Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
The Author: E. B. White
I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he
spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time
tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.
Elwyn Brooks White was a man who had a passion for the animal world, for nature, and for
the world in general. Born in Mount Vernon, New York in 1899, E.B. White grew up to do
great things. He began his writing career upon graduating from Cornell University in 1921.
His first major job was an important one; he was on the staff of the New Yorker, a famous
literary magazine in New York City. He published many poems, essays and editorials for
the New Yorker. In 1938, E.B. White decided to move his family to the countryside in
Maine. White’s writing continued to flourish. While in Maine he wrote a well-known
editorial for another famous magazine called Harper Magazine. His editorial was entitled
“One Man’s Meat” and examined his dual life as a farmer and a writer. While living in the
country, White explored another genre of writing: children’s literature. E.B. White only
wrote three children’s novels, and all three of them are all-time favorites. These books are
Stuart Little (1945), Charlotte’s Web (1952), and Trumpet of the Swan (1970). In these
books, his writing style is clear and elegant. His descriptive language is marvelous, leaving
the reader with a detailed understanding of locations and events. E. B. White won many
awards for his prose, including a Pulitzer Prize special citation in 1978. In addition, he
received 7 honorary degrees from American universities and colleges. Sadly, E. B. White
died of Alzheimer’s Disease in 1985. He was an influential American writer, and his words
will live on in the memories of millions of adoring readers.
Setting:
The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It
smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows.
It often had a sort of peaceful small – as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the
world. It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease and of rubber boots
and of new rope. And whenever the cat was given a fish-head to eat, the barn would smell
of fish. But mostly is smelled of hay, for there was always hay in the great loft up
overhead. And there was always hay being pitched down to the cows and the horses and the
sheep.
The barn was pleasantly warm in the winter when the animals spent most of their time
indoors, and it was pleasantly cool in the summer when the big barn doors stood wide open
to the breeze. The barn had stalls on the main floor for the work horses, tie-ups on the main
floor for the cows, a sheepfold down below for the sheep, a pigpen down below for Wilbur,
and it was full of all sorts of things that you find in a barn: ladders, grindstones, pitch forks,
monkey wrenches, snow shovels, empty grain sacks, and rusty rat traps. It was the kind of
barn that swallows like to build their nests in. It was the kind of barn that children like to
play in. And the whole thing was owned by Fern’s uncle, Mr. Homer L. Zuckerman. Pages
13 and 14
Characters:
Human Characters:
Fern: the main human character; a kind young girl who saves a runty pig’s life
Avery: Fern’s troublesome brother
Mr. Arable: Fern’s father; a farmer
Mrs. Arable: Fern’s mother
Lurvy: the Arable’s reliable farm worker
Dr. Dorian: the wise family doctor
Mr. Zuckerman: Fern’s uncle, the owner of Wilbur
Mrs. Zuckerman: Fern’s aunt
Animal Characters:
Wilbur: one of the main animal characters; an extremely emotional pig who doesn’t want
to made into bacon and ham
Charlotte: one of the main animal characters; a spider who turns out to be the best friend a
pig could have
Templeton: a grumpy but helpful rat
The old sheep: a watchful old sheep who likes to stir up trouble
Goose and Gander: a repetitive couple with a large family of goslings
Charlotte’s Web Summary
Wilbur is one lucky pig! His life was saved not once, but twice. Being a runt,
Wilbur was doomed to die. A young girl named Fern took up his cause with
her father and raised Wilbur until he went to live at her uncle’s farm.
Quote #1
“Please don’t kill it!” she sobbed. “It’s unfair.”
Mr. Arable stopped walking.
“Fern,” he said gently, “you will have to learn to control yourself.”
“Control myself?” yelled Fern. “This is a matter of life and death, and you
talk about controlling myself.”
Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the ax and tried to pull it out
of her father’s hand.
“Fern,” said Mr. Arable, “I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you
do. A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!”
“But it’s unfair,” cried Fern. “The pig couldn’t help being born small, could
it? If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?”
Mr. Arable smiled. “Certainly not,” he said, looking down at his daughter
with love. “but this is different. A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is
another.”
