This morning was a stressful one for me. I had two classes today beginning at 10:00 am and continuing straight through until 12:45 pm. I didn't quite make it to class today. And not because I am a slacker, quite the opposite. I'm always the only one who did the reading the night before and prepares questions for the professor. But I digress. I'll tell you why I skipped school today.
As a student at Metro State College of Denver, which is on the Auraria Campus downtown (the campus also houses CU Denver and the Community College of Denver), I can ride the RTD buses and light rail for free with my student ID. Which is nice, since parking at the school runs anywhere from $2.50 to $5.00 a day, depending on how far away you leave your car. The light rail stops right at Colfax and 9th Street Park, which is about 20 yards from my 10:00 am class.
Anyway, I live in the suburbs so taking the light rail means I drive about 5 miles to get to the Park & Ride, where I leave my car while I go to school. I say "leave my car" rather ironically, as there is NEVER ANY DAMN PARKING at the "Park" & Ride.
Usually I have to serriptitiously park *around* the Park & Ride, where ever I can find a spot that won't leave me subject to a ticket, or worse, a tow.
Now this really irks me.
There is a continuous flow of chatter coming from RTD and various city councils in the Denver metro area regarding why suburbanites who work downtown should take more advantage of RTD (air pollution! rising gas prices! work on the way to work!), especially since the Southwest Corridor project has been in operation. The truth is that many SW suburbanites *do* take advantage of the light rail.
HOWEVER.
There are only about 20- count 'em out loud, 20- parking spots at the downtown Littleton Park & Ride. Tell me how I am supposed to catch a 9:35 train when every single parking spot was filled up at 7:00 am that morning?
Granted, RTD did not make their $1.25 from me, and they don't any other day because my ride is free. But Metro State paid for my Eco-Pass, which means that I am a customer, and I deserve Customer Service. And what about the other people who would or would have ridden the light rail today if they had found a place to park? Not all of them are students, I can guarantee that, so probably would have paid the $1.25. Who can afford to walk away from that kind of money?
Apparently RTD can.
HEY DUMMIES!! How 'bout putting together some parking at the Park & Rides? Just a crazy suggestion, I admit. But it just might be crazy enough to work...
P.S. I later drove by the Park & Ride at Ken Caryl & C-470. Which, incidentally, boasts about triple the number of parking spaces as Littleton. A Park & Ride that is served by exactly three buses, none of which go downtown. Guess how many parking spots were open at that Park & Ride? All of them.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Tookie Williams
Stanley "Tookie" Williams was executed early this morning at San Quentin Penitentiary.
There is a lot of hoohah about the Govenator's refusal to grant clemency and I have to say that I feel bad for the guy. No matter which decision he made, he was going to catch flak. I think in the end he just wanted to rely on the facts, which was that Williams had been treated to due process and there was nothing solid that refuted that he was indeed guilty of the 1979 murders.
I usually don't have any problem with the death penalty- not that I'm a big "give 'em what they deserve" kind of person, but I feel that if someone is a murderer, they are a threat to society in general, and as such, need to be eliminated. I also don't believe a word about Tookie's supporters' claims of his innocence. He was a *GD* gang member. In fact, at the time of these crimes, he was THE Gang Member. Of course he killed those people. There is no doubt in my mind.
But as human beings, we have to believe in redemption and forgiveness. The man has done a lot since then. The statistics about kids he has saved from gangs speak for themselves in my opinion. As the OG himself, there was nobody in a better position to speak to kids facing the decisions that those kids face. And it's so stinking easy for us to sit in our upper-middle class suburban homes at our $2000 laptop and talk about inner-city youth when we have absolutely no idea what it is like for kids thinking about joining a gang because they would be getting a "family" (because they don't have a dad and their pregnant mom is home passed out on crack and they're not even sure how or if they're related to the other people living at their house) for the first time. "College" is not a word in these kids' vocabulary.
I don't believe Tookie posed a threat to society for the last years of his life and I think he could have continued to do good for the rest of his life had he been granted clemency.
I take comfort in the vestiges of Catholic training still thriving in the cobwebby corners of my mind.
I'm sure St. Peter took Tookie in at the Pearly Gates this morning.
I'm sure Tookie found peace this morning, perhaps for the first time.
There is a lot of hoohah about the Govenator's refusal to grant clemency and I have to say that I feel bad for the guy. No matter which decision he made, he was going to catch flak. I think in the end he just wanted to rely on the facts, which was that Williams had been treated to due process and there was nothing solid that refuted that he was indeed guilty of the 1979 murders.
