I've enjoyed a pretty good Easter so far: nice weather, a visit from the Easter Bunny, a chance to see my family... But this letter was even better. Bravo, Jan, on a great rebuttal. There are, however, a few points I'd like to make...

>Rabbit is not the only character who is not always truthful. Tigger boasts
>that he can climb trees, among other things. Owl fools Pooh into believing
>his writing is an actual word or phrase.

I believe Glenda hit on this one as well. The exact phrase in question is:

		HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDATH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY

Which Owl tells Pooh means, 'A Very Happy Birthday with love from Pooh.' Now, this might not look like 'A Very Happy Birthday with love from Pooh.' to you and I, but who among us speaks Wolish? I therefore submit that since Owl is the only person we know that speaks Wolish, we must accept him as an expert and therefore accept his statement as true.

As for Tigger, you are incorrect... Many of the statements made by Tigger should be interpretted as 'optimistic' in nature. Since he's never tried something, he just assumes that he can do it. As for your specific example, Tigger goes on to prove that Tiggers can indeed climb trees well. They just can't get down.

>Rabbit is clever. He is able to use rigid logic to plan and scheme. Though
>kidnapping Roo and holding him hostage may seem malicious under one context,
>when viewed with the understanding of Rabbit's xenophobia it is merely the
>non-recognition of Kanga and Roo as valuable beings. Rabbit realizes that
>Kanga has a liability, Roo. He plans to use that liability to remove the
>threat and regain security once more in the forest. In the process, however,
>Rabbit becomes more familiar with Roo ("more fond of him every minute"), and
>realizes that the newcomers are not a threat. This is a classic example of
>the way in which education, or enlightenment, can overcome prejudice.

Or perhaps he is just sucessful in 'training' Roo, and now that Roo is responding appropriate, Rabbit can deign to spend time with him.

>Rabbit is very self-confident, and Eeyore has a severe case of low
>self-esteem. Rabbit is too busy organizing, and is too matter-of-fact to
>make time for Eeyore's need to be recognized. Eeyore is angered by Rabbit's
>refusal to coddle him. Eeyore speaks to Rabbit in a scornful manner, where
>Rabbit is merely succint when speaking to Eeyore. There is no hostility
>toward Eeyore in Rabbit's demeanor.
>
>The Eeyore/pooh-stick incident is simply another example of Rabbit's
>take-charge personality. Rabbit needs to organize and give orders; it is
>just his way. Pooh is about to drop the "biggest stone he could carry", into
>the river where Eeyore is turning around and around. Out of concern that
>Eeyore might get hit, Rabbit takes command to syncronize Pooh's stone-
>dropping with Eeyore's turning. There are enough other accounts of Rabbit's
>governing behavior to establish this as fact. There is no evidence to
>convict Rabbit of attempted murder for organizing the rock throwing idea
>supplied by Pooh.

You may be right, and then, I might be right... The evidence is a little shaky on this one. I just find it too 'convinient' that Rabbit steps in to take control... He asks Eeyore if he's ready, Eeyore replies with "No," and Rabbit tells Pooh to drop the stone... Far too 'convinient.'

>Pooh gets through life by depending on the goodness of others. He is
>technically lazy. 

Not exactly true... During the search for the North Pole, Pooh is very active, going so far as to save Roo and discover the North Pole, all at the same time. He also intialized a rescue attempt for Piglet during the flood, building one boat in the process and thinking up the design for another. Pooh is anything but lazy.

>Eeyore, as mentioned earlier, is mired in negativity and low self-esteem.

And yet, when Piglet is visiting him on Eeyore's birthday, and trying to explain why Eeyore's gift is suddenly popped, Eeyore becomes very concerned about the well-being of his friend Eeyore. Eeyore may have a lot of negativity and low self-esteem, but he is not mired down by it.

Unfortunately, I loaned my books to my sister today, so I don't have them handy to handle the 'attacks' on the other characters as well as can against Rabbit.

Oh, this has been fun. Unfortunately, I have to get to homework now. Bother. Jan (and anyone else), if you enjoy this sort of thing (and judging by your reply, I'm guessing that you might) you might want to read "The Pooh Perplex" by Frederick Crews... Lots of essays for you to argue with!