There is an old saying which says, God gave us our family, but thank God we can choose our friends. It is great to cling together as siblings when the going gets tough, though. Now I'm beginning to sound like a Calormene. 

Posted by: @waggawerewolf27

There is an old saying which says, God gave us our family, but thank God we can choose our friends. It is great to cling together as siblings when the going gets tough, though. Now I'm beginning to sound like a Calormene. 

?  wow... yeah, maybe you are, but certainly one of the wiser and cooler ones. Like Aravis, or the guy at the end of TLB.

Anyway, to answer the question, I don't think they would have believed Lucy more.  They'd still go back and test it, and still arrive at the conclusion that she was messing with them (lol).  I do think their search for Edmund would be less desperate, or that they would fight as much as they have.

Interesting topic. I actually image if they weren't siblings, they'd be less likely to give Lucy any benefit of the doubt. They'd know her less well and not be as sure that it was out of character for her to act so strangely. They'd probably have been less reluctant to tell Professor Kirke about the situation since they'd feel less bad about sending her to a loony bin. Maybe I'm not giving the characters enough credit though. 

No I don't think LWW would work anywhere near as well, as a story, if they were friends, rather than family. In the context of LWW, the Pevensies were all together, being evacuated away into the countryside,  as organised by the British government in 1939 onwards, to ensure their very survival. Governments are more likely to try to keep children of one family together, rather than a group of friends. On the other hand, when they do split up children, it is usually into boys only groups  or girls only groups, as at the sorts of schools they would normally be sent to, so that there is less interaction between brothers & sisters. 

You would expect children in the one family to cling together, as family. I saw this at a girls' home I was once sent to, where a trio of sisters aged between 4 & 8,  refused to be separated, so frightened they were at having being separated from the rest of their family, probably in a time of family turmoil, the reason why we were all there. But Peter & Edmund obviously weren't in the same groups at the school they were sent to, even though they were brothers. Whilst Lucy, in the normal way of things, was considered not yet old enough to go to boarding school at all.

Also, I think that it is the conflicts, & how these are resolved, between the individual children which drive the story, as well as the outside conflicts which give these stories context.

The siblings rivalry is actually better for the story.  Wouldn’t it be boring if Edmund were nice to Lucy instead of being nasty?  Edmund’s fall and redemption work better if it is his sister Lucy that he lies to about the existence of Narnia, and she is the one telling the truth. And of course Edmund is a traitor. It is better if the Pevensies have something serious to forgive. I think Aslan wanted it that way. You commit a deep sin and are forgiven. It takes greater love to accomplish that.

The story of LWW would have been way different if Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were friends instead of siblings. First, the conflict between the characters (ex. Edmund lying about Narnia) would not have been as emotional for the readers. Yes, both friends and siblings lie to each other but a sibling's lie always seems to hurt more. Second, Edmund's plan betray Peter, Susan, and Lucy (and the Beavers) and turn them over to the White Witch is powerful and dramatic because he is is their brother. The pain that Peter, Susan, and Lucy experience is deeper because they would not expect their brother to be involved in a scheme that could likely lead to their death. Third, would Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy be friends considering the age gap between Peter and Lucy? I know its not a big age gap but I cannot think of any teen/preteen that is close friends with a seven to eight year old that is not related to them.