I usually don't have any problem with the death penalty- not that I'm a big "give 'em what they deserve" kind of person, but I feel that if someone is a murderer, they are a threat to society in general, and as such, need to be eliminated. I also don't believe a word about Tookie's supporters' claims of his innocence. He was a *GD* gang member. In fact, at the time of these crimes, he was THE Gang Member. Of course he killed those people. There is no doubt in my mind.
But as human beings, we have to believe in redemption and forgiveness. The man has done a lot since then. The statistics about kids he has saved from gangs speak for themselves in my opinion. As the OG himself, there was nobody in a better position to speak to kids facing the decisions that those kids face. And it's so stinking easy for us to sit in our upper-middle class suburban homes at our $2000 laptop and talk about inner-city youth when we have absolutely no idea what it is like for kids thinking about joining a gang because they would be getting a "family" (because they don't have a dad and their pregnant mom is home passed out on crack and they're not even sure how or if they're related to the other people living at their house) for the first time. "College" is not a word in these kids' vocabulary.
I don't believe Tookie posed a threat to society for the last years of his life and I think he could have continued to do good for the rest of his life had he been granted clemency.
I take comfort in the vestiges of Catholic training still thriving in the cobwebby corners of my mind.
I'm sure St. Peter took Tookie in at the Pearly Gates this morning.
I'm sure Tookie found peace this morning, perhaps for the first time.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Veteran's Day Musings Part II
Veterans get some cool benefits (other than burial benefits) simply by being veterans, did you know ? Disabled veteran-owned businesses are eligible for set-aside procurements if they want to sell to the government. A set-aside, to simplify, is a procurement in which the government can contract with one company without sending it out to the great unwashed for competition. There are some rules, like the contracting officer has to do some basic market research to make sure that the products or services are acceptable quality and the prices are considered competitive. But it's a really great way for small veteran-owned businesses to get some business (translation: money) from the government.
The company I work for is veteran-owned, and a few months back I attended a conference for veteran-owned businesses who want to sell to the government. As you can imagine, most of the businesses were startups and very small businesses, so many of the attendees were owners and senior management personnel, i.e., the veterans themselves. Also, as you could probably imagine, these guys were in wheelchairs, missing arms, walking with canes, and one guy had an eye patch.
At the end of the conference, the shuttle bus from the nearby hotel came to pick up those out-of-towners that were staying in the hotel. Many of them needed assistance in and out of the vehicle. It took the busdriver and me, with assistance from two onlookers, together to get one fellow into the bus. And he was NOT an old decrepit geezer. He was definitely on the sunny side of fifty. I don't know how the driver got him out when they got to the hotel- hopefully they had some sprightly housemen on hand at the hotel.
And I started thinking: veterans get set-aside privileges, they get burial privileges, a lot of them collect a pension when they retire and many of them take advantage of things like the GI Bill. Pretty cool.
We do a lot of great things for those that lay their lives on the line for us. But are we doing enough?
The company I work for is veteran-owned, and a few months back I attended a conference for veteran-owned businesses who want to sell to the government. As you can imagine, most of the businesses were startups and very small businesses, so many of the attendees were owners and senior management personnel, i.e., the veterans themselves. Also, as you could probably imagine, these guys were in wheelchairs, missing arms, walking with canes, and one guy had an eye patch.
At the end of the conference, the shuttle bus from the nearby hotel came to pick up those out-of-towners that were staying in the hotel. Many of them needed assistance in and out of the vehicle. It took the busdriver and me, with assistance from two onlookers, together to get one fellow into the bus. And he was NOT an old decrepit geezer. He was definitely on the sunny side of fifty. I don't know how the driver got him out when they got to the hotel- hopefully they had some sprightly housemen on hand at the hotel.
And I started thinking: veterans get set-aside privileges, they get burial privileges, a lot of them collect a pension when they retire and many of them take advantage of things like the GI Bill. Pretty cool.
We do a lot of great things for those that lay their lives on the line for us. But are we doing enough?
Veteran's Day Musings
Tomorrow, November 11, 2005, is Veteran's Day. This holiday is always on the 11th- not the "third Thursday in November" (Thanksgiving), or the "second Sunday in May" (Mother's Day)- because it's the anniversary of the armistice between the Allies and Germany that ended the first World War. That's why it used to be called Armistice Day- in fact, I heard my grandpa call it that a couple times.
