House Elves, Slavery, OMGILUVHARRYPOTTER

Well, today in class we tried to draw parallels between house elves and slaves.  It was mentioned that it was surprising that JK Rowling would put a....less than modern issue in her book?  Is that how it was worded?  Well, it was to the effect that slavery in the literal sense seemed outdated.  However, I may have misinterpreted this because I was up at the midnight premiere.  Anyway, I'd just like to say that I think slavery is very modern and is in keeping with the ideals that JK tries to put forth with her books: unconditional love, equality, questioning the norms and doing what is right. 

Even the outfits symbolize their different mindsets. Both in the rags of their masters, but with different outlooks, dark and light.  I love finding symbolism in unlikely and unintentional places!

Dobby's plight is really poignant because he can never really break free of this stereotype. However, he tries and I think this makes him incredibly sympathetic.  He's spunky.  He still falls back into the slave mindset, but breaking your mind free of any behavior takes a great deal of time and work.  Rock on, Dobby.  I hope there are socks in heaven.
Contrast that with Kreacher, and it's even better.  He's stuck in the rut of the slave, but he's less sympathetic because he revels in the stereotypes that he was taught.  He blindly goes with what his former masters said, mudbloods are bad.  Pure bloods are good.  (Four legs good, two legs better?) However, I almost see Kreacher as more sympathetic and more telling as to what being enslaved can do to you.  Keep telling someone the same thing over and over again, and they'll believe it.  Not right away, but eventually, you start to wonder, you know.
Another interesting thing about house elves.  They're tied to houses, not to families.  What a cool parallel considering the whole economic aspect of having slaves.  Having a house elf makes you a  rich owner first, a lazy jerk second.  Tie that in again with some house elves enjoying slavery...Rock on Rowling.  I found it more relevant than a lot of things we've been talking about lately.  Life is complicated, stereotypes are more than just the mindset of the oppressors.  Relevant in any context.