The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of death.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle has been compared to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, with its themes of family betrayal, ghosts, and revenge. What did you think about this modern retelling of a classic tragedy? How does setting the story in rural Wisconsin with dog breeding as a central element transform the familiar Shakespearean narrative?

2. What aspects of the human-animal bond portrayed in the novel resonated most with you?

3. Wroblewski’s decision to make his protagonist mute creates a unique perspective throughout the story. In what ways did Edgar’s inability to speak verbally affect your experience of the narrative? Have you read other novels, like Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, that feature protagonists with different communication abilities?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Family transformations after tragedy become central to the Sawtelle story. Reflect on a time when your own family faced a significant challenge. Did you notice any parallels between your experience and the way the Sawtelles responded to their losses?

2. Throughout the story, Edgar must make difficult moral choices. What would you have done if faced with his decision to return home rather than escape to Canada?

3. What passions or values have been passed down through your family that have shaped your identity or life path?

4. When Henry Lamb takes Edgar in, he shows extraordinary compassion to a stranger. Can you recall a time when someone extended unexpected kindness to you, or when you helped someone in need without question? How did this experience affect you?

5. Edgar’s muteness forces him to develop alternative ways of communicating. Have you ever found yourself in situations where traditional communication was impossible? What strategies did you develop to express yourself?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. In what ways does the 1970s rural Wisconsin setting shape the events of the story? How might the narrative have unfolded differently if set in today’s world with modern technology and communication?

2. Wroblewski’s storytelling highlights the tight-knit communities and isolation of rural America. What insights does The Story of Edgar Sawtelle offer about rural American life and values?

3. How does the Sawtelle family’s approach to dog breeding—focusing on developing intelligent, decision-making animals rather than purely physical traits—reflect or challenge our broader relationship with animals in contemporary society?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. What significance does the ghost of Edgar’s father hold in the novel?

2. Communication emerges as a recurring motif throughout the story, from Edgar’s muteness to sign language to the special understanding between humans and dogs. In what ways does Wroblewski use these variations on communication to develop the novel’s themes?

3. Shifting narrative perspectives, including chapters told from Almondine’s point of view, appear throughout the book. What insights do we gain from seeing the world through a dog’s eyes?

4. Many readers debate whether Claude is a fully realized character with understandable motivations or more of a symbolic representation of evil. Where do you stand on this question?

5. Although Wroblewski draws on the framework of Hamlet, he departs from Shakespeare’s play in significant ways. What are the most important differences between the original play and this novel?

6. Tragedy pervades the novel’s conclusion, with Edgar and Claude both dying and the dogs escaping into the wild. What statement might this ending make about nature versus civilization or about the consequences of revenge?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine the story continued with the escaped Sawtelle dogs forming their own pack in the wild. Write an additional chapter to the book describing this new community.

2. If you were to adapt The Story of Edgar Sawtelle for film or television, which scenes would you consider most essential to include? Which actors would you cast for the main roles, and why?

3. Describe a conversation between Edgar Sawtelle and another famous mute character from literature or film —such as Oscar from Gunter Grass’s The Tin Drum. What would it reveal about the different ways silence functions in storytelling?

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