Themes
Sacrifice
"Templeton," he said, "I will make you a solemn promise. Get Charlotte's egg sac for me, and from now on I will let you eat first, when Lurvy slops me. I will let you have your choice of everything in the trough and I won't touch a thing until you're through" (White, 1952, p. 168).
Lonlyness
"He didn't know whether he could endure the awful loneliness any more" (White, 1952, p. 31).
Circle of Life
" '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 while, 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' " (White, 1952, p. 164).
" 'Why did you do all this for me?' he asked. 'I don't deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.' "
Compassion
"You can imagine Wilbur's surprise when, out of the darkness, came a small voice he had never heard before. It sounded rather thin, but pleasant. 'Do you want a friend, Wilber?' it said. 'I'll be a friend to you. I've watched you all day and I like you' " (White, 1952, p. 31).
Friendship
"Wilber 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" (White, 1952, p. 41).
Death
"Nobody, of 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" (White, 1952, p. 171).
Sadness
"Friendless, dejected, and hungry, he threw himself down in the manure and sobbed" (White, 1952, p. 30).
Love
"Wilber didn't want food, he wanted love. He wanted a friend - someone who would play with him" (White, 1952, p. 27).
"On foggy mornings, Charlotte's web was truly a thing of beauty. This morning each thin strand was decorated with dozens of tiny beads of water. The web glistened in the light and made a pattern of loveliness and mystery, like a delicate veil. Even Lurvy, who wasn't particularly interested in beauty, noticed the web when he came with the pig's breakfast" (White, 1952, p. 77).
Beauty
Growing Up
"As they passed the Ferris wheel, Fern gazed up at it and whished she were in the topmost car with Henry Fussy at her side" (White, 1952, p. 154).
Loyality
"All winter Wilber watched over Charlotte's egg sac as though he were guarding his own children" (White, 1952, p. 175).
Innocence
"The goose had been listening to this conversation and chuckling to herself. 'There are a lot of things Wilbur doesn't know about life,' she thought. 'He's really a very innocent little pig. He doesn't even know what's going to happen to him around Christmastime; he has no idea that Mr. Zuckerman and Lurvy are plotting to kill him' " (White, 1952, p. 40).
Devotion
"FAR INTO the night, while the other creatures slept, Charlotte worked on her web" (White, 1952, p. 92).
Joy of Life
"On fine sunny morning, after breakfast. Wilbur stood watching his precious sac. As he stood there, he notced something move. He stepped closer and stared. A tiny spider crawled from the sac. It was no bigger than a grain of sand, no bigger than the head of a pin. Its body was grey with black stripe underneath. Its legs wee grey and tan. It looked just like Charlotte" (White, 1952, p. 176).
Charlotte’s web is the story of a pig that is saved from an early death on a farm by a little girl named Fern Arable. Wilber is the runt of his litter. Not wanting to have to care for the runt, Ferns father Mr. Arable is on his way to kill the baby pig when his daughter Fern stops him and begs for the pig's life to be spared. To teach Fern a lesson in responsibility Mr. Arable allows Fern to care for Wilber by bottle feeding him. Fern loves and cares for Wilber like a baby until he is big enough to be sold. Her father explains that he does not want another pig on his farm, and that Wilber must be sold. Fern's mother suggest that Wilber could be sold to Fern's Uncle, Mr. Zuckerman, who lives down the road within walking distance of the Arable Farm (White, 1952).
Wilber's life completely changes at the age of five weeks old with the move to the Zuckerman’s Farm. Although Fern comes over in her spare time to visit with Wilber, he still becomes very lonely. Fern is only allowed to sit on the milking stool while visiting Wilber. She is not allowed to take him out of his pen or go in his pen. The other animals on the farm are not interested in becoming Wilber’s friend or playing with him. 'I'm very young, I have no real friend here in the barn, it's going to rain all morning and all afternoon, and Fern won't come in such bad weather' (White, 1952, p. 27).
PLOTS
Seeing Wilber in despair, a compassionate grey spider named Charlotte decides to befriend Wilber. She takes on the role of Wilber's best friend and surrogate mother, telling him stories at bedtime and making him feel better when he was down. Upon hearing that Wilber was marked for death in the winter, Charlotte decides to hatch a plan to save Wilber’s life. Charlotte plans to convince the Zuckerman’s that Wilber is an extra special pig by weaving words into her web so they will spare his life. Finding a small success with her first attempt, Charlotte continues to write words in the web in the barn doorway in an attempt to save Wilber from certain death. She involved the whole barnyard trying to pick the perfect words that would save Wilber’s life. Not an easy task saving someone’s life using only four words such as, "Some pig", "terrific", "radiant", and her last word was on display as a last ditch effort at the fair - "Humble".
Fern grows interested in boys and loses all interest in Wilber. Charlotte even provided friends for Wilber for the rest of her life through her children.
"As time went on, and the months and years came and went, he was never without friends. Fern did not come regularly to the barn any more. She was growing up, and was careful to avoid childish things, like sitting on a milk stool near a pigpen. But Charlotte's children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, year after year, lived in the doorway. Each spring there were new little spiders hatching out to take the place of the old. Most of them sailed away, on their balloons. But always two or three stayed and set up housekeeping in the doorway" (White, 1952, p. 183).
This book is unique in so many ways. It will take you through a rollercoaster of emotions and teach you about friendship, love, compassion, loyalty, devotion, sadness, innocence, beauty, sacrifice, loneliness, circle of life, growing up, the joy of life, and death. It has appealed to both children and adults throughout the years capturing everyone’s hearts through the kindness of a little girl and the compassion of a common grey spider.
Charlotte sacrifices and spends her life devoted to saving Wilber’s. She is up long nights weaving words into her web and not using as much sticky web as she would normally use to catch prey to eat. Charlotte is a devoted friend! She is successful in saving Wilber and relaxes when she hears that Wilber has won a special award at the fair. Charlotte's plan was a big success! She saved Wilber and dies at the fairgrounds alone. Wilber takes her egg sac home with him and watches over them until they hatch. The baby spiders all leave except three who stay and live with Wilber. Each generation of spiders has a few that stay and keep Wilber company throughout his life.