“I see no difference.” Replied Fern, still hanging on to the ax. “This is the
most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of.”
A queer look came over John Arable’s face. He seemed almost ready to cry
himself.
The lovely barn at Fern’s uncle’s farm, which was to be Wilbur’s second and
final home, was where he encountered the second heroine - Charlotte A.
Cavatica - a beautiful, intelligent spider.
Quote #2
“Salutations!” said the voice.
Wilbur jumped to his feet. “Salu-what?” he cried.
“Salutations!” repeated the voice.
“What are they, and where are you?” screamed Wilbur. “Please, please tell
me where you are. And what are salutations?”
“Salutations are greetings,” said the voice. “When I say ‘salutations’, it’s
just my fancy way of saying hello or good morning. Actually, it’s silly
expression, and I am surprised that I used it at all. As for my whereabouts,
that’s easy. Look up here in the corner of the doorway! Here I am. Look, I’m
waving!”
At last Wilbur saw the creature that had spoken to him in such a kindly way.
Stretched across the upper part of the doorway was a big spiderweb, and
hanging from the top of the web, head down, was a large grey spider. She was
about the size of s gumdrop. She had eight legs, had she was waving one of
them at Wilbur in friendly greeting. “See me now?” she asked.
“Oh, yes indeed.” Said Wilbur. “yes indeed! How are you good morning!
Salutations! Very pleased to meet you. What is your name, please? May I have
your name?”
“My name,” said the spider. “is Charlotte.”
It is hard to believe that anyone can become friends with a spider. They are
terrible creatures who trap and suck the blood from flies. Wilbur was daunted
by Charlotte’s instincts, but decided to become her friend despite her nasty
reputation.
Quote #3
“Well,” he thought, “I’ve got a new friend, all right. But, what a gamble
friendship is! Charlotte is fierce, brutal scheming. Bloodthirsty – everything I
don’t like. How can I learn to like her, even tough she is pretty and, of course,
clever?”
Wilbur was merely suffering the doubts and fears that often go with finding
a new friend. In good time he was to discover that he was mistaken about
Charlotte. Underneath her rather bold and cruel exterior, she had a kind heart,
and she was to prove loyal and true to the very end.
Upon arriving at the Zuckerman’s Farm, Wilbur soon discovered that he
would be killed and eaten for Christmas dinner. As you can imagine, he was
distraught and didn’t know where to turn. Charlotte decided that she would
make a plan that would save Wilbur’s life.
Quote #4
“Certainly. When a pig is to be butchered, everybody helps. I’m an old sheep
and I see the same thing, same old business, year after year. Arable arrives
with his .22, shoots the …”
“I don’t want to die!” screamed Wilbur, throwing himself to the ground.
“You shall not die,” said Charlotte, briskly.
“What? Really?” cried Wilbur. “Who’s going to save me?”
“I am,” said Charlotte.
She crafted an advertising campaign of words she cleverly wove into her web,
identifying the wonderful characteristics of Wilbur the Pig. Of course, the
humans didn’t believe that a spider could be so intelligent. Instead, they
believed the writing to be a miracle and began to see the qualities written in
the web, as the true qualities of Wilbur. She began with a simple phrase that
deeply influenced the humans living on the farm.
Quote #5
There in the center of the web, neatly woven in block letters, was a message. It
said:
SOME PIG!
Lurvy felt weak. He brushed his hand across his eyes and stared harder at
Charlotte’s web.
“I’m seeing things.” He whispered. He dropped ot his knees and uttered a
short prayer.
“Well,” said Mrs. Zuckerman, “it seems to me you’re a little off. It seems to
me we have no ordinary spider. “
“Oh no,” said Zuckerman. “It’s the pig that’s unusual. It says so, right there
in the middle of the web.”
Over time, she continued to write the amazing qualities Wilbur possessed in
her web. While she was the brains behind the project, she didn’t do it all
alone. She had the help of all of the other animals who lived in the barn.
Templeton, a grumpy rat, helped her find scraps of advertisements to provide
her with inspiration.
Quote #6
“How’s this?” he asked, showing the ad to Charlotte.