It was changed to Veteran's Day in the fifties by the Eisenhower administration because by then there were many veterans that had had nothing to do with WWI. So now it's a day to recognize everyone that went to war defending the United States.
Veteran's day causes conflicting feelings in me.
I thank Heaven Above every day that my husband is not in the military. In fact, had he been a military-type guy, I would not have been interested in him in the first place. I hate those guys- every one I've ever met of my age is an overly aggressive, close-minded, mysoginistic, homophobic bigot who believes that loud and/or drunk is a substitute for brains.
But aside from the fact that a military family's life is inconvenient, unsettled and basically not your own, I can't stand the idea of sitting at home and wondering if someone else's husband is trying to kill mine today. I worry enough when he drives his motorcycle without his helmet.
I also pray every day that none of my kids will chose the military as a living. I read articles in the paper about the soldiers in Iraq that are being sent home because of injuries, or sent home in a box. Most of them are children- 18, 19 years old. BABIES. How in the world can a mother live through burying a strong, healthy and handsome son?
However, I am an American. Additionally, as a former American History major, I HAVE to recognize the fact that it's very likely we'd all be talking with English accents and having tea instead of supper if the original US military had not won the Revolutionary War. Or we'd be clicking our heels and sticking our arms in the air had the War Department not prevailed over the Nazi threat. (In fact, I have to recognize that it's possible I wouldn't be here at all- my non-Aryan familial line would probably had been destroyed had the Nazis ever had the chance to invade North America.)
I also come from a line of veterans- My grandpa served the army valiantly in WWII, and was terribly injured. This was at a time when hordes of newly arrived Mexican-Americans signed up willingly and eagerly to fight for the freedoms of their adopted homeland, and then were thanked when they came home by getting beaten to death in the streets for wearing zoot suits or speaking Spanish in public. No wonder assimilation was so attractive to his generation, a phenomenon which ironically caused the Chicanismo/Brown Power movements during their offspring's generation.
My dad served bravely in the Navy during Vietnam. He chose to go, though many of his friends were finding ways out of service. He was not thanked at all when he came back. Though he will be eligible for burial in Fort Logan when he moves on. Whoopie.
There is much wrong with the United States of America. Problems with unemployment, homelessness, etc and so forth. But it remains the greatest and strongest economy on earth, and the best example of democracy and freedom that has ever existed.
If not for the Veterans who have fought bravely in every war since Colonial times, America would be a different place: Would my husband have the choice to not be in the military? Would my son? Would I have the freedom to post on this blog how glad I am that we are not a military family? Would I be free to opine on the horrors of war and what a shame it is that we are killing our youth by sending them to a war I don't support? Would I be free to be vocally unsupportive of the war?
Probably not.
And for those freedoms I sincerely thank those that fight with the common virtue of uncommon valor, to paraphrase Admiral Nimitz at Iwo Jima.
It was changed to Veteran's Day in the fifties by the Eisenhower administration because by then there were many veterans that had had nothing to do with WWI. So now it's a day to recognize everyone that went to war defending the United States.
Veteran's day causes conflicting feelings in me.
I thank Heaven Above every day that my husband is not in the military. In fact, had he been a military-type guy, I would not have been interested in him in the first place. I hate those guys- every one I've ever met of my age is an overly aggressive, close-minded, mysoginistic, homophobic bigot who believes that loud and/or drunk is a substitute for brains.
But aside from the fact that a military family's life is inconvenient, unsettled and basically not your own, I can't stand the idea of sitting at home and wondering if someone else's husband is trying to kill mine today. I worry enough when he drives his motorcycle without his helmet.
I also pray every day that none of my kids will chose the military as a living. I read articles in the paper about the soldiers in Iraq that are being sent home because of injuries, or sent home in a box. Most of them are children- 18, 19 years old. BABIES. How in the world can a mother live through burying a strong, healthy and handsome son?
However, I am an American. Additionally, as a former American History major, I HAVE to recognize the fact that it's very likely we'd all be talking with English accents and having tea instead of supper if the original US military had not won the Revolutionary War. Or we'd be clicking our heels and sticking our arms in the air had the War Department not prevailed over the Nazi threat. (In fact, I have to recognize that it's possible I wouldn't be here at all- my non-Aryan familial line would probably had been destroyed had the Nazis ever had the chance to invade North America.)
