Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web

Characters

Wilber

Wilber is one of the main characters of the story. He is a spring pig and when he was born he was a runt and a terrible faith awaited him but the little girl Fern saved his life. He was loved by her. Later in the story he was sold to the Zuckermans and had to live in the pigpen. Wilber lived there for the remainder of the story. His personality was different than the other animals. He was very naive and didn't even know that he was going to be killed if the sheep didn't tell him. At some point he also thought he could spin a web and he was to innocent and naпve to know that he couldn't. He also was always either worried or sad. But, in general he was kind and had a child like heart. He showed his kindness when he accepted Charlotte as his fiend even though he didn't like the fact that she was cruel to bugs. He tried not to prejudge her and learned to love her when he got to know her. His kindness also shows when he takes on the responsibility of taking care of Charlotte's children. In the end of the story Wilber's character changes a little he doesn't come across being very needy and appears more self confident.

Charlotte

Charlotte is also one of the main characters in this book. She is a commen grey spider who becomes Wilber's best friend and ends up saving his life. Charlotte's personality is much different then the other characters. She is always positive, kind and knowledgeable, but most impotently she knows who she is and accepts and loves everything about herself. This becomes apparent when she explains to Wilber why she eats bugs, why it should not be viewed negatively, and why her lifestyle made her who she was. She also played as a mother figure in the story. She was very nurturing to others. She also took care of Wilber's mental and emotional state. She always made sure that Wilber was happy and had no worries. She took care of him and was nice and caring to him as a mother would be to her own child. She even put her personal needs aside to save his life. This showed another characteristic of hers which would is being selflessness. Instead of staying at the farm and laying her eggs she took a risk and went with Wilber, and at the end died alone.

Conflict

Wilber

Conflict vs Society

Wilber faces conflict with society. Right in the beginning of the story man wants to kill him because he is small. The farmer Mr. Arable wants to kill Wilber and doesn't care to give him the chance to see if he could make it. It is society who makes men believe that this is okay because this is a source of food. It is Fern who convinces her father that this action is unjust. This was not the end. Later Wilber is sold to the Zuckermans and the threat on his life continues. Wilber finds out that he will be killed when winter approaches. This is the way it has been every year and man usually use meet as a food source. Wilber's conflict is to find a way to stay alive. In most of the story he is worried and it is Charlotte who helps him solve this conflict. Throughout the whole story Wilber's life hangs by a thread.

Charlotte

Conflict vs Person

Chartless conflict is with men. Her main struggle in the story is to find a way to keep Wilber alive. In order to keep Wilber alive she needs to convince men that he is special. She also has other conflicts with men. In the middle of the story the boy whose name is Avery wants to catch her. He almost succeeds in doing it but he falls when he is about to touch her. He falls on a rotten egg and this chases him away. The problem doesn't end there but it does when Charlotte writes the first words on the web. After this the boy gets punished and doesn't go after her again. The last issue that I feel might be a conflict would be the fact that she doesn't ever get recognition, not even a little. No one gives her some credit for the written words but instead they say that spiders can't write. The last conflict that she faces is when she has to decide whether to go to the fair with Wilber or stay and make her egg sack.

Themes

Friendship

There are many themes in the book Charlotte's Web, but one of the important and obvious one is the team of friendship. This is apparent in the beginning of the story when Fern takes care of Wilber and becomes a friend to him. She cares about him and goes and visits him all the time. She is not interested in anything ales but being with Wilber. In the beginning she isn't even interested in making any other friends, but at the end of the story she looses inters in Wilber and becomes interested in boys. However, this is how some friendships are in real life. Sometime as friends get older they grow apart. Their interests grow in different directions. Never the less, almost everybody has a friend who is with them throughout life. This type of a friendship was the friendship between Charlotte and Wilber.

Loyalty

One of the other themes of the story is loyalty, and this is shown through the relationship of Wilber and Charlotte. The friendship between them is very strong, stronger than the relationship between Fern and Wilber. Charlotte is loyal to Wilber to the end. She is always there when Wilber needs advice or feels down. She is also determined to save Wilber's life no mater what. She really shows her loyalty when she risks her life and her eggs just to save Wilber's life. This is apparent when she is hesitant towards going to the fair but decides to stay loyal and goes anyway. At the end she saves Wilber's life at the cost of ding alone and away from home. Wilber is also loyal to Charlotte and this is clear when at the end he tells Charlotte that he would give her life fore her. He also shows his loyalty when he takes Charlotte's egg sack back to the barn and looks after it, and he tries to keep Charlotte's memory alive through building friendships with her children and grandchildren.

Characters