A free elf
It’s that time of the year when JK Rowling apologises to her fans for yet another death in the Harry Potter series.
May 2nd marks the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts and while every year she expresses grief over the death of someone who lost their life in the battle, this year she moved away from tradition and apologised for the death of Dobby.
It was a well-deserved apology because if it weren’t for Dobby, the people who would win the Battle of Hogwarts would never have been alive.
Dobby who gets introduced to us in Book 2 is quirky and oftentimes irritating too, but that is only because of his deep sense of loyalty to Harry. On several situations in the books when Harry is stuck, unexpected help has come to him in the form of Dobby.
While Harry does a great service to Dobby by cleverly giving him a sock to free him, yet there are occasions when I have felt Harry should have been a little more expressive of his thanks to Dobby. Not that the elf expected it.
But for all those omissions, Harry makes it up in a most beautifully touching manner by honouring his death by manually digging a grave for Dobby. That is one of the most heart-rending scenes of the book.
Dobby was an elf who understood the dignity of labour. While he cherished his freedom and was proud to receive wages for his work, he also respected the fact that his fellow elves did not share his sentiments about freedom.
So, here’s to Dobby, the little free elf who in death takes a large part of our heart with him!
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt May 5, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/92853c3b-9d56-43ba-a63e-e76cf33a29e7.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
May 2nd marks the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts and while every year she expresses grief over the death of someone who lost their life in the battle, this year she moved away from tradition and apologised for the death of Dobby.
It was a well-deserved apology because if it weren’t for Dobby, the people who would win the Battle of Hogwarts would never have been alive.
Dobby who gets introduced to us in Book 2 is quirky and oftentimes irritating too, but that is only because of his deep sense of loyalty to Harry. On several situations in the books when Harry is stuck, unexpected help has come to him in the form of Dobby.
While Harry does a great service to Dobby by cleverly giving him a sock to free him, yet there are occasions when I have felt Harry should have been a little more expressive of his thanks to Dobby. Not that the elf expected it.
But for all those omissions, Harry makes it up in a most beautifully touching manner by honouring his death by manually digging a grave for Dobby. That is one of the most heart-rending scenes of the book.
Dobby was an elf who understood the dignity of labour. While he cherished his freedom and was proud to receive wages for his work, he also respected the fact that his fellow elves did not share his sentiments about freedom.
So, here’s to Dobby, the little free elf who in death takes a large part of our heart with him!
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt May 5, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/92853c3b-9d56-43ba-a63e-e76cf33a29e7.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
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