The idiom ‘working like slaves’ has been altered to
fit into the magical world and has been replaced by the idiom ‘working like
house-elves’. Both expressions indicate very difficult, exhausting and hard
work without financial compensation.
As already
mentioned house-elves are the property of a wizard family and have to obey all
their orders. It is, therefore, appropriate to use the term house-elf instead
of slave due to the similarity of their fate. The use of house-elves as
substitution for human slaves shocks Hermione who was raised in the non-magical
world where slavery has already been abolished. She is particularly annoyed
when Ron is comparing doing his homework to the work of house-elves: “‘We’ve
been working like house-elves here!’ Hermione raised her eyebrows. ‘It’s just
an expression,’ said Ron hastily.”[1]
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Ron repeats a similar exclamation “’I feel like a house-elf’” when his mother
tells him to help clean the house.[2] He
refers to the same circumstances. Both events suggest that it is a popular
expression in the wizarding community describing unpleasant, difficult and
unpaid work.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen