Blog 2 Drew Mannix

One issue that is addressed in the Harry Potter books that we’ve read so far that has really made me think was the issue of the enslavement of the house elves. This issue brings up several issues in our culture today, including slavery and free will. In the books we see that many of the house elves that work for the more prestigious wizarding family’s seem to have the belief that serving the families is what their purpose in life is. They seem to have zero desire to escape the clutches of enslavement; feeling entitled to serve these wizarding families.            Obviously there are themes of slavery in Harry Potter when house-elves are concerned. Like slaves, they have to obey theyre masters, but also like slaves they don't have to like it. House elves that are mistreated tend to reluctantly follow their masters orders and look for any loophole to get out of the orders. For example, when Sirius yelled at kreacher to "get out," which he meant to get out of the kitchen, Kreacher was able to interpret the command in a way that enabled him to leave the house and go to Bellatrix Lestrange. The biggest impact that can come to a house-elve’s life is if and when their master presents them with clothes. This is to mean that their master sets them free to live their own lives and escape the world of enslavement that they are living in.  This to me has huge meaning. House-elves have so little dignity that just by being presented clothes they can be free.