House Elves and Slavery/Harry's relation to House elves

[Chys Sage Lattes]

No: HPFGUIDX 126699


Debbie:
> though I believe it is appropriate to assume that JKR is raising 
> issues of exploitation and prejudice in her depiction of the 
> treatment of nonhuman beings in the books.


That, and the treatment of Harry by the Dursleys are eerily 
similar. Thus Harry would understand it, and his relationship with 
Dobby makes perfect sense- he sees/treats him as an equal because 
he can see people in that light. He doesn't think of himself as 
superior, he hasn't learned that (growing up doing the dishes, 
cleaning the house/gardening, doing all of Dudley's chores...) and 
he doesn't follow that superiority philosophy that seems to rampant 
in older pureblood families. (Some could argue that was part of the 
reason DD placed him with the muggle family to begin with, for 
perspective.) 

I usually compare him to a house elf in my mind, when thinking of 
his ill treatment by the Dursleys. It's something he can understand,
but not to the extend of bashing his own brains out or ironing his 
hands- that's where the similarities end. He's not inclined to it, 
he was forced into it like the elves it seems are forced to follow 
their master's orders.

He has a good relationship with Hagrid and the fact that the's 
part giant doesn't phase him. Same with Lupin and the fact he's a werewolf. Being different in that way is not an issue for the kid, 
nor is the difference in birthright or blood. He doesn't seem to 
be prejudiced in that way, and can relate to Ron in his poverty, 
having been given hand-me-downs of the rugged kind for all of 11 
years. 

Maybe this will make him better than LV, in that light, or perhaps 
that was DD's intent, and JKR brings it out more clearly with the 
differences in the species and his reaction to that?


Chys