I also come from a line of veterans- My grandpa served the army valiantly in WWII, and was terribly injured. This was at a time when hordes of newly arrived Mexican-Americans signed up willingly and eagerly to fight for the freedoms of their adopted homeland, and then were thanked when they came home by getting beaten to death in the streets for wearing zoot suits or speaking Spanish in public. No wonder assimilation was so attractive to his generation, a phenomenon which ironically caused the Chicanismo/Brown Power movements during their offspring's generation.
My dad served bravely in the Navy during Vietnam. He chose to go, though many of his friends were finding ways out of service. He was not thanked at all when he came back. Though he will be eligible for burial in Fort Logan when he moves on. Whoopie.
There is much wrong with the United States of America. Problems with unemployment, homelessness, etc and so forth. But it remains the greatest and strongest economy on earth, and the best example of democracy and freedom that has ever existed.
If not for the Veterans who have fought bravely in every war since Colonial times, America would be a different place: Would my husband have the choice to not be in the military? Would my son? Would I have the freedom to post on this blog how glad I am that we are not a military family? Would I be free to opine on the horrors of war and what a shame it is that we are killing our youth by sending them to a war I don't support? Would I be free to be vocally unsupportive of the war?
Probably not.
And for those freedoms I sincerely thank those that fight with the common virtue of uncommon valor, to paraphrase Admiral Nimitz at Iwo Jima.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Speculations and Assertions-The Power of Three
The power of three is not something that the writers of "Charmed" made up. This is actually a real belief within Wicca. I think that JKR, in her infinite knowledge, knew this and decided to expand upon this idea.
The trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron will be the triumvirate of triumph in Book 7.
Okay, that was a little melodramatic but you have to admit it was kinda clever...
The trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron will be the triumvirate of triumph in Book 7.
Okay, that was a little melodramatic but you have to admit it was kinda clever...
Speculations and Assertions- The Prophecy
Yes, I did promise some Harry Potter on this blog. I have a lot to say on the subject, and since this is my personal forum, I am pleased to NOT listen to other's ideas, NOT refrain from saying 'your ideas are stupid', and NOT have to try to get along with others.
These are MY assertions posted to MY blog. So there.
Harry: Live or Die?
Well, this is the big question, isn't it? Will our heroic hero make it past adolescence? Will the spectacled son of Lily and James bless their memories with grandchildren? Will the pure-hearted Harry triumph over the pure evil that is Lord Voldemort?
The Prophecy
There has been much speculation since Harry (and we) heard the prophecy in OoTP. For reference, here it is in its entirety: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...
Oooohhh, it's so tantalizing, yet tells us nothing. The only reason the Chosen One is Harry is because Voldemort chose Harry. Coulda, shoulda, woulda been Neville.
Here is where I need to digress into the story of our friend Oedipus. No incest jokes please. If you're in any way familiar with the story, you know that Oedipus didn't crush on his mom in the way that the Freudian concept implies. In fact, Oedipus didn't even know Jocasta, who became his wife, was his mom. Neither did she. These events are actually incidental to the story- it's not about sleeping with your mom, it's about not being able to escape your fate. (among other things. Apologies to you classical scholars out there for my pedestrian interpretation.)
Oedipus' father was told a prophecy made about his son killing him and sleeping with Jocasta. In reaction, he sent his infant son with a shepherd who was supposed to leave him to die on a mountain. Of course, the shepherd takes pity on the baby and gives him to a shepherd buddy, who takes him far away and presents him to his own king, who raises him as his own.
Oedipus is later given the same prophecy his father was- Oedipus will kill his father and sleep with his mother. Thinking the people who raised him are his parents, he leaves home to keep the prophecy from happening.
On his travels, he comes across a traveling party, gets in an altercation with the leader and kills him. Of course, this man is his father, just nobody knows it yet. Part one of the prophecy comes true.
I'm not going to go into the sphinx thingy here- if you want to know about it, read the story yourself. The next series of events end with Oedipus being given the throne vacated by the man he just killed, plus the hand of Jocasta, his widow. And Oedipus' mother, BTW. Part two of the prophecy- done. You can't escape your fate.
There is more to the story involving Oedipus unknowingly setting a nasty curse upon himself and his kingdom, but again, if you want to know about all that, read it yourself.
