1. The magical green box is an important device. What does it mean to the different people who come into contact with it? What do its characteristics convey about the themes confronted throughout the novel? Be sure to consider the question of power in society and the way it relates to men and women, devoting special attention to comments by Mig's parents and Antony Green (Chapters 9, 14, 15).

2. Describe how time travel is used in the novel, and make a judgment about its effectiveness as a plot device.

Is it more or less effective, for example, than such devices as the transformation of people into animals?

3. Near the beginning of the novel Mig describes Aunt Maria's character as "enormous—right up to the ceiling" (Chapter 2). Much later Mig concludes that "the main spell" Aunt Maria casts is "boredom," and the guilt she...