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The complex issue of house elves
Jul. 27th, 2013 06:13 amThis was originally started as a comment about Ron's attitude toward house elves:
I don't think Ron was wrong about house elves. All the evidence of all the books is that house elves genuinely like serving humans, and don't want to be free; Dobby was a weirdo, like Hagrid said.
For a long time, I've thought that Hermione is a symbol for all the privileged people who try to talk for oppressed people without actually bothering to find out what those oppressed people actually want. I don't think house elves are meant to symbolize human slavery. House elves are not humans; their motivations, habits, wants, and needs are different from those of humans. Even freed, Dobby genuinely loves work, genuinely loves serving humans, and while he wants paying, he doesn't want much because work is almost its own reward for Dobby. And his final act is protecting his favorite human, giving his life to do so.
House elves aren't the only non-human sophonts in the Harry Potter series that have very different motivations from humans. The centaurs don't seem to care much for magic or advancing their technology beyond bows and arrows; instead, they're obsessed with star-gazing and reading the future. So is it so unusual to think that maybe house elves DO like being slaves?
Should house elves be treated better? Of course. But Hermione charges ahead thinking she knows what they want, ignoring all the evidence that contradicts her flawed reasoning. She's the perfect symbol of all that's wrong with "white savior" types both in fiction and in reality. And I don't think she ever did realize that she was doing anything wrong.
I think this series needs a sequel, where the rest of the issues remaining, like house elves, are tackled. But then, it's also kind of perfect without that.
I don't think Ron was wrong about house elves. All the evidence of all the books is that house elves genuinely like serving humans, and don't want to be free; Dobby was a weirdo, like Hagrid said.
For a long time, I've thought that Hermione is a symbol for all the privileged people who try to talk for oppressed people without actually bothering to find out what those oppressed people actually want. I don't think house elves are meant to symbolize human slavery. House elves are not humans; their motivations, habits, wants, and needs are different from those of humans. Even freed, Dobby genuinely loves work, genuinely loves serving humans, and while he wants paying, he doesn't want much because work is almost its own reward for Dobby. And his final act is protecting his favorite human, giving his life to do so.
House elves aren't the only non-human sophonts in the Harry Potter series that have very different motivations from humans. The centaurs don't seem to care much for magic or advancing their technology beyond bows and arrows; instead, they're obsessed with star-gazing and reading the future. So is it so unusual to think that maybe house elves DO like being slaves?
Should house elves be treated better? Of course. But Hermione charges ahead thinking she knows what they want, ignoring all the evidence that contradicts her flawed reasoning. She's the perfect symbol of all that's wrong with "white savior" types both in fiction and in reality. And I don't think she ever did realize that she was doing anything wrong.
I think this series needs a sequel, where the rest of the issues remaining, like house elves, are tackled. But then, it's also kind of perfect without that.