“It says ‘Crunchy.’ ‘Crunchy’ would be a good word to write in your web.”
“Just the wrong idea,” replied Charlotte. “Couldn’t be worse. We don’t want
Zuckerman to think Wilbur is crunchy. He might start thinking about crisp
crunchy bacon and tasty ham. That would put ideas into his head. We must
advertise. Wilbur’s noble qualities, not his tastiness. Go get another word,
please, Templeton!”
“There!” he said, triumphantly. “How’s that?”
Charlotte read the words: “With New Radiant Action.”
“What does it mean?” asked Charlotte, who had never used soap flakes in
her life.
“How should I know?” said Templeton. “you asked for words and I brought
them. I suppose the next thing you’ll want me to fetch is a dictionary.”
In the meantime, Fern’s parents, Mr. And Mrs. Arable, became concerned
about Fern. Fern had been sitting in the barn listening to the animals talk.
Ferns’ mother didn’t believe that this was possible, and consulted the local
doctor. Fortunately, he was a wise doctor who had reassuring words for all of
us.
Quote #7
Mrs. Arable fidgeted. “Fern says the animals talk to each other. Dr. Dorian, do
you believe animals talk?”
“I never heard one say anything.” He replied. “But that proves nothing. It is
quite possible that an animal has spoken civilly to me and that I didn’t catch
the remark because I wasn’t paying attention. Children pay better attention
than grownups. If Fern says that the animals in Zuckerman’s barn talk, I’m
quite ready to believe her. Perhaps if people talked less, animals would talk
more. People arte incessant talkers – I can give you my word on that.”
Spiders do not live a long time, and soon Charlotte’s time was coming. She
worked very hard to save Wilbur, but had started to feel weak and tired. This
began to happen near the time of the county fair. As is common at fairs,
Wilbur was entered in a contest for best spring pig. Charlotte and the rest of
the farm animals hoped that Wilbur would win. His success would ensure his
survival. Sadly, it would not ensure the survival of Wilbur’s best friend,
Charlotte. Indeed, she had proven to be a loyal and true friend until the very
end.
Quote #8
“Why did you do all of this for me?” he asked. “I don’t deserve it. I’ve never
done anything for you.”
“You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a
tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all,
what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little, we die. A spider’s life
can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies.
By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows
anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
Many things come to pass at the fair. Many events illustrate the cycle of life.
The young grow up and leave behind their childish desires. Fern saw a boy
from school, Henry Fussy, whom she had previously shown no interest in.
They developed a strong desire to sit on the ferris wheel together! All things
must end in life. Charlotte used her last bit of strength to weave one last word
in her web for Wilbur. While Wilbur did not win the sought after award, a
new award was created just for this ‘radiant’, this ‘terrific’, this ‘humble’ pig.
Having used the last of her energy to help Wilbur, Charlotte could no longer
make the journey back to the farm. She asked Wilbur to take her sac of eggs
back to the farm, so that her children could enjoy the peace and safety of the
Zuckerman’s farm.
Quote #9
But as he was being shoved into the crate, he looked up at Charlotte and gave
her a wink. She knew he was saying good-bye in the only way he could. And
she knew her children were safe.
“Good-bye!” she whispered. Then she summoned all her strength and waved
one of her front legs at him.
She never moved again. Next day, as the Ferris wheel was being taken apart
and the race horses were being loaded into vans and the entertainers were
packing up their belongings and driving away in their trailers, Charlotte died.
The Fair Grounds were soon deserted. The sheds and buildings were empty
and forlorn. The infield was littered with bottles and trash. Nobody, of the
hundreds of people that had visited the Fair, knew that a grey spider had
played the most important part of all. No one was with her when she died.
And so Wilbur lived, thanks to his dear friend Charlotte. He saw the chilled
frost of the winter turn into the warm breeze of spring. With spring came a
wonderful surprise: Charlotte’s eggs hatched and out came 514 tiny spiders.
Wilbur wanted them all to stay and live with him forever, but only three chose
to stay. Wilbur promised to devote himself to them in Charlotte’s memory.
