House Elves' enslavement

[Susana da Cunha]

No: HPFGUIDX 114016

 

I wish to offer an analysis of House Elves' enslavement based on Dobby's, Kretcher's and Winky's behaviour. I didn't search more than two months of posts and even so I can tell most of my theory has been hinted here and there. I hope this compilation is helpful in any way.

First, let's see what we don't know:

1 - We don't know how long elves live.

I'll assume their life expectance is something between the wizard's and the muggle's. This is not really important for my theory but it can help us put some things into perspective.

2 - We don't know how long it takes for elves to become adults.

I'll assume they have short childhoods because something that lives to work is bound to.

3 - We don't know if wizards enslaved elves or if elves enslaved themselves.

This is an important issue but I think we'll never know. To me, the elf/wizard relation appears to be a 'before time' thing going back to cave men. A kind of symbiosis between two magical creatures: the wizards grant elves safety and food while the elves grant wizards comfort. My point bringing this up is that the magical bound between an elf and its master is not something that can be preformed on Dobby while he's shopping for socks. It's a magic binding of the species - something not comparable to anything we see wizards do in poterverse (thus my consideration that elves might have done it to themselves).

4 - We don't know if elves can be bought or sold.

My first guess would be no, they can't. You break the magic by giving the elves clothes (or are the clothes part of the magic?). If you could sell an elf wouldn't Mr. Crouch sell his elf instead of freeing it? But if they can't be sold (or exchange in some way), wouldn't some families end up with more elves than they can afford and others with no elves at all? 

On the other hand, since Malfoy was so upset about loosing an elf, they must be valuable. My solution would be that elves can only be bought and sold in their childhood, before the magical bound is created - a terrible thought, I know. But we also don't know what type of relationship elves have with their offspring (they're not human - don't be Hermione on this).

5 - We don't know if a free elf can give up its freedom.

An elf is set free when it receives clothes. Can an elf give his clothes to someone and therefore bind himself to a family? If so, that would be the way to exchange elves between families: The owner would give the elf clothes and the elf would give them to the new master. It would require the elf's consent - I prefer this hypothesis over my previous.

Now, what we do know:

1 - Winky and Kretcher had devotion for the masters they served for years while Dobby didn't.

It appears elves are quite capable of judging people and develop regard for them or not. The magical bound they have with their masters does not command their harts. On the other hand, it's reasonable to assume an elf usually 'grows up' with its master and is 'educated' in its master's values. Kretcher is the perfect example of that. We don't know how Dobby ended up with the Malfoys but if he was 'brought up' by them I suspect he's an extremely rare case. Considering the elves predisposition to serve, elves are probably a lot less picky as to whom they like than humans. 

2 - Dobby and Kretcher, without disobeying direct orders from their official masters, found a way to pass information to people they regarded. 

A wizard can't say to its elf "do *only* what I tell you to do" because he/she would then have to spend his/her day ordering all its tasks (set the table; cook the meal; clean the bedroom). Therefore, elves have some autonomy in their work/lives which allows them to do 'what their hart tells them to'. 

3 - Winky disobeyed a direct order from her master (stay in the tent) but acting - she thought - in her master's best interest.

She was forced to contravene because circumstances had changed. There could be a better analysis of this if she hadn't been so extremely punished. Would she feel the need to punish herself if her master had said "you've done well"? Or did she punish herself on top of the punishment her master gave her? 

My point with this is that elves have the capability to disobey a direct order in extreme circumstances. Or maybe not that extreme: Dobby and some other Hogwarts elves warned the DA members they had been exposed. It looked a lot like they were disobeying direct orders (but we don't know for sure). I can only conclude elves *can* disobey direct orders if they think they're doing the right thing.

4 - Dobby took action against the will of a person he regarded, but acting - he thought - in that person's best interest. Dobby punished himself (ironed his hands!) for acting - he thought - in that person's best interest.

