House Elf Loyalty

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 151534

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jennifer Carlson"
<somedayalive at ...> wrote:
>
> > Pippin:
> > I think the spells that control House Elves produce only the 
> > illusion of loyalty, just as love potions produce only the 
> > illusion of love. 
> 
> 
> Jen:
> ... Think for example of the slaves in American history...most 
> of them would never have dreamed of plotting against their 
> masters, because they knew what the consequences would 
> be...but there were *some* who were so filled with hate who 
> would venture in that direction...that is how I believe Kreacher
> has become.  
> 

bboyminn:

I've always objected to people comparing house-elves to human slaves.
While there are some parallels, and on occassion it does give us a
framework to illustrate their plight, I don't think it really holds up
well. Slaves are kidnapped and forced into service against their will.
They are prisoners who either work or die; though usually it's both.
House-elves on the other hand eagerly and actively seek out the
service of humans, and they do this honorably. Unfortunately, the
humans who take on house-elves are rarely as honorable as the Elves.

> Jen:
>
> House elves are not puppets...they have minds of their own, and 
> genuine emotions...wizards can force a *facade* of loyalty but 
> cannot make them truly loyal as they are thinking, feeling beings.
>

bboyminn:

I have my own theory about house-elves and their honor. I think a
house-elves truest source of honor and deepest loyalty is to himself.
By that I mean, honor and loyalty to their history and their ancestry.
To betray a Master, is to betray your ancestors who made a commitment,
who swore a solemn oath to serve a particular family - the Master's
family. 

I think this makes a house-elves' honor much stronger because it is at
the core of their history and it spans many generations of their own
elf family. You can betray your 'employer', but it is much harder to
betray your family. Elves are willing to be treated horribly by their
Masters, many even willing to accept death, before they would betray
their solemn oath or the oath of their ancestors. 

If you've read my other essays here on House-Elves then you know that
my greater theory is that no external force of law or magic bind an
Elf to his Master. What bind him is Elfin Honor. It is also my
personal fan fiction extension of this theory that provides the key to
house-elf freedom and civil rights. At some point, if Hermione ever
wises up, she will take a new approach in which Elf owners either have
to admit to slavery, which is a very politically INCorrect thing, or
they have to admit that house-elves are free. If Elves are free, then
that opens the door for the expansion of their rights in the magical
community. It's a slightly more complicated than that, but that's the
gist of it.

Certainly, I can't prove any of this, but it's my instinctive sense of
what is happening. Once again, House-Elves enter their agreement bond
by the honor of their collective history and their ancestors. Wizards,
over time, have taken house-elf honor and twisted it to their benefit,
and in doing so, have essentially forced the circumstance that
resembles slavery onto the Elves. With regard to Elves, there is very
little honor amoung self-serving wizards.

Short version: The Elves are fine, it's the wizards that need to be fixed.

For what it's worth.

Steve/bboyminn