Faith of GeekyZooGirl and Micheline of Lunar Rainbow Reviews are hosting the Harry Potter Month in July!! Of course, Harry's birthday is in July so it's a celebration! I am competing for my House Cup as well for Ravenclaw. As most of you know, I adore Harry Potter so this month will be full of even more Potter goodness at JC's Book Haven.
If you haven't seen all the movies or read all the books - there are spoilers ahead.
YE BE WARNED.
YE BE WARNED.
S.P.E.W.
Ron: "Never heard of it."
Hermione: "Well, of course you haven't. I've only just started it."
Ron: "And how many members do you have?"
Hermione: "Well, if you two join, three."
S.P.E.W. is the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare and was created by Hermione when she saw how Winky was treated at the Quidditch World Cup. From that point on, she became highly motivated to change House Elf rights and bring them justice. Nothing about S.P.E.W. is in the films.
What I loved about this is seeing Hermione champion the little guys. As a muggle born, she wasn't raised with the 'this is just how it is' philosophy that the wizard born were. She couldn't fathom how the wizards could force these magical beings into what was basically slavery and tell them they couldn't have a wand. I have to say that I agree with her as any form of slavery is vile.
So she decided to start a society that Ron and Harry were basically told they were going to join. Very few others joined as well, but those that did were due to Hermione's incessant badgering with her tin box collecting the 2 sickles for membership. Since Hermione wasn't making a lot of progress with getting memberships, she decided to stay up knitting clothes for the House Elves that cleaned the Gryffindor common room to find and be free. The problem was, the House Elves did actually enjoy their job and found Hermione's actions insulting to their race. They all quit cleaning the Gryffindor common room and left the job up to Dobby to do alone. He didn't mind this as it meant he got to be around his favorite people so no one told Hermione because they didn't want to hurt her feelings. Dobby collected all the clothes for himself and Winky since they were both free already.
While we don't see any real conclusion for S.P.E.W. in the books, I'd like to think Hermione continues her work down the road and brings about some change that is acceptable to House Elves.
What we do see though is a change of heart close to home:
Ron Weasley: "Hang on a moment! We've forgotten someone! The house-elves, they'll all be down in the kitchen, won't they?"
Harry Potter: "You mean we ought to get them fighting?"
Ron Weasley: "No, I mean we should tell them to get out. We don't want any more Dobbies, do we? We can’t order them to die for us–"
Hermione: "Well, of course you haven't. I've only just started it."
Ron: "And how many members do you have?"
Hermione: "Well, if you two join, three."
S.P.E.W. is the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare and was created by Hermione when she saw how Winky was treated at the Quidditch World Cup. From that point on, she became highly motivated to change House Elf rights and bring them justice. Nothing about S.P.E.W. is in the films.
What I loved about this is seeing Hermione champion the little guys. As a muggle born, she wasn't raised with the 'this is just how it is' philosophy that the wizard born were. She couldn't fathom how the wizards could force these magical beings into what was basically slavery and tell them they couldn't have a wand. I have to say that I agree with her as any form of slavery is vile.
While we don't see any real conclusion for S.P.E.W. in the books, I'd like to think Hermione continues her work down the road and brings about some change that is acceptable to House Elves.
What we do see though is a change of heart close to home:
Ron Weasley: "Hang on a moment! We've forgotten someone! The house-elves, they'll all be down in the kitchen, won't they?"
Harry Potter: "You mean we ought to get them fighting?"
Ron Weasley: "No, I mean we should tell them to get out. We don't want any more Dobbies, do we? We can’t order them to die for us–"
This statement and the profound effect it had on Hermione, causes her to kiss Ron.
The House Elves did join the fight anyway led by Kreacher, but they did so on their own accord.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love comments and read every one of them! Since they are an award in themselves, this is an award-free blog. Thank you though for the consideration!