This is the most interesting point. Kretcher felt no need to punish him for lying to Harry, yet Dobby ironed his hands for harming Harry. There could be several reasons for Dobby's behaviour:

a) He could be punishing himself for acting against his official master's interest. But it doesn't sound at all like that if we follow the sequence of the conversation: he *had* to iron his hands after he blocked the barrier but he *didn't mind* because he thought *Harry* was safe.

b) He could be acting on account of the magic binding his species: there could be some clause about not being allowed to cause physical harm to wizards. But I'd find it strange, given point 5 below.

c) He could have punished himself out of ethics. If an elf can judge its master it has a set of values from which he can tell right from wrong. Dobby could have considered he was doing wrong, no matter whose interests were in stake.

d) Dobby might consider Harry the 'master in his hart' (as oppose to 'official master'). Dobby remembers when 'house elves were treated like animals'. Harry changed that, even if not for Dobby, thus winning Dobby's hart. That is consistent with Dobby going out of his way to 'serve' Harry (warnings, bludgers) and punish himself when he fails.

5 - Dobby attacked his former master seconds after he was freed. He did so to protect a person he regarded (we don't know if he punished himself after or not).

This is consistent with c) and d) above and clashes somewhat with a) and b). The notable thing about this was the quickness of Dobby's decision to stop his former master using physical (magical) force. If there was some magic preventing elves to physically harm wizards, I doubt he would have been so prompt.

6 - Winky was freed (the ultimate punishment in her point of view) for acting - she thought - in her master's best interest, and she still sees her not-official-any-more master as her beloved master.

This is *very* consistent with d) above. Her moaning of her condition is all directed to her master's welfare (what will he do without me?). This sounds a lot like love to me - but then again, she's not human and I'm not Hermione. But one fact remains: she still considers Mr. Crouch her master, even if he's not. Note that neither Kretcher nor Dobby show regret for acting against their official master's best interest. Were they acting on behalf of the 'master in their harts'?

Concluding notes:

Given the considerations above, we might be able to infer about house elves happiness in general. If we accept elves have indeed two masters (official-m. and hart-m.) we can conjecture that a happy house elf is the one who has the privilege of serving (officially) their hart-master. 

We can add that most elves are probably 'brought up' in the family they will later serve. This will be true more for the wizard's sake than the elf's sake. Dobby (serving Malfoy) and Kretcher (serving Sirius) are good examples of what happens if you have an elf that dislikes you. Not many wizards would want this. Even if adult elves can be exchanged, a wizard is not likely to chose an older elf because it might not adapt to the new family (some things are true for all living things). 

That might explain Dobby's and Winky's difficulty in finding work. Maybe it's just me, but if an elf offered to cook and clean for me for a galleon a week I wouldn't exclude him because his former master thrown him out - but I would think twice if I thought he could be disloyal to me and my family. 

If elves are generally brought up in the family they serve, I wouldn't find it odd that most elves find their hart-masters in that family. I'm more concern with elves in places like Hogwarts. I suspect they have little contact with staff and certainly even less with students. With the addition of the changes in staff, it seems difficult for them to develop the wizard-elf relation they seem to need - or worse, they do create the relation and then the wizard leaves.

Another cause of unhappiness for elves would be the death of their hart-master. Kretcher is the ultimate example: not only he lost his mistress, he came into service for a wizard he totally despises. IMO, this are the main subjects that SPEW should be dealing with. SPEW should be trying to call wizards to the responsibility of having a house elf: they take care of you and YOU TAKE CARE OF THEM!

In the case of elves' emotional and physical abuse, I would like to point something out: elves are not human but wizards are. The abuse cases must be as usual as in human houses and place the same challenges to law enforcement as they do in our world: you can't enter someone's home to enforce a law without invading their privacy. I seriously doubt there are no laws in the WW to protect elf abuse. But I most certainly believe they have trouble enforcing them.

Finely, some speculations (trying no to cross the fan-fic line):

Dobby's wish to be paid has puzzled me. For reasons stated, I have no trouble believing Harry is his hart-master. Could it be he doesn't want to create magical bounds with a new family because he's hopping to serve Harry in the future? Maybe his making sure his free when Harry gets himself a house...

Will Winky's broken hart ever heal? Is it as simple as giving her hart to a new family? If so, Hogwarts is the totally wrong place for her and reassures my concern that it's not a good place for an elf at all!

 

Hopping my English was up to the task,

Susana

 



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