1. Why do you think Edmund suggested leaving the wardrobe?

First possibility: he was simply telling the truth - Macready and Co. had gone, so there was no reason for them to stay in the wardrobe any longer.
Second possibility: the Wardrobe freaked him out. He may have been doubting the reality of his own excursion into Narnia but it was certainly the cause of everything weird that had happened to them since they'd arrived at the Professor's house.
Third possibility: he was really scared of the Witch and didn't want to risk running into her again. When he said "Let's get out", he didn't yet know that the "gateway" to Narnia was open, but he may have been worried in case it was. It's interesting that although the Witch had promised him untold riches and power if he returned to Narnia with his brother and sisters, he wasn't keen to try to encourage them to go into Narnia at this point.

2. Peter says that robins are good in all of the stories he's read. Do you know of any other stories where this is the case? Do you know any stories where they aren't good?

Can't think of any...

3. What sort of guilt might Edmund be experiencing when they discover Tumnus' house has been ransacked? Do you think he feels any sense of responsibility, or is he trying to somehow justify his actions to himself?

I'm not sure he would have felt guilty at this point. As he says to Peter, they don't know anything about Narnia, so how do they know the Queen is in the wrong and the Faun is in the right? That may have been an excuse he was telling himself, but it did make sense. The Queen had been nice to him and given him tasty things to eat (at a time when sweets were rationed in England).

4. What else stood out to you about this chapter? What was your favorite/least favorite part? Why?

Another aside: Do the Talking Beasts have hands with fingers? Maugrim (a Wolf) apparently can write, use a knife and a hammer. Not very practical if you've got doggy paws.

Do the Talking Beasts have hands with fingers? Maugrim (a Wolf) apparently can write, use a knife and a hammer. Not very practical if you've got doggy paws.

A very interesting question! But at this point in the story do we know the Secret Police consists of wolves? Mr. Tumnus never mentioned them. Would claw marks slashing a painting look similar enough to a knife that the Pevensies wouldn't have been able to tell the difference? It would be a bit awkward to use a hammer with paws, but I did notice that the paper is nailed into the floor rather than the wall. Perhaps the animals are rather like the Beatrix Potter ones? They don't have hands but they still do things like run a laundry and use a toasting a fork.

A very interesting question! But at this point in the story do we know the Secret Police consists of wolves? Mr. Tumnus never mentioned them. Would claw marks slashing a painting look similar enough to a knife that the Pevensies wouldn't have been able to tell the difference? It would be a bit awkward to use a hammer with paws, but I did notice that the paper is nailed into the floor rather than the wall. Perhaps the animals are rather like the Beatrix Potter ones? They don't have hands but they still do things like run a laundry and use a toasting a fork.

No we don't know that the 'secret police' are wolves, but wolves are very like dogs, and many working dogs can do a whole range of tasks. A survey estimated that working dogs are worth something like $1 billion to the Australian economy, shepherding sheep, for instance, all for an approving pat and some food. And let us not forget police dogs, guard dogs etc.

I'd say that since these wolves could speak, they could do even more, even if the note was written by Ginarbrik or the White Witch, herself, and somehow duplicated for Maugrim's use. Hammering a note to the floor wouldn't be too hard if Maugrim dropped something heavy on the nail. And I agree that claw marks would look like knife slashes, especially in half-light.

Why do you think Edmund suggested leaving the wardrobe?
Maybe he didn't want Susan and Peter to find out that Lucy was right, after all? I agree that he might have been scared of his promise to the White Witch, but if his older siblings found out he had been lying, then he was off to a bad start in fulfilling it.

Peter says that robins are good in all of the stories he's read. Do you know of any other stories where this is the case? Do you know any stories where they aren't good?

I don't know of any stories about robins, offhand, but decades ago, I did see a People's Magazine or a UK Women's Day magazine, which had some sort of comic strip featuring a red robin as one of the good characters. It depends on whether those magazines were in circulation pre-1939.

What sort of guilt might Edmund be experiencing when they discover Tumnus' house has been ransacked? Do you think he feels any sense of responsibility, or is he trying to somehow justify his actions to himself?

I don't think at this stage, Edmund really connects the arrest of Tumnus with his encounter with the White Witch. Tumnus is Lucy's friend, not his, and, to tell the truth, Tumnus' hospitality to Lucy was little different from that of the White Witch, except the food was more wholesome. Edmund may honestly think the White Witch could be good, having been nice to him. This is something that would be still bugging him for years into the future, when he finally visited Aslan's table.

What else stood out to you about this chapter?

