Freedom for House-Elves (Was: Kreacher the Plot Device Elf)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 162047

a_svirn wrote:
> > And since when slave-holders have responsibilities to or for their
slaves? Slavery is a one-sided deal: slaves have all the
responsibilities, while owners have all the rights. The Harry-Kreacher
situation being no exception. 
> 
Ceridwen responded:
> I thought it was odd that Harry inherited a slave/house elf, too.  I 
> really didn't see JKR going there.
> 
> But, the situation exists.  Harry, without asking for it, got 
> Kreacher willed to him.  He now has one of two options: give
Kreacher clothes, or not give him clothes. <snip>
>
> If Harry doesn't give Kreacher clothes, he does have a
responsibility to him.  Kreacher is dependent on his owner for basic
needs like housing and food.  Whether it is a legal obligation or just
a moral one, Harry has a duty toward Kreacher as his dependent.
<snip>
> 
> House elves bring another layer of responsibility to their owners.  
> Elves' natures, whether charmed or inborn, mean they want to serve 
> wizards and witches.  They fear freedom, from what I get from the 
> books.  <snip>

Carol adds:
I agree, and I think a-svirn has conceded the fear of freedom in
another post. It seems to be the word "responsibility" that's causing
problems here. You and I are viewing it as a moral obligation,
noblesse oblige, to provide decent living conditions and humane
treatment to a dependent. A-svirn seems to be viewing "responsibility"
as synonymous with "duty."

Kreacher has very few duties or obligations in HBP. In fact, if
there's any truth in the proverb "the devil finds work for idle hands
to do," then he's in a position to do mischief if he isn't being
watched and/or kept busy. besides, House-Elves in general like work.
Kreacher might even find that he enjoys being kept busy (though as I
said earlier, I'm pretty sure that the Hogwarts Elves don't want
anything so filthy helping them in the kitchen). Everyone needs to
feel useful. Everyone needs to feel that he belongs. that includes
House-Elves, as we see with poor Winky.

At any rate, in a normal House-Elf/Wizard relationship, the House-Elf
has duties to perform and his owner has the responsibilities that go
along with a position of power over other sentient beings. Think of
the owner of a corporation or the principal of a school or a medieval
king. Each has a moral obligation to treat his subordinates well.
Harry, having inherited a House-Elf whom he cannot safely free, has
inherited that responsibility. He "fulfills" it primarily by dumping
it onto Dumbledore, who is now responsible for seeing that Kreacher is
humanely treated, and Dobby, who is now responsible for seeing that
Kreacher doesn't get into mischief.

That's the kind of responsibility I'm talking about. A parent, a pet
owner, an employer, anyone who's in a superior or supervisiory
position to another person or being has that obligation. Not to
exercise that responsibility is to abuse one's power, as the Malfoys
did, or to disregard the obligation to treat inferiors humanely, as
Sirius Black did.

Obviously, slavery is a great evil, but it can be ameliorated. It need
not involve whips and threats and ironed hands. Where slavery exists,
the responsibility is not, or should not, be all on the slave's side.
The master has an obligation as a human being with power over others
to use that power wisely and humanely. Not to do so is to be a tyrant,
nota master. If slavery can't be ended because of more pressing
matters, such as Voldemort's return, the only humane option is to make
it as bearable as possible, a necessary and temporary evil (like a
benevolent dictatorship) in preference to a greater evil (like
anarchy). It would be better, obviously, to eliminate slavery
altogether, or at least for individual wizards to avoid owning slaves.
Unfortunately, that option is not available either to Harry in HBP or
to Sirius Black in OoP. Both of them are stuck with Kreacher, and
their treatment of him is an index of their humanity, as Petunia's
treatment of Harry, who is her dependent and inferior to her in age
and status (and while Harry is small, in strength), is an index of
hers. Harry has not followed Petunia's example by *abusing* Kreacher,
 but he has yet to learn not to follow Sirius's example in neglecting him.

Harry was too angry and grief-stricken at the end of OoP to heed
Dumbledore's words regarding Sirius's treatment of Kreacher. Here's
hoping he'll remember them and act on them in Book 7.

Carol, simply arguing that if Harry *must* be a slave owner, he ought
to be a responsible one