Freedom for House-Elves ... Oaths and Honor

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 162052

---  "dumbledore11214" <dumbledore11214 at ...> wrote:
>
> 
> > bboyminn:
> > 
> > <HUGE SNIP>
> >> What I conceive them wanting is fair and reasonable
> > treatment. I speculate that if House-Elves were freed
> > the way slaves were freed; just a slaves, they would
> > soon find themselves back in the same situation they
> > were in before they were freed. They would be back 
> > doing what they truly like to do, which is serving 
> > and caring for humans. And much like human slaves who
> > were freed, they would continue to be taken advantage
> > of.
> <SNIP>
> 
> Alla:
> 
> Okay, I am just trying to figure out where you are 
> coming from, so basically I just want to know why are 
> you so convinced that elves truly like serving humans.
> Are you just discarding the existance of enchantment 
> on them? Do you think it is a lie and house elves are
> not enchanted, ....
> 
> ... but don't you think that we canot know yet whether
> they truly like serving till enchantment is lifted ...
> 
> Alla
>

bboyminn:

First, I realized that I may have phrased my original
statement oddly, I did not mean to imply that Human
Slaves '..would be back doing what they truly like 
to do,...'. That refers exclusively to Elves. You
seem to have taken it correctly, but in case someone
didn't I wanted to clear that up.

As to house-elf enchantments, I believe the statement
in question was made by Dobby when he referred to 
being 'bound by the enchantment of our kind'. 

Now rolling back the Time Turner to my previous, 
distant, and exceptionally long and speculative rant on
house-elves. Note Dobby refers to the 'enchantments of
OUR kind', not the enchantments PLACED ON our kind. That
lead me to speculate that the 'magic' that bind a house-
elf to his master comes from the Elves themselves. And
in my speculative view, that binding is the binding of
an oath and fierce Elfin Honor. When an elf makes a 
commitment, he/she takes it very seriously, gravely
serious. An Elf would sooner die than break his oath of
commitment, or to dishonor the oath of commitment made
by his ancestors. So, fierce Elfin Honor, and a deep 
and abiding respect for their history is what binds as
elf in place.

So, in reality (speculative reality that is) an elf can 
walk away anytime they want. What is a wizard going to
do about it? Wizards certainly have exploited Elfin 
Honor, they have even twisted it over the centuries to
given themselves the impression of more, near absolute,
power. But in reality, whether abused, mistreated, or 
killed; the elves don't care, they would sooner honor 
their commitment in misery and death than to disgrace 
their ancestors and their race. 

So, in my view, to break the enchantments, we simply 
have to convince Elves that they have the power to 
be masters of their own destiny.

Three examples -

Dobby is not necessarily rebelling against Lucius Malfoy,
he is rebelling against his own ill treatment, and 
against a plot to harm Harry Potter, the one selfless
person who has made the lot of the Elves better. Further
what is the first thing this rebel does when he is freed?
He seeks new employment in the form of a new family to 
serve. Greedy wizards don't want to set a precident that
weakens their power over elves, so they are certainly not
willing to pay for what they can get for free.

Next, take a faithful companion like a Dog; just an 
ordinary dog. Out of loyalty and faithfulness to his
master, a dog will run himself to death if his master
takes him out for a jog on a hot day. That dog will never
stop and say (as dogs do) 'I want/need to rest'. 

So, loyalty and faithfulness are enough to drive a 
creature to extremes, even to death rather than seem to
betray their master. Though, I hardly think we consider
dogs to be slaves. 

NO, I definitely can't prove this, not from direct canon,
but I think my conclusions, regardless of whether they are
accurate or not, are reasonably drawn from the canon 
subtext.

Finally, taking the assorted 'worker'-elf myths in general
indicates that what these 'worker' elves do what they do 
voluntarily. That is not exactly how JKR drew them in 
her books, but she certainly /drew on/ the heart of the
legends to create her own variety.

Just one man's opinion.

Steve/bboyminn