In Defense of Hermione and identity clarification

[j.franklin at mail.utexas.edu]

No: HPFGUIDX 26636

Hi,
First...after my first post somebody (sorry can't remember who) wrote 
that they thougth I might be J.F. Ranklin (I don't know who that it 
is) so I wanted to clarify that I am not.  I am just a hopeless 
bookworm who is increasingly surprised at her fascination with Harry 
Potter books.  Sorry for the disapointment!
Secondly,  I would like to say that I think Hermione plays an 
increasingly important role as a social activist.  I know that there 
is a lot of controversy over whether she knows enough about the elves 
to properly do this so I am not going to go into that, but I have to 
say that I think her social activism is incredibly important.  As an 
American, I am dismayed by the lack of political interest among young 
people and instead the turn towards volunteerism (the New 
Volunteerism Movement across college campuses) not to say that 
volunteering is not incredibly important, but it does not offer any 
permanent solutions.  Perhaps Hermione's social activism was written 
by J.K Rowling in an attempt to encourage a new generation.  
Hermione's social conscience at such a young age is admirable 
especially in light of the coming choices between "what is right and 
what is easy."