House elves and some spoilers for Swordspoint WAS: realistic solutions

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 180986

> Alla:
> I never argued that elves are like animals, but I most certainly 
> refuse to consider them to be RL equivalent of RL slaves, because to 
> me they are not. By virtue of living in a different society if 
> nothing else and of course by the fact that they do like to serve 
> and belong to wizards.

Montavilla47:
A different society from what?  My society (United States)
supposedly doesn't have slaves at all.  So, contrasting the 
house-elf slaves from concept of slavery in my society
as being different is quite odd, since we don't have slaves.
(Barring a few illegal situations that one hears about, such
as the company that imported Indian electronic workers and
kept them as virtual slaves in their factory, or the 
distressingly common stories of women who are tricked into
econmoic slavery and prostitution.)

But I also remember reading a description of John Randolph, 
returning to his Virginia plantation (back when slavery was 
legal).  According to this description, the 200 slaves were 
overcome with joy to see him, hugging him and crying, and
clinging to his sleeves.  

I've always wondered, since reading that mini-passage, 
what was truly going on.  Were these two hundred slaves
really that happy to see the man who owned them?  Was
he (a well-known drunkard and foul tempered man) so
much better than his neighbors that they wept so?  Or
was it an elaborate deception they pulled off in order to
keep him feeling secure?   Or perhaps an outright lie
by the person writing that description?  

Whatever was going on, it sounds remarkably similar
to the way that JKR depicts the house-elves, who 
are so eager to please the masters they love.

To be honest, for me, it's quite understandable that
in a society where slavery is practiced, that a slave
could love his or her master and even prefer the 
security of slavery to the vaguaries of freedom.  Those
1000 concubines of Solomon might have been very
happy to be a concubine, rather than starving with
their families.

But, whether the slaves like it or not, slavery is still
slavery.  Since JKR herself used that word to describe
the house-elf/wizard master relationship, and 
none of the characters in the books (even Ron, who
opposes Hermione's SPEW attempts) bother to 
deny that description, I don't know why we're 
trying so hard to find another word.  Surely, if the 
relationship were something different from slavery,
then Ron would tell Hermione that, wouldn't he?

Montavilla47