A sandwich

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 178689

> 
> lizzyben:
> 

> 
> I could accept that maybe the house-elf arc got muddy or confused,
> except the exact same thing happens to the subplot of every other
> "oppressed" magical creature. Looking back at the "Fountain of Magical
> Brethren"...
> 
> House elves subplot - Introduction: Harry first wants to free Dobby,
> Hermione forms SPEW to fight for house elf rights. Resolution: The
> only free house elf dies, Harry accepts his role as slave-owner,
> Hermione gives up on house elf rights to accept the status quo.

Pippin:
This is a highly selective reading, IMO. The issue of refusing to benefit
from slave labor was raised and dispatched in GoF, with Hermione's
abortive hunger strike. Harry, who has himself been a kitchen slave
in all but name, and has experienced near starvation, never objects 
to food on the table and used not to care how it got there. At the end,
he at least knows personally the Elf who is going to prepare his food, 
cares about his history and welfare, and has felt sympathy 
for Hermione's desire to better things for Elves generally. 

 In DH, the enchantment which forces disobedient Elves 
to punish themselves, which was treated as a running gag with Dobby, 
was suddenly revealed in its full horror. It was shown that even a kind 
and well-meaning master like Regulus could not protect Elves from its 
effects. So much for being a kind and well-meaning master of slaves.

There is no simple heartening answer, because there is no simple
heartening answer in the real world. I take it no one reading this
owns a House Elf, but if you think you can be part of the global 
economy (which you are, if you're reading this) and not benefit
from exploited labor, think again. Maybe you make your own
sandwich -- but was the lettuce and tomato grown by a legally
employed worker? Was it transported with fuel that didn't come
from a country where women are oppressed? Are you sure? 

Yep, that's the mark of a good exploited worker, er House
Elf -- you don't see them.

Lizzyben: 
> Goblins: Introduction - talk of "goblin rebellions" and unfair
> treatment by wizards, Ludo Bagman borrows money from goblins & then
> double-crosses them to flee the country. This is presented as a
> problem & one reason the Order can't get goblins to trust them.
> Resolution - Harry hatches a plan to double-cross a goblin, just like
> a proper wizard should, and decides that goblin customs just don't
> matter. He is rewarded for this attitude when the Sword magically goes
> from the goblin to its proper place in wizarding hands. 

Pippin:
Neville, who has *not* mistreated goblins, recovers the sword. The sword
does properly belong in Gryffindor hands, and Harry, not acting like a
true Gryffindor, loses it. Harry rightly recognizes that he is planning 
something very close to a betrayal, and his rationalization to himself
that he is going to keep his word later rings a change on 
Dumbledore's promise to tell Harry everything. Bill's comment, that
both wizards and goblins have deeds to answer for, shows true.

Lizzyben:
> Giants: Introduction - conflict between giant-tolerant Hermione &
> giant-intolerant Ron. Hermione calls it a dumb prejudice. A quote of
> Ron's that flew by me in GOF: "Well, they were dying out anyway, and
> then loads got themselves killed by Aurors.." What, they were wiped
> out in Britain by the MOM? Apparently. Resolution - We realize that
> giant-intolerant Ron was right; giants actually are big brutes & not
> fit for wizarding society, though they can become nice pets if
> sufficiently tamed. 
> 

Pippin:
People don't bring pets to funerals. 

It may be too late to help the Giants,  but it's made clear that if their 
nature is brutal when they haven't got enough to eat and they're 
overcrowded, they're no different then Harry, Hermione and Ron. 

Lizzyben:
> Werewolves: Introduction - nice Lupin is the victim of unfair
> discrimination & prejudice because he is a werewolf. Lots of noise
> made about ending werewolf discrimination so Lupin & other werewolves
> can get jobs. Resolution - nice Lupin dies, just as free Dobby did.
> The other werewolves *are* dangerous & not fit for wizarding society.
> Greyback is every parent's nightmare & a threat to children. Noises
> about ending werewolf discrimination dropped.

Pippin:
Again, selectivity, IMO. 
Not all other werewolves are dangerous. There's no danger from the
one we meet in St Mungo's (unless you take his threat to bite Arthur
seriously) nor from those Newt Scamander describes in FB. Teddy
Lupin, who was considered as a cub, who was rejected, briefly,
even by his own father,  and would not have been allowed to live, 
much less attend Hogwarts, became an accepted member of society. 


Lizzyben:
> In every subplot, Harry & Hermione go from tolerance of these magical
> creatures, to learning that they actually should have a second-class
> status in wizarding society. 

Pippin:
In every subplot, Harry and Hermione go from apathy or ignorant 
hope to the knowledge that  achieving a more equitable  society will
be difficult, but improvements can and should be made.  It might 
take them a long time to achieve full equality, especially  when
Voldemort and his allies tried to  kill off  everyone who makes a 
good argument for it, from Dobby to Dumbledore. It's left  to 
the survivors (and us) to see that those ideals do not perish. 

But what Harry, Ron and Hermione do about discrimination in their
world does not matter in the end. All that matters is what we do, in
ours. A glorious ending which gives you a happy feeling inside
will not raise the minimum wage or feed a hungry child (except 
insofar as JKR donates her earnings to  her causes. <g>)

The bigots are not right any more than Hagrid was right about
Slytherin, or Ron was right about poisonous mushrooms not
changing their spots. The only way the bigots will be right is
if people start believing that slow progress is the same as
no progress, so why even try? 

If you think that people will not be moved to struggle against
discrimination unless JKR shows them that it will be
easy, I can only say that I disagree. The struggle will be hard,
it may even sometimes go backwards. Harry's crucio was
a step in the wrong direction, IMO.  But if we suppose that nice
people are too good to use torture, we will not invest in ways to
prevent it, and if we think that good people who do wrong
will always recognize their faults then we won't investigate,
or we won't believe the investigators. 

To those who feel that a realistic treatment of civil rights takes 
them out of the story, well, maybe that's the idea. It's just possible 
that JKR thinks civil rights are  more important than stories, 
you know? 

> lizzyben, realizing that Voldemort was actually more tolerant of
> magical creatures than the MOM was.
>

Pippin:
Oh, he could tolerate just about anything as long as he had a use
for it. He wasn't showing any tolerance towards Lupin's family, and he 
murdered goblin families and treated House Elves like vermin. 
But if you'd rather see him as a champion, go right ahead. You
won't be more wrong than young Regulus <g>

Pippin