[KayQy]

<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Wight
Posts: 161</TD><TD></TD></TR></TABLE>
To beat a dead horse...

I have read HP, and liked it a lot, but I never really noticed any similarities between it and LotR, except for the common fantasy ones. If you want to see a cheap imitation, try The Sword of Shannara. Plagiarism if I ever saw it... but I've mentioned that in other threads, so I'll leave that horse alone and go on to the next one:

HP's morals. Okay, they could be better, definitely, but you've got to remember:
1. Where he's coming from. He was orphaned as a baby and has lived with a nasty family that despises and fears him nearly all his life. We can't all be Cinderellas here. Plus, at school, he has very mean enemies, both teachers and classmates, often disguised as friends, not to mention powerful, evil wizards out to kill him, his friends, and a lot of other people.
2. He's a kid. He's still learning about things, hitting those &quot;rebellious teenage years.&quot; And he does apologize for things, just generally in that reluctant, embarassed way that most people have (because who likes to admit they were wrong?)
3. He isn't a model of purity, but he's still trying to do the right thing. He sticks up for people, saves them, and learns that even people who don't like each other can still be on the same side.

I could probably go on, but I think this is quite long enough. Basically I think he is doing the best he can under the burdens he has.

They cannot conquer forever!</p>