Quote #10
“Joy! Aranea! Nellie!” he began. “Welcome to the barn cellar. You have
chosen a hallowed doorway from which to string your webs. I think it is only
fair to tell you that I was devoted to you mother. I owe my very life to her. She
was brilliant, beautiful, and loyal to the end. I shall always treasure her
memory. To you, her daughters, I pledge my friendship, forever and ever.”
Wilbur enjoyed the company of Charlotte’s grandchildren and great
grandchildren, but Charlotte lived on in his memory forever.
Quote #11
Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and
grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his
heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along
who is a true friend ands a good writer. Charlotte was both.
Related Movie
Charlotte’s Web directed by Charles A. Nichols and Iwao Takamoto
Significance:
Charlotte’s Web is an important book for children to read because it touches on a number
of essential themes: two of these themes are friendship and the cycle of life.
First, this book teaches children not to choose their friends based on appearances. Wilbur
desperately wants to have a friend, but no one seems to be interested. Charlotte, a bloodthirsty spider, proves to be the best friend Wilbur could ever have. While her outward
appearance is frightening, she is clever and kind. She uses her intelligence to outwit the
humans and save Wilbur’s life. Good friends should be treasured and never forgotten; this
seems to be another message that E.B. White is trying to give his readers. Through Wilbur
and Charlotte’s friendship, E.B. White encourages children to expect to find a true friend at
some time in their lives.
Next, the cycle of life is another important theme found in Charlotte’s Web. E.B. White
celebrates the miracles of life and death in this wonderful story. Wilbur is born a runt,
which means that he will be killed. A young girl lamed Fern saves Wilbur’s life. She
successfully argues that all life is valuable, no matter if you are big or small. On the farm;
however, life is predictably depressing; animals are born in the spring and live until winter
when they are killed for their meat. This cycle is inevitable for the animals, who are
cognizant of their demises, and forms the premise for the main plot; Wilbur does not want
to die and Charlotte helps prevent his death. Of course, death is a part of life. Charlotte’s
death at the end of the book is terribly sad, however, it is one of the most valuable lessons
in the story. Charlotte’s Web helps children understand that everything must die. In fact,
children discover that death can be celebrated in some ways; it is the end of a continuous
cycle. While Wilbur feels grief over Charlotte’s death, he eventually befriends her children
and grandchildren, who all contain a bit of Charlotte and; thus, he will never be without
her. In a separate storyline, Fern, the girl who first saves Wilbur from an early death,
matures into a young teenager over the span of the book. Initially, she is disgusted by boys
and is enamored with animals. She listens to the animals in her uncle’s barn, witnessing the
unfolding drama. As the seasons change, Fern’s interests gradually change. While she still
loves the animals, her interests turn to a young boy names Henry Fussy. Again, the cycle of
life is evident.
Charlotte’s Web is not loved by children alone; adults are equally entertained. In fact, adult
readers will discover more sophisticated themes that were not obvious as a child. Charlotte
saves Wilbur’s life by creating advertisements in her web. She writes a complimentary
word in her web, and the gullible humans believe it without hesitation. E.B. White appears
to be poking fun at advertising and human nature, suggesting that people believe whatever
they read; no matter what it says or who says it. It is quite humorous that the humans are
taken with Wilbur, and not Charlotte. After all, what is more amazing: that there is a word
describing a pig in a spider’s web or that a spider actually wrote a word in her web?
Questions
1. How would you have felt if Charlotte wanted to be your friend?
2. Do you think that Wilbur was a good friend to Charlotte? Why or
why not?
3. What would Charlotte’s Web teach children about leadership?
4. Why do you think the humans are more interested in Wilbur than
in Charlotte when they discover the writing in the web?
5. If Charlotte had not been clever how would the story change?
6. Dr. Dorian thinks it’s natural for Fern to hear the animals. If you
were the doctor, what would you have told Mrs. Arable?
7. If you could write a eulogy for Charlotte, what would it say?
8. How do you view friendship? How does your view compare to
E.B. White’s perspective as read in Charlotte’s Web?
9. How does life on the farm compare to rural life in Taiwan? In
particular, how are animals viewed and treated?
10.What have you learned about American culture from Charlotte’s
Web?