Literary Essay

        Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is about a teen-age boy wizard who has many adventures with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. In this world, there is magic, mythical creatures, and evil dark wizards like Harry's arch-enemy lord Voldemort. One kind of mythical creature is a house elf. House elves are elves that are the servants of wizards, they could also be considered slaves. And some wizards like Hermione believe that the enslavement of these creatures, while other wizards such as the Malfoys, an unfriendly wizard family that works for lord Voldemort, believe that house elves want to be enslaved and it is their purpose in life. But as these wizards argue over whether or not the elves should be free, we never get to hear what the elves actually think about their enslavement. J.K. Rowling often had someone's perspective missing in order to prove a point either about the characters or about issues in the real world. I believe that J.K. Rowling has the perspective of the house elves on this matter on purpose.

         One reason that I think the author did this is in order to represent how slaves were in real life. For example, in the 13 colonies, slaves were unallowed to speak when they were not given permission. Also when slavery was debated in the United States, liberals and conservatives argued about whether slavery should be abolished but the actual people who were enslaved had no political voice and so they could not give their own opinion, so their perspectives were missing much like that of the house elves.

         Another reason why I think the author did this is because, now that the perspective of the house elves is missing, this makes it so the perspectives and opinions of all of the other characters more important. In most situations that involve inhumane behavior, the perspective of the victim is obviously the most important. But now that the perspective of the victim is not available, readers will be forced to pick sides and have their own opinion about the subject. This makes reading this more interactive and interesting.

         Another reason why I think that the author did this is because she wanted to show how when people argue, they are so stubborn that they don't even care about what the person whose actual problem it is has to say. For example, when someone is getting bullied (like the house elves) by a bully (the Malfoys) and someone comes to stand up for them (Hermione), the people who are standing up for the victim can get so into the argument that the issue now seems like it is between the bully and them. This is how many fights can go and this is portrayed in the issue of the house elves' silence.

        Having the perspective of the house elves missing is in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for many reasons, and most likely for more than just representing how slavery was dealt with in the real world, giving the other characters more say and giving the readers a chance to have their own opinion about the subject, or demonstrating how many arguments evolve in real life. But finding how this issue can lead to deeper meanings and themes is just one more reason why reading Harry Potter is an enjoyable experience. 

Link to original post: www.hereabookthereabook.blogspot.com post name: Whose Perspective is missing in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.