[HPforGrownups] Re: CHAPTER DISCUSSION Chamber of Secrets Ch. 3, The Burrow

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 188762

pippin_999 wrote:
> The Weasleys are morally outraged over the mistreatment of Harry,indifferent to the plight of the Elves (Molly'd like one to do the ironing), and downright hostile to the Gnomes. I don't think that's inattention on JKR's part. It's a deliberate irony, IMO, aimed at showing the reader  that moral outrage over the plight of the oppressed is a lot less consistent and a lot more category dependent than the innocent believe. IMO, it's something she very much wants us to think about.

Bart:
There was one aspect of house elves that confused the hell out of me. 
Where do new house elves come from? Is it that they can only die a 
violent death? From Dobby's ability to act after severe self-punishment, 
it does appear that they have a very rapid healing capability. Can they 
have children? If so, what happens to them?

When Winky was freed, I know that the Hogwarts kitchens took her in, but 
it seemed to me that the ideal place for a house elf, based on what we 
see of their psychology, would be a loving but well-organized home. The 
Weasleys would have been a perfect place for Winky to go; they would 
have treated her as one of the family (for better or worse). And it's 
not like she did much for the plotline. And note that, in spite of her 
protestations of being a "good house elf", she showed very little 
loyalty to her new job.

    It looks more and more to me that house elves are a form of golems 
or homonculi.

    Bart