George Lucas also borrowed from Oedipus when he created the Star Wars universe. To summarize: It was prophesied that a force-strong individual would emerge, gain power and bring balance to the Force (more apologies to you SW-heads out there). We all believe it's supposed to be Anakin Skywalker (played in the movies by the delicious Hayden Christenson), and at the end of episode three, an anguished Obi-Wan (played by the equally appetizing Ewan McGregor, one of my personal all-time favorites, but anyway) screams at a bleeding and dying Anakin, "You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to destroy the Sith! Not join them!"
A couple decades go by, Anakin is now the feared Sith Lord Darth Vader, the Emperor's evil puppet; young Luke learns the truth about his family, tries to reach his father through the power of love; Vader eventually succumbs to the Light and kills the Emperor. Thus the prophecy is fulfilled, just not as we expected. Again, you can't escape your fate. Anakin was meant to destroy the Sith, and he did. (Now I know that in the SW books the Emperor pulls a Voldemort-like resurrection and goes on in Emperor-like fashion with a new body. But that's not what we're talking about here, so let it go.)
Now we know that the inimitable Joanne Rowling studied the classics in school, so she is of course in the position to borrow from and expand on the Oedipus theme. Prophecies are a tricky business, something that Dumbledore has a hard time pounding into Harry's head during their private lessons. In Oedipus' case the fact that he put so much store in the prophecy led to it coming true. This is also the mistake that Voldy makes- if he hadn't believed it so much, he wouldn't have tried to kill Harry, an act which actually made Harry more powerful and more likely and able to completely destroy Voldy.
Another tricky thing about this particular prophecy is the fact that Voldy only heard, apparently, the part that said the one with the power to vanquish Voldy will be born at the end of July to parents that have defied him three times. He doesn't know that he himself will mark the baby as his equal, nor that either must die at the other's hands because they can't coexist. Voldy only thinks that Harry has the power to kill Voldy. That's why Voldy tried to kill Harry before he got the chance.
Anyway, to answer the question, "Will Harry survive to the end?" I think he will, for a couple reasons. First, and probably the most pragmatic, the entire series is seen through the Harry-filter. Though written in the omniscient POV, it is really a story about Harry. The two opening scenes of HBP seem to challenge this, since they happen without Harry and Harry doesn't even learn about the events that transpire in them, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
The second reason I believe Harry will survive is because I just don't believe that JKR would do that to us, or to herself. She knows we love Harry, we know she loves Harry, we love her and she loves us, so I just don't think she will kill him off.
But thirdly, I just can't believe that she will totally abandon her recurring themes of good triumphing over evil and love being more powerful than hate. The entire thing won't make sense, literally and literarily (is that a word?). Though I do believe Harry will be greviously injured and those he loves will be injured and/or killed. Particularly the poor Weasleys will be affected- Harry loves them too much.
But again back to the Oedipal tie-in. Truth is, Harry can't avoid his fate. *Harry* knows that he and Voldy can't both live vis a vie the prophecy, but Harry's personal motivation is getting rid of evil in the personification of Voldy- not fulfilling the prophecy. Harry is driven to destroy the force that killed his parents, killed the Prewitts (who, incidentally, were Molly Weasley's brothers, if you didn't know), killed Cedric, killed Madam Bones, killed Sirius and destroyed Neville's family- not do what the prophecy tells him. Same difference- prophecy fulfilled; period, end of sentence.
Of course, the lovely and talented JKR loves to surprise us. Very few fandom speculations have been correct.
These are MY assertions posted to MY blog. So there.
Harry: Live or Die?
Well, this is the big question, isn't it? Will our heroic hero make it past adolescence? Will the spectacled son of Lily and James bless their memories with grandchildren? Will the pure-hearted Harry triumph over the pure evil that is Lord Voldemort?
The Prophecy
There has been much speculation since Harry (and we) heard the prophecy in OoTP. For reference, here it is in its entirety: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...
Oooohhh, it's so tantalizing, yet tells us nothing. The only reason the Chosen One is Harry is because Voldemort chose Harry. Coulda, shoulda, woulda been Neville.
Here is where I need to digress into the story of our friend Oedipus. No incest jokes please. If you're in any way familiar with the story, you know that Oedipus didn't crush on his mom in the way that the Freudian concept implies. In fact, Oedipus didn't even know Jocasta, who became his wife, was his mom. Neither did she. These events are actually incidental to the story- it's not about sleeping with your mom, it's about not being able to escape your fate. (among other things. Apologies to you classical scholars out there for my pedestrian interpretation.)
