[Child of the 7th Age]

Stephanos--

Your points on current class distinctions in Great Britain are very well taken. Even in my own background in the U.S., I had remnants of that. My grandfather was a miner. His family came from Cornwall. (We still eat pasties and saffron cake in our family!) My Dad ended up as a factory worker in Detroit. And I'm much older than most posters on this board so things were much more rigid back then. (As far as my age, let's just say that I have a lot in common with Frodo when he sailed off to Elvenhome!)

Anyways, my family was extremely nervous about my desire to go on to college and even to get an advanced degree, which I did in medieval history. They always worried, I think, that they would lose me somehow. They feared my education and friends would set me apart from them, or would make me turn away. (Believe me, it never has.)

So, although my favorite character may be Frodo, it was Sam whom I identify with most closely on reading LOTR. I knew my family, who are very loving, would say exactly the same things to me about chasing after Elves that Sam's father had relayed to him. And probably for reasons that really weren't too different. sharon, the 7th age hobbit