Susan taking the coats from the wardrobe. Her reasoning was that they weren't stealing since technically they were still in the wardrobe. Would you agree with her? For myself, I rather thought that Susan was already having difficulties with the reality of Narnia, even though she is confronted with it, and her comment, however practical, indicates this.

What was your favorite/least favorite part? Why? The favourite bit was when they all found out that Lucy had been telling the truth. The bit I didn't like so much was, not so much Peter's anger with Edmund, which was understandable, but Susan's lack of a reaction one way or another. Also, already she is starting to regret going anywhere into Narnia. If Lucy hadn't spoken up about Tumnus, I doubt that the adventure would have happened at all.

Peter says that robins are good in all of the stories he's read. Do you know of any other stories where this is the case? Do you know any stories where they aren't good?

Can't think of any bad ones, but two examples of good ones that come to mind are the robins in "Babes in the Woods" and the robin in "The Secret Garden."

1. For one thing, Edmund knew that the others would know that Lucy had been right if they found Narnia. We already know he hates being wrong, and especially since he was so beastly to Lucy about it all, he probably knows Peter and Susan will be even more upset with him about it.

2. I honestly can't remember any stories with robins in them. But aileth mentioning The Secret Garden did remind me that there was a robin in there, so...

3. I think at this point, if Edmund felt any sort of responsibility, he would repress it pretty quickly. He hates being wrong, so he doesn't seem likely to entertain thoughts that he may've been part of the reason that Mr. Tumnus, a friendly and kind Faun, was imprisoned by the White Witch. And like others have said, he still thought the White Witch had been kind to him and didn't want to believe her evil (again, with the being wrong idea).

Why do you think Edmund suggested leaving the wardrobe?
One would think he would want to get back into Narnia for more TD. Reasons he might not want to:
a. he didn't realize Narnia was there (unlikely because the cold and wetness were mentioned.)
b. he didn't want the others to find out Narnia was real because he was afraid they would find out he had been there and lied and/or because he wanted them to continue to think Lucy was lying.
c. He knew the witch was evil and didn't want to see her again and/or felt the danger.
I think b is the most likely, but there might be the slightest hint of c.
Peter says that robins are good in all of the stories he's read. Do you know of any other stories where this is the case? Do you know any stories where they aren't good?
I can't think of any.
What sort of guilt might Edmund be experiencing when they discover Tumnus' house has been ransacked? Do you think he feels any sense of responsibility, or is he trying to somehow justify his actions to himself?

I doubt he felt any guilt or sense of responsibility. He was mad at Peter at this point so he was largely consumed with that. He might not have realized that his remark about a faun led to Tumnus's arrest. As for as we know he never told her the name of the faun.

4. What else stood out to you about this chapter? What was your favorite/least favorite part? Why? We more of the children's personalities. Interestingly, Susan does not apologize to Lucy. After Peter apologizes Susan asks what they should do.

Re: wolves and hammers etc. Could they hold a hammer in their mouths and use it? They also could have had made Tumnus do it before they took him away.

1. Why do you think Edmund suggested leaving the wardrobe?

[Third possibility: he was really scared of the Witch and didn't want to risk running into her again. When he said "Let's get out", he didn't yet know that the "gateway" to Narnia was open, but he may have been worried in case it was. It's interesting that although the Witch had promised him untold riches and power if he returned to Narnia with his brother and sisters, he wasn't keen to try to encourage them to go into Narnia at this point.

That is an interesting observation. My own thought is that he was uncomfortable and wanted to change that situation; a purely selfish motive.

2. Peter says that robins are good in all of the stories he's read. Do you know of any other stories where this is the case? Do you know any stories where they aren't good?

All the stories featuring robins that jump to mind are the sort where they tell you about the life of a robin while slightly anthromorphizing them, which clearly makes them the hero of the story.

3. What sort of guilt might Edmund be experiencing when they discover Tumnus' house has been ransacked? Do you think he feels any sense of responsibility, or is he trying to somehow justify his actions to himself?

He ought to, because he was the one who told the White Witch about Tumnus meeting Lucy. But I don't get any sense that he made that connection.

4. What else stood out to you about this chapter? The fact that the robin apparently can't talk even though it's friendly. It's a little strange, because as the series progresses there are less Narnian animals that can't; and those that can't have gone animalish.

Why do you think Edmund suggested leaving the wardrobe?

