"Morality" and "tolerance" in the HP books (Was: a sandwich)

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 178871

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at ...> 
wrote:
>> Jen: The difference is I don't accept the idea of house elves as 
> natural slaves. The elves read as victims of learned helplessness 
> brought about by the enchantment forcing them to self-punish for 
> generations.  When Dumbledore said "Kreacher is what he has been 
made 
> by wizards" in OOTP, I took that literally, that the forced nature 
of 
> self-punishment at even the hint of disobedience had finally and 
> completely enslaved the house elves when Harry came to know them.
<snip>

lizzyben:

It actually wouldn't surprise me if the wizards literally *made* 
house elves in order to finally get some good servants. Ah, magic.
  
Jen:
> So I wasn't saying that Rowling created slaves to have a storyline 
> about social activism, but that social activism offers a framework 
in 
> which to explore a seemingly intractable social problem.  Where 
does 
> one start?  <snip>

lizzyben:

I thought that Hermione finally realized that house elves aren't 
people, they don't want to be free & only want to be treated kindly. 
They're more akin to pets than people. They're happy when their 
owners are happy & unhappy when they're mistreated. That's where it 
starts and ends. I truly don't think that you can use a social 
activism framework to resolve the house elf problem. That was 
Hermione's problem - first she approached it from a social 
activism/civil rights perspective & alienated everyone (including 
the house elves). Then, in "Kreacher's Tale", she and Harry were 
educated on how house elves really think & what they really want - 
they don't want freedom, just humane treatment. And Hermione finally 
accepts that. Trying to free the elves would be like trying to free 
all the dogs of Britain. I certainly don't think house elves should 
be freed - and by the end of DH, neither does Hermione. That's the 
arc she went through.

It also means that Harry, Hermione, & the reader are asked to accept 
a crazy world in which slavery is actually justified, slaves don't 
want to be free, & they actually just love being good servants to 
their masters. Harry can be a slaveowner without any guilt, because 
his slave really just wants to be a slave & can't function any other 
way. And I want to rebel against that, but I can't, because that's 
how this world is. 


lizzyben