Charlotte's Web

Summary

Charlotte's Web opens at breakfast on the Arable farm, when eight-year-old Fern learns that her father is going out to kill the runt of a new litter of pigs. She protests so fiercely against killing a creature for being small that he gives her the piglet to raise. She names him Wilbur, feeds him from a bottle, and wheels him about in her doll carriage. When he is five weeks old, Mr. Arable sells him for six dollars to Fern's uncle, Homer Zuckerman, who lives down the road, and Wilbur moves into the cellar of the Zuckerman barn. Fern visits nearly every day and sits on a milking stool listening to the animals talk. Wilbur is lonely until a quiet voice in the dark offers to be his friend: Charlotte A. Cavatica, a large grey spider whose web spans the top of the barn doorway. Wilbur is at first shocked that she drinks the blood of flies, but comes to love her wisdom and kindness. The old sheep tells Wilbur that he is being fattened to be killed at Christmas, and Charlotte promises to save him. Her plan is to write words in her web. The first, SOME PIG, astonishes Mr. Zuckerman and his hired man Lurvy, Zuckerman consults the minister, word spreads, and crowds of visitors come to see the miraculous pig. With the help of Templeton, a greedy rat who scavenges words from scraps of paper at the dump, she weaves TERRIFIC and then RADIANT. Mrs. Arable worries that Fern spends too much time in the barn and says the animals talk; she consults Dr. Dorian, who tells her not to worry and that the web is a miracle no one fully understands. A rotten goose egg that Templeton has kept saves Charlotte when Avery, Fern's brother, tries to knock her down and falls, smashing it. The Zuckermans take Wilbur to the County Fair, where Charlotte and Templeton ride in his crate. Wilbur loses the blue ribbon to a huge pig named Uncle, but Charlotte spins HUMBLE, and Wilbur wins a special prize; he faints at the honour and Templeton revives him by biting his tail. Meanwhile Charlotte has made her egg sac, her magnum opus, and she is dying. She cannot go home, so Wilbur persuades Templeton to fetch the sac, and Wilbur carries it home in his mouth. Charlotte dies alone at the empty fairground. In spring her children hatch; most float away on the wind, but three, Joy, Aranea and Nellie, stay in the doorway, and Wilbur lives on in the barn, honoured and safe, never forgetting Charlotte. Fern, growing up, now prefers riding the Ferris wheel with Henry Fussy. Harper & Brothers published the book on 15 October 1952 with drawings by Garth Williams; it was a Newbery Honor book in 1953.

Top Lessons

• A true friend gives

  Charlotte spends her last summer and strength saving Wilbur and asks nothing in return. Wilbur learns from her how to love, and repays her by bringing her children home and caring for them.

• Every life is worth saving

  The story begins with Fern's protest that a pig should not be killed simply for being small. That sense of justice runs through the book, as a runt becomes the most admired pig in the county.

• Death is part of the seasons

  White does not hide that Charlotte must die or that spring pigs are often killed in winter. He sets these sad facts inside the turning year of the barn, so that death comes with new life, as Charlotte's children hatch in spring.

• Words have power

  Four ordinary words written in a web change how a whole county sees one pig. Charlotte chooses her words carefully and truthfully, and the book shows how much good a well-chosen word can do.

Verified Quotes

Medical Lens

Not a medical book, but two strands may interest a psychiatrist. Chapter XIV is a gentle portrait of a mid-century family doctor as counsellor: Mrs. Arable fears that something is wrong with Fern because she spends her days in the barn and reports what the animals say, and Dr. Dorian answers with patience, curiosity and reassurance rather than a diagnosis, expecting the girl to outgrow it, which she does. The second strand is Charlotte's death, often cited as an early reading experience of grief for American children: she dies of natural causes after laying her eggs, calmly and alone, and Wilbur's mourning turns into faithful care for her offspring. White's own 1948 essay on the death of a sick pig on his farm stands in the background.

• Chapter XIV

  Mrs. Arable consults Dr. Dorian about Fern's absorption in the barn animals; he reassures her and reflects on the web as something no one fully understands.

• Chapter XXI

  Charlotte tells Wilbur she will not return to the barn and dies alone at the fairground after the crowds leave.

• Chapter XXII

  Wilbur guards the egg sac through the winter and welcomes Charlotte's daughters in spring, keeping her memory.