Essay Questions

Which character do you think is the leader in the forest?

Although Christopher Robin is the leader and they all defer to him, Rabbit thinks of himself as almost an equal, dropping by to see if Christopher Robin needs anything done and generally finding things to organize. Rabbit would definitely consider himself to be the leader. Owl is deferred to on matters of academics but his leadership skills are questionable because he gets distracted by his own stories. Pooh is also a leader although because of a perception that he has very little brain the other characters do not always appreciate this.

How does this book comment on childhood?

The book is essentially about childhood ending and this is actually very bittersweet. Although Christopher Robin is enjoying school he is sad that he does not have as much time to spend with his friends in the forest and eventually knows that he has outgrown the time in his life when having adventures with his teddy near, he is sad about it and would love to be able to stay locked in time where he is without growing up.

Childhood is the time of having little adventures in preparation for the big adventure of impending adolescence and then adulthood. Pooh and his friends are learning through their adventures with and without Christopher Robin to learn how to communicate and make decisions whether these decisions are right or wrong. Childhood is all about the learning.

Is Pooh an unheralded genius?

Pooh is known as a Bear With Very Little Brain; however, he is a very talented poet and whenever there is a real emergency it is Pooh who comes up with a workable plan that saves the day, such as getting Eeyore out of the water, or getting out of Owl's house when it blows down. He is happy to be seen as a bit of a dunce and to give others the credit for his plans but he is actually smart and unheralded for this.

Winnie the Pooh is also a bear that knows when to ask questions and when not to say anything. Pooh is a listener even with himself when he thinking things through. He knows when to give up and when not to especially when he knows he eats too much honey but cannot help himself, as when he became stuck in Rabbit's front door. He knew he needed to lose and succeeded, but when he lost and ended up in the tree he just went back to eating too much. He knows what makes him happy, and often a genius knows just that.