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

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 178898

> Pippin:
> Hermione wanted to help house-elves because she thought they 
couldn't
> stick up for themselves. That changed to wanting wizards to see that
> abusing house-elves was dangerous as well as cruel because house-
> elves can retaliate. She succeeded in getting Harry and Ron to
> recognize this. 

a_svirn:
Actually that's the other way round. It was Harry who had seen the 
danger of mistreating elves all along and even tried to warn Sirius. 
Hermione at the time was still going through her leftist phase 
antagonizing Kreacher even further and thereby rendering him even 
more dangerous. 

> Pippin:
> Voldemort's abuse of house-elves makes it a house-elf battle too.

a_svirn:
It might have in another Universe. Point is -- it didn't in this one. 

> Pippin:
> When Kreacher said, "fight for my master, defender of house-elves" 
> what do you think he meant? 

a_svirn:
God knows. Elves are not exactly celebrated for their logic, as 
Hermione pointed out to Harry. After OOP I though Kreacher is very 
like Caliban only he actually managed to avenge himself on his 
magical master. But for Caliban freedom meant merely another, more 
congenial master. Kreacher lucked out and got himself a new master he 
could actually love. His new master even graciously allowed him to 
fight and die for him (though he lucked out again and lived) – surely 
this alone elevates his master to the rank of house elves' defenders. 
Now Regulus was a fine master in his way, but in this respect he 
failed, so he doesn't really qualify. I guess, if Harry had been 
literary inclined he could have repeated after Prospero "This thing 
of darkness I acknowledge mine". Instead he thought of sandwich, 
which comes to the same thing. 


> Pippin:
> The question "What if there really was a master
> race?" comes up all the time in speculative fiction, only it's
> usually humans who are being subjugated. Rowling turns the 
> tables on it, and asks, if there were creatures who enjoyed
> being slaves to humans, would slavery still be immoral? 
> One answer might be, no, not if the slaves were happy. 

a_svirn:
Well, yes. This seems to be indeed the answer according to Rowling.