The Elf Manifesto

Part two - The Issue

Whereas the elf is helpful the goblin is selfish, greedy and aggressive. The greediness for example, has most likely been developed during goblin’s work a various wizard banks (although they seem to have been greedy earlier, implying that was not their first encounter with gold and riches). In the matter of appearance the elf and goblin are very much alike. Thus, they are presumably closely related. And since they do not only share appearances but they are both aware of their own existence, possess the ability to think and reason and come to conclusions and they are not ruled by instincts. Very much like the human being. And the human is shaped by its society, being raised under bad circumstances can force you to walk a criminal path in life. The human is not born a criminal, society makes you criminal.
The same goes for the elf and the goblin, they are not born but raised as they grow up to be.
If the elves were not being physically and mentally manipulated they too could start bloody rebellions, just like the goblin. But currently the elf does not have a say about his or her own quality of life or when given an order.
The elf is brainwashed, saying that slaving for the human is in the nature of the elf is as stupid as saying the suicide bomber figured out all for him-/herself that blowing yourself up is the best way to escape poverty. Suicide bombers are often poor and are promised a place in heaven for doing the assigned work, and maybe their whole family has been killed, with a little brainwashing a human in that state will easily do what she or he is commanded. Or, if the person has got a family the “employer” might threaten to kill them, if this person does not suicide bomb.
The witch and wizard have told and taught the elf that work is the most important thing in an elf life, and the only way to uphold the family honour, hence making freedom disgraceful.

Then we have the fact that the families who own an elf are mostly old and wealthy.
This strengthens the theory of the witch and wizard having manipulated the elf’s magic. Those who need the help the least gets it. And since this kind of wizard or witch often despise so called half-bloods, makes them even less deserving of this help.
Except elves working at private households they also work at different sorts of businesses, such as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. About a hundred elves work in the school’s kitchen, without payment, something that Professor Dumbledore surely would have given them if they wanted it. But because of the brainwashing mentioned above, they have of coursed turned down the offer.
The problem for elves who wants a salary is that they are frozen out by the other elves; they do not want to concern themselves with such acts as accepting a payment.

There are three elves whose lives are fairly well documented. All these elves belonged to families with ancestry way back.

The elf called Dobby belonged to the family Malfoy, a family with a great interest in the dark arts and contempt against those who are not pure-blooded, and are hence followers of Lord Voldemort. For how long Dobby slaved for the Malfoy’s is not known, however we know he did not like it there. He did not possess the same perverted hatred his family had, which did not pass them by.
Dobby was therefore many times forced to punish himself, and simply badly treated.
Despite his unwillingness to stay with this family his magic forced him.
Common punishments for Dobby were to bang his head against the wall or squeeze his ears in the oven door. Each time he did something he was not supposed to he had to punish himself.
A while later he was set free, but now he required payment for his labour.
However, people thought it to be very insolent, and Dobby had a hard time finding a job. After searching for about a year he thought of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (where he also brought the elf, Winky), where Dumbledore offered Dobby ten galleons a week, however he turned down the offer, saying it was enough with one galleon. The other elves working in the kitchen thinks Dobby is out of his mind.

And then there is Kreacher, who slaved for the Black family, a large and very old, pure-blooded family. The family did not exclusively consist of dark wizards who followed the agenda of Voldemort, Nymphadora Tonks (her mother married a muggle, which is probably the reason why she didn’t follow in her older relative’s footsteps) and Sirius Black are examples of this. Kreacher and his family have slaved for a family, obsessed with the dark arts, surely for two centuries, hence getting heavily influenced by their opinions. How Kreacher was treated we cannot know, but I am guessing, since he was satisfied with his master, they treated him okay (why he adopted their opinions). Though he wanted to have his head hung on a wall (symbolising loyalty to his family), together with the rest of his family. Kreacher’s preceding (his current master is Harry Potter) owner was Sirius Black, since all other males in the Black family were dead. Kreacher did not like this at all; in fact his situation was and is a lot similar to Dobby’s. He hated Sirius Black, since he was a blood traitor and therefore “broke his mother’s heart”, who Kreacher adored.
He was constantly looking for loopholes in the orders he was given and whispering insults to both Black and those staying at his place.
When Sirius Black died the ownership of Kreacher passed on to his godson, Harry Potter, who inherited number twelve, Grimmauld Place, in which Kreacher was included. And Kreacher hated him as much as he had hated Sirius Black. So Professor Dumbledore figured the best thing for them both would be to send Kreacher to Hogwarts’ kitchen to work together with the other elves, including Dobby.

The elf Winky belonged to the family Crouch. Where she was often forced to do things she was scared of. For instance, during the Quidditch World Cup she had to hold a seat in one of the top rows of the stands, even though she is afraid of heights.
However, Winky liked her family. I have reasons to believe this was due to the fact she spent so much time with Bartemius Crouch jr, she was set to watch him, since he was officially dead. The truth is, as we all know, that Bartemius Crouch jr switched places with his dying mother, adapting her appearance using Polyjuice Potion.
I believe Mrs Crouch often sought Winky’s comfort, none them knew (or didn’t want to know) whether Crouch jr was guilty or not. Mrs Crouch probably told sentimental childhood stories about her son, with Winky immediately gaining sympathy for him.
And then when Winky was to watch Crouch jr it was not hard for him to manipulate her in order to gain enough benefits to break the Imperius curse put upon him and find his master, Lord Voldemort. Winky felt sorry for him and persuaded Crouch sr to let him come see the Quidditch World Cup. At the World Cup he took his chance, he was too strong for Winky, and succeeded in conjuring the Dark Mark. Bartemius Crouch sr was furious with Winky and fired her on spot, Winky was devastated.
Nowadays Winky is drenching her sorrows in alcohol at the Hogwarts’ kitchen, the loss of Crouch sr and Crouch jr struck her little heart hard.

Distinguishing oneself in the world of elves is almost suicidal, as amongst humans and mainly women, you will be looked upon like some kind of freak; people will talk behind your back and they will definitely not talk with you. You will be rejected by society; it’s an ancient way of shaping people into a certain form, determined by those who rule society.
As I have already stated the elf is not allowed to show dissatisfaction (though Kreacher can, probably because neither he nor his family thought of Sirius Black as a “real” Black, due to his sympathies), the elf’s opinion does not matter, the decision lies with the master alone. Both Dobby and Kreacher wanted another master, but that was out of the question. This resembles slavery, which was officially illegalised long ago - but is all but extinct.
Kreacher development is unusual; I believe most elves (slaving for private persons) are either hateful (which they are not allowed to express in words nor gestures) or apathetic in their attitude towards their “families”. I have already given a reason for this conclusion, but it is worth repeating, the elf is slaving for the wealthy and pure-blooded, those who often despise non-human creatures and half-bloods. Therefore it is only natural that they do not treat their non-human slaves with respect.
Winky was an exception since the mother of the family was a wreck and the son gained her trust through sympathy. On the other hand, Crouch sr did not put much love into his relation with Winky. Her love to him was not of devotion but of tradition.