Charlotte's Web White

Charlotte’s Web was written by E.B. White and published in1952 by Harper & Brothers. White was a successful author who wrote for the New York Times for many years and White published many books for which he was awarded several times (Yardely). He wrote the book “The Elements of Style,” influencing many generations in their writing. This can be seen in his book Charlotte’s Web which is about Wilbur’s, whose life is saved several times by his friends. Charlotte the spider, Wilbur the rodent pig and the young girl Fern are the protagonists in Charlotte’s Web. Charlotte saves Wilbur’s life by weaving words in her webs, manipulating the people’s view on Wilbur. The book deals with peoples blindness for miracles, the similarities between weaving

She seems to save a little pig, which seems to be childish, but in fact she saves a life and wins a good friend. Later she tells her parents that she can talk to the animals at the barn. This also seems to be childish and crazy in a way, so her mother takes her to see a doctor. Dr Dorian says or rather repeats Fern’s message, that adults do not see or acknowledge miracles until someone shows it to them very clearly. While talking about the miracle of understanding how a spider spins a web, he says “I don't understand it. But for that matter I don't understand how a spider learned to spin a web in the first place. When the words appeared, everyone said they were a miracle. But nobody pointed out that the web itself is a miracle” (White 108-109.) It is interesting that White chose to name the doctor Dorian, insofar as the Dorians in ancient Greece were associated with lyric and poems and thereby with rhetoric (“Greek & Roman Mythology -

She writes about Wilbur who she loves a lot. By writing well-chosen words, she is able to save his life. The “people believe almost anything they see in print” (White 89) and that is how Charlotte saves Wilbur. This statement and action validates her message. She uses the power of the written words to help a friend and save his life. This is a good example of how easy it is to influence people with good writing. Making a web or making a text is important and can be a very powerful and influencing skill. White highlights the importance of good writing with Charlotte’s Web. A good example is the book’s ending: “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both”(White 184.) This ending reflects the two most important points in the book- friendship and writing. Not only its ending but the whole book reminds us how important friendship and caring for each other are. Everyone is linked to someone and depends on someone. Wilbur’s life depends on Fern and later on Charlotte. They can help each other even though the spider is much wiser than the pig and so they become true friends. Charlotte also shows that life is a circle and that it is everyone’s faith to die at some time and let a new generation live. That can be seen in the end when Charlotte dies, saving Wilbur’s life. Wilbur saves her eggs so that next generations can live