The Future of SPEW

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 126224


I have done a very cursory survey of discussions regarding Hermione 
and SPEW on several web sites.  It seems that most people feel that 
SPEW represents Hermione going overboard, and will provide her at 
least some comeuppance with regard to always thinking her opinion's 
are right and not realizing that other people/creatures see the 
world differently.

I understand where people are coming from with this.  Certainly I 
think Hermione needs a lesson in humility very badly -- or to put it 
another way, that she needs to be knocked off the high horse she's 
been riding at least since GoF.  But I'm not at all sure that JKR 
shares the prevailing view of the fandom on this issue.

If we look at what we have been seen/told about the House Elves 
apart from the discussions of SPEW, it would seem that JKR is very 
firmly in Hermione's camp.  We have never yet seen an in-depth 
discussion with a happy house-elf, although it is strongly implied 
that they exist.  The main house elves we have seen are Dobby, happy 
in his freedom; Kreacher, twisted by his slavery,; and Winkie, who 
was happy in slavery but whose former happiness is not presented as 
a positive thing, but rather as a stumbling block that leads her 
into alcoholism and an inability to cope with life.  Add to this 
Dumbledore's remarks at the end of OOTP and JKR is definitely on the 
side of the abolitionists.

I suspect that if Hermione gets a comeuppance with SPEW (and I'm not 
totally sure she will), it will be a purely tactical humiliation 
having to do with her methods like leaving clothes lying around 
randomly.  I doubt she is going to face any kind of re-evaluation of 
her values or her overall strategy of working to free the elves.  In 
other words, I very, very much expect that her opinions will be 
vindicated.  I really can't imagine that Hermione is ever going to 
face some kind of lesson in cultural relativism in which she is 
expected to accept the house-elf value system or come to think that 
applying standards from the Muggle World is a bad policy.  JKR just 
ain't a moral or cultural relativist - a fact I expect will become 
very much clearer in the next two books with regard to several 
issues.

In any case, what are other people's opinions/expectations in this 
regard?


Lupinlore