Harry's remark about Kreacher WAS: Re: JKR messed up........ no.

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 178561

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at ...> wrote:
>
> 
> > Magpie:
> > No, he's just Harry's slave and does what he says. 
> 
> Pippin:
> Like he was Sirius's slave and did what Sirius said? Kreacher's
> clearly one of those House Elves who's more than capable of
> evading orders when he wants to. Which, IMO, is the reason
> that Harry wanted to call on him, not another Elf, for a sandwich.
> 
> If Kreacher didn't want to belong to Harry any more, or didn't
> want to fetch a sandwich, Harry would know about it, IMO.
> 
> Pippin
>

lizzyben:

Kreacher loved Harry & would serve him without question. Harry knew
that. He'd also just fought in a battle, but Harry doesn't stop to
consider Kreacher's own feelings or need for rest. Instead, he thinks
of him as a servant & labor-saving device. He's assumed his proper
place in the wizarding world & learned how to treat house elves.

I think it's very interesting that JKR chose to include that line at
all. It's the very last line of the novel, after all. The last
sentence is important, often relating the final message or theme of
the novel - and here that message is Harry wanting "Kreacher to get
him a sandwich." 

People have said that the house-elf issue wasn't resolved, but I think
it was. It was resolved in that last line - the crazy elf who wanted
freedom has died, the conventional elf that accepted slavery has
survived, & the hero has accepted his proper role as master and slave
owner. It's an arc, just not the arc people were expecting. It's more
like the arc of "The Godfather", where the protagonist at first
rejects the immoral & illegal actions of his Mafia father, grows to
accept & repeat those actions, and finally assumes his role as the new
"Godfather." The movie ends with a minion kissing his hand & calling
him "Don Corleone." In HP, the novel ends with the hero wanting a
slave to fetch him a sandwich. The message is the same - the
protagonist has gone from rejection to acceptance of the values of his
world, & has assumed his proper place as the ultimate embodiment &
inheritor of these values.

In the epilogue, I can imagine Harry going to work in his position as
head Auror for the MOM, and noting with satisfaction that the
beautiful "Fountain of Magical Brethren" statues are back in
their proper place. He thinks that the little house-elf looks a lot
like Kreacher, and smiles. He doesn't see the falseness anymore.


lizzyben