Well, the impression I got from the brownie stories, and tried to express in that picture, was that giving them clothes is offensive because it suggests they are dependent on your bounty; they'll work for you for a pittance, say a bowl of milk or whatever, but they insist on their own independence.
In which context, it's worth noting that only Dobby welcomes clothing and refers to his place in the Malfoy household as "enslavement". I think it's a place to start in trying to understand why the other house-elves "don't want freedom"; what they don't want is to have their freedom served up to them as a gift by oh-so-magnanimous humans. They find it patronizing.
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Date: 2004-10-21 05:34 pm (UTC)In which context, it's worth noting that only Dobby welcomes clothing and refers to his place in the Malfoy household as "enslavement". I think it's a place to start in trying to understand why the other house-elves "don't want freedom"; what they don't want is to have their freedom served up to them as a gift by oh-so-magnanimous humans. They find it patronizing.