Final thoughts on Harry surviving....

[bgrugin]

No: HPFGUIDX 171596

"Geoff Bannister" <gbannister10 at ...> wrote:
 
 
> I  believe that if JKR kills Harry, it will send the wrong messages 
to many of the younger readers of the books. In the UK at least, one 
> result of the books has been an explosion in the number of boys 
> reading; they had been notoriously unwilling to sit with a book 
> until PS and its successors appeared. As a result, many boys look 
> to Harry as a role model, particularly those who had a low self-
esteem. 
 They now have a poster boy. So, what happens if Harry dies? To all 
these fans, their dreams and fantasies are blown away in a moment and 
> they are back in the unforgiving real world.


MusicalBetsy here:
I understand exactly how you feel, Geoff.  In the US it has been the 
same - many more boys AND girls are reading than before, and it's been 
great to have a role model like Harry.  However, JKR has had this story 
planned for many years, and I just don't see her changing it because 
more children are reading and because it might have a negative impact 
on their views of Harry as a role model.  Yes, it would be great if 
this fact would sway her decision into letting Harry live, but I really 
don't think any of this matters to her.  It's her story, and she's said 
many times that she's going to tell it her way.

Now, that being said, that doesn't mean I believe Harry will die - I 
sure hope not!!  To be honest, I would be really devastated.  We all 
know that she chose to give one character a reprieve that wasn't 
originally planned - but I would bet just about anything that the 
character was NOT Harry (yes, I'll be putting more than my foot in my 
mouth when I'm proved wrong!).

Well, I guess we'll all see in just a little over a week...ooh, the 
waiting is killing me!!

MusicalBetsy, whose town has declared July 21 "Harry Potter Day" - so 
cool!