Oedipus' father was told a prophecy made about his son killing him and sleeping with Jocasta. In reaction, he sent his infant son with a shepherd who was supposed to leave him to die on a mountain. Of course, the shepherd takes pity on the baby and gives him to a shepherd buddy, who takes him far away and presents him to his own king, who raises him as his own.
Oedipus is later given the same prophecy his father was- Oedipus will kill his father and sleep with his mother. Thinking the people who raised him are his parents, he leaves home to keep the prophecy from happening.
On his travels, he comes across a traveling party, gets in an altercation with the leader and kills him. Of course, this man is his father, just nobody knows it yet. Part one of the prophecy comes true.
I'm not going to go into the sphinx thingy here- if you want to know about it, read the story yourself. The next series of events end with Oedipus being given the throne vacated by the man he just killed, plus the hand of Jocasta, his widow. And Oedipus' mother, BTW. Part two of the prophecy- done. You can't escape your fate.
There is more to the story involving Oedipus unknowingly setting a nasty curse upon himself and his kingdom, but again, if you want to know about all that, read it yourself.
George Lucas also borrowed from Oedipus when he created the Star Wars universe. To summarize: It was prophesied that a force-strong individual would emerge, gain power and bring balance to the Force (more apologies to you SW-heads out there). We all believe it's supposed to be Anakin Skywalker (played in the movies by the delicious Hayden Christenson), and at the end of episode three, an anguished Obi-Wan (played by the equally appetizing Ewan McGregor, one of my personal all-time favorites, but anyway) screams at a bleeding and dying Anakin, "You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to destroy the Sith! Not join them!"
A couple decades go by, Anakin is now the feared Sith Lord Darth Vader, the Emperor's evil puppet; young Luke learns the truth about his family, tries to reach his father through the power of love; Vader eventually succumbs to the Light and kills the Emperor. Thus the prophecy is fulfilled, just not as we expected. Again, you can't escape your fate. Anakin was meant to destroy the Sith, and he did. (Now I know that in the SW books the Emperor pulls a Voldemort-like resurrection and goes on in Emperor-like fashion with a new body. But that's not what we're talking about here, so let it go.)
Now we know that the inimitable Joanne Rowling studied the classics in school, so she is of course in the position to borrow from and expand on the Oedipus theme. Prophecies are a tricky business, something that Dumbledore has a hard time pounding into Harry's head during their private lessons. In Oedipus' case the fact that he put so much store in the prophecy led to it coming true. This is also the mistake that Voldy makes- if he hadn't believed it so much, he wouldn't have tried to kill Harry, an act which actually made Harry more powerful and more likely and able to completely destroy Voldy.
Another tricky thing about this particular prophecy is the fact that Voldy only heard, apparently, the part that said the one with the power to vanquish Voldy will be born at the end of July to parents that have defied him three times. He doesn't know that he himself will mark the baby as his equal, nor that either must die at the other's hands because they can't coexist. Voldy only thinks that Harry has the power to kill Voldy. That's why Voldy tried to kill Harry before he got the chance.
Anyway, to answer the question, "Will Harry survive to the end?" I think he will, for a couple reasons. First, and probably the most pragmatic, the entire series is seen through the Harry-filter. Though written in the omniscient POV, it is really a story about Harry. The two opening scenes of HBP seem to challenge this, since they happen without Harry and Harry doesn't even learn about the events that transpire in them, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
The second reason I believe Harry will survive is because I just don't believe that JKR would do that to us, or to herself. She knows we love Harry, we know she loves Harry, we love her and she loves us, so I just don't think she will kill him off.
But thirdly, I just can't believe that she will totally abandon her recurring themes of good triumphing over evil and love being more powerful than hate. The entire thing won't make sense, literally and literarily (is that a word?). Though I do believe Harry will be greviously injured and those he loves will be injured and/or killed. Particularly the poor Weasleys will be affected- Harry loves them too much.
But again back to the Oedipal tie-in. Truth is, Harry can't avoid his fate. *Harry* knows that he and Voldy can't both live vis a vie the prophecy, but Harry's personal motivation is getting rid of evil in the personification of Voldy- not fulfilling the prophecy. Harry is driven to destroy the force that killed his parents, killed the Prewitts (who, incidentally, were Molly Weasley's brothers, if you didn't know), killed Cedric, killed Madam Bones, killed Sirius and destroyed Neville's family- not do what the prophecy tells him. Same difference- prophecy fulfilled; period, end of sentence.
Of course, the lovely and talented JKR loves to surprise us. Very few fandom speculations have been correct.
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