I think it was probably because he had the same involuntary reaction he originally experienced upon first going to Narnia: aversion. It's possible he said this because he realized it would be bad for Peter and Susan to find Narnia after he had lied about it and made Lucy look bad, but since he forgot about this so quickly and slipped up, I'm kind of dubious that it was on his mind.

Peter says that robins are good in all of the stories he's read. Do you know of any other stories where this is the case? Do you know any stories where they aren't good?

I have wracked my brain and I honestly can't think of any.

What sort of guilt might Edmund be experiencing when they discover Tumnus' house has been ransacked? Do you think he feels any sense of responsibility, or is he trying to somehow justify his actions to himself?

He didn't seem to be feeling any sort of guilt at all. In fact, he seemed to be thinking more about his stomach—and food—since he was the one who brought up that they didn't have any food when the children were talking about whether they should try to help Mr. Tumnus. Which makes sense, given that just about all he cared about at this time in the story was getting more Turkish Delight.

What else stood out to you about this chapter?

Like Meltintalle, the bird not talking struck me as strange. However, I can think of two explanations. 1) There are mute animals among Talking Animals, just like there are mute humans among "Talking" humans, if that makes sense. 2) The bird was too scared to speak out loud for fear of someone hearing it and reporting them all.

What was your favorite/least favorite part? Why?

My favorite part was when Peter immediately turns to Lucy and apologizes for not believing her. That was really humble of him. My least favorite part was when they come upon Tumnus's house and find it and all of his belongings destroyed; it's really sad and shocking.

Why do you think Edmund suggested leaving the wardrobe?
Even though Edmund is already under the enchantment of the Turkish Delight, at this point, I think facing his siblings' reactions upon finding out that he lied to them is a greater fear than his desire to see the Witch again (and get what she'd promised him). Or, perhaps in this moment, he finally realized how horribly foolish it was to lie about Narnia if he was going to get Peter and Susan to come to Narnia and see the Witch, so now that he realized that if he wanted to get them to trust him, he needed time to come up with a better story. (Edmund clearly wasn't thinking this all through, especially after he let it slip that he knew about the lamppost.)

Peter says that robins are good in all of the stories he's read. Do you know of any other stories where this is the case? Do you know any stories where they aren't good?
I can't think of any, but somehow, I get the idea that this is true. Maybe I just read this book too many times and now it's ingrained in my subconscious.

What sort of guilt might Edmund be experiencing when they discover Tumnus' house has been ransacked? Do you think he feels any sense of responsibility, or is he trying to somehow justify his actions to himself?

I doubt he felt any guilt or sense of responsibility. He was mad at Peter at this point so he was largely consumed with that. He might not have realized that his remark about a faun led to Tumnus's arrest. As for as we know he never told her the name of the faun.

Come to think of it, this is probably more along the lines of what Edmund was thinking/feeling. After all, the only things that come out of his mouth are complaints about wanting to eat, attempts to dissuade the others from believing Lucy/from going further into Narnia, and/or angry comments made under his breath about his siblings. I don't think he would've had the presence of mind to think about something like that.

Ever since I figured out that the White Witch must've known about Tumnus because of Edmund (I believe was somewhere between 8 and 10 at the time), I've always assumed that Edmund also figured it out after seeing what happened to Tumnus's home, and felt guilty but chose to bury it under his own nastiness (as he did when he realized that the Queen was the White Witch that Lucy described). However, now that I read it again and I'm older, I think you're right, Twigs; nothing in the book really indicates that this has crossed his mind.

Why do you think Edmund suggested leaving the wardrobe?

It was cramped. I don't think the reality that the door to Narnia was open dawned on him yet.

Peter says that robins are good in all of the stories he's read. Do you know of any other stories where this is the case? Do you know any stories where they aren't good?

Robin Hood? Oh dear, I can't seem to think of any stories with robins in them now.

What sort of guilt might Edmund be experiencing when they discover Tumnus' house has been ransacked? Do you think he feels any sense of responsibility, or is he trying to somehow justify his actions to himself?

Since Edmund hadn't seen Tumnus' house originally, seeing the ransacked house would not have been as dramatic for him. In fact, his only statement is "This is a pretty good washout. Not much good coming here." This sort of response seems to indicate he isn't feeling any guilt whatever. Of course, they don't learn that this is the Queen's doing until the next page, at which point the faun is accused of being an enemy of the Queen. Who is Edmund to say otherwise? -Although that bit about fraternizing with humans should have raised his eyebrow a bit. I think the justifying starts about here in Edmund's mind. But then the others start talking and he gets distracted, and then he probably gets defensive about the Queen again, and then he gets thinking about the Turkish Delight...