscent of the slave masters in the South, who
always said that the slaves were "happy" in there slavery.  There were times
in GoF that I could hardly stand to read Winky's parts, because of her
attitude of sickening loyalty to a man who had owned her and treated her
cruelly.  I hope that JKR is going to take this further and have a major
house elf revolt or something.  In general, they are kind of obnoxious.  I
suppose that's not fair, because Dobby is sort of cute, and you can't really
compare Winky and kreacher to him.  But they seem to be another part of the
running theme of certain types being oppressed or looked down on by wizards.

Anyway, I was just curious if anyone had as visceral a reaction to the whole
story line of house elves as I do.

Sherry G