Charlotte's Web

Charlotte dies because, as another answer here mentions, her life-cycle as a spider is complete. After making her egg-sac, Charlotte's biological duty has been fulfilled, and she dies. If we...

The primary conflict that drives the plot of Charlotte's Web is Wilbur's impending death. There are also lesser conflicts that include Fern growing up, and Wilbur dealing with the transience of...

The characters in Charlotte's Web include both animals and humans. Some important animal characters are Wilbur, Charlotte, Templeton, and Uncle. Some important human characters are John, Fern,...

The famous mythologist Joseph Campbell outlined the stages of what he called the monomyth, a basic plot structure that he found to be common to traditional tales throughout history. Many...

Mrs. Arable suggests calling Homer Zuckerman to see if Wilbur can live on his farm. Fern is clearly upset at the idea of losing Wilbur. She raised him from when he was a piglet and doesn't want to...

When Wilbur is born, he is the runt of the pig litter. Fern's father, Mr. Arable, wants to kill Wilbur, thinking he will probably not survive and, in the meantime, will simply use up food and...

Of course, there is Charlotte A. Cavatica, the literate grey spider and the title character of the book. We also have Wilbur the pig and protagonist. Fern Arable is a young girl who adopts Wilber...

In chapter 4, Wilbur had his entire day planned out by the hour, but it is pouring rain. He laments that he was set to have a beautifully planned day out, and the rain has ruined it. He mopes...

The main human character in Charlotte's Web is eight-year-old Fern Arable. She is the girl that rescues Wilbur from being killed by her father for being nothing more than the runt of the litter....

The lesson of loyalty is one of those lessons that all readers can take from White's story. Charlotte is loyal to Wilbur and Wilbur to Charlotte. This is a dominant characteristic of both...

At first, Templeton refuses to go the fair, where he could help Charlotte by running errands, doing "general work"—and finding a word for her web. This attitude changes when the old sheep appeals...

There were many changes that happened on the farm after that miraculous morning when Lurvy saw "Some Pig" written in Charlotte's web; however, I think the three most important were that the farm...

Avery and Fern have been spending a carefree, fun day at the Zuckermans' farm. They take turns to play on the swing, go picking berries, and eat some of Mrs. Zuckerman's blueberry pie. But Avery is...

Mr. Zuckerman pays six dollars for Wilbur. Fern desperately wants to keep the little pig close by and begs her father to sell the pig to her Uncle Homer, who lives down the road. "Your Uncle...

After Wilbur the "humble" pig is saved from being slaughtered (ultimately, by the attention lavished upon him at the county fair with the help of Charlotte's magnum opus of web words), Charlotte...

It is true that at first Templeton the rat refuses to help Wilbur. Templeton has been characterized in the book from the start as a creature who only cares about his own well-being. For example,...

In the book Charlotte's Web, Wilbur the pig becomes good friends with Charlotte the spider. After the runt pig is nursed to health by a young girl named Fern, Wilbur is sold to Fern's uncle, who...

The universal message that an author wants the reader to walk away with after reading a story is the literary element called a theme. Most often, these themes have something to do with what it...

The farm is the main setting for the novel Charlotte's Web. It is there that Wilbur faces his trials and is saved by various characters. Interestingly, both of Wilbur's "saviors" are female...

In Charlotte's Web, Wilbur is lonely because he is socially rejected by most of the other creatures in the barn with him. On a rainy day, Wilbur is looking for friends. First, he reaches out to...

E. B. White's Charlotte's Web certainly does bring up the issue of raising runt pigs. When raising pigs for food or to sell as food for profit, size matters. Runts, even when fully grown, will...

I would say that the protagonist in the story is Charlotte the spider while the antagonist is the farmer, Homer Zuckerman. The conflict between them is that Homer wants to kill Wilbur while...

Mr. Zuckerman has made the decision to take Wilbur the pig to the County Fair on September 6. He wants his prize porker to be transported to the event in a crate that is painted green and adorned...

In Charlotte's Web, Wilbur is a role model to children because he submerges his identity into something larger than himself. Death is a reality in Charlotte's Web. From the opening line of "Where's...

A reader should look in chapter two for the answer to this question. Fern has done an admirable job of caring for Wilbur and helping him become a bigger, healthier pig. Once Wilbur is five weeks...

The story opens on Arable's farm where his sow has just given birth to a litter of piglets. When Mr. Arable discovers one is a runt, he wants to kill it. His 8 year old daughter, Fern, however,...

To me, there are a couple of things that you could say she is parodying. First, the whole thing is a parody of a "fish story." Fishermen are notorious for telling tall tales about their exploits...

In Chapter 11 of Charlotte's Web, Lurvy comes outside to give Wilbur his breakfast and finds the words "SOME PIG!" woven into Charlotte's web. In a state of total disbelief, he runs back to the...

I would argue that Wilbur is not a strong-minded pig. From the very beginning of the story, Wilbur depends on other people and animals to keep him alive, to help him find his way, and to accomplish...

Wilbur is a pampered pig, treated like a baby by Fern, who saved him from being slaughtered. As the runt of the litter, poor little Wilbur was never going to get much in the way of tender loving...

The last way that Wilbur ever communicates with Charlotte is by giving her a wink. He does this as he is begin put into his crate to go back home from the fair. He cannot say anything to her...

When I think of the friendships that come to mind in the book, particularly those between Wilbur and Charlotte herself, a variety of ideas about friendship come up. The first is the idea that...

Wilbur the pig had been so attentive to Charlotte's egg sac, waiting all winter for the babies to emerge, that he was beyond delighted when all the little spiders hatched. He greeted them...

This is a coming-of-age story (a bildingsroman) which stars Wilbur (a pig), Charlotte (a spider), and Fern (the little girl who loves Wilbur). There are a host of other animals and human...

You are certainly able to argue that those paired themes are not present in this great children's book, but I do think that it is better to support the idea that those themes are present. I think...

Technically, the setting of the story is the author's farm. White turned his personal farm into a fictional setting for his story. We are not told a specific town or area in the story, but we are...