(no subject)

[wellpresseddaisy]

Thinking more about house elves, because when are we not?

The house elves = slaves and only slaves, slavery is the only possible reading of their experience bugs me. House elves remind me more of a mashup of brownies (the inspiration) and the plight of servants before more modern times, especially in England (Being in service still isn’t absolutely amazing, but there are better rules out there. Whether or not they’re followed is another thing.).

You have your old family retainers like Kreacher who will never be let go because, honestly, they know too much, and your younger servants like Dobby, who want basic labor rights and to be treated like people.

Then, you have Winky. Winky was given clothes. Winky was equivalent to the person who worked in one house her whole life, made one mistake, and was dismissed without a character. Unfortunately for the Winkys of the real world, there wasn’t a Hogwarts for refuge. A servant without a character couldn’t get work in a respectable home where they would, hopefully, not be treated too horribly.