“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.” Charlotte - Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
The unexpected pairing of friends is a common theme found throughout literature, as it is so true in life. True and important as it brings down the barriers of racism, social inequality, gender stereotyping, ageism, religion and even species. In Charlotte’s Web we explore how friendships can bring out the best in us, how it affects our destiny and can even potentially save our lives. Friendship offers us tremendous opportunities with tremendous people as we navigate through our everyday experiences. And what is so amazing is that the bonds of friendship can grow deeper and be stronger than the binds of society’s norms, views and expectations.
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E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web is a beautiful illustration of how friendship goes beyond our expectations. Although Charlotte’s Web is a children’s novel, it clearly demonstrates what true friendship looks like and how it can shape one’s life. A young pig named Wilbur, alone in the barn and destined to become Christmas dinner, meets Charlotte, a caring, wise and loyal spider. Together they are tremendous friends that bring out the best in and are always there for each other. Charlotte devoted so much of her life to Wilbur, treating him like the son she’d never know. Using her creative talent, she would spin words into her web, making Wilbur famous and ultimately saving his life. Wilbur thrived in the spotlight and his devotion and admiration for his dear friend Charlotte were unsurpassable. In this story, the unlikely partnering of an extroverted, young male pig with an introverted adult female spider demonstrates that friendship is ageless, genderless and complimentary. Their friendship was based on mutual trust, affection and their ability to bring out the best qualities in each other - not on appearances, cultural norms, or superficial social media “likes, dislikes, groups or …show more content…
My original best friend, I met when I was three years old. For a whole year, we were inseparable; we went to school, we did dance and we had regular playdates together. When I was four, I moved across the Atlantic ocean to Canada. We had tried to maintain our friendship through video calls and letters, but, tragically, the distance was simply too great and we grew apart. As my ninth year approached, I found a new species of friends : Toxic. Contrary to the friendships I had known previously, instead of bringing out my best, these ‘friends’ brought out my worst. As fortune would have it, despite being in school with this person since kindergarten, I finally found an amazing friend in 6th grade. We had no interest in being friends at first. In the years before, we only spoke to each other out of reason. But by some crazy coincidence, we had been seated next to each other on the first day of 6th grade, and ever since, we are partners in crime. She is the shoulder I lean on, just as I am her’s, and we bring out the absolute best in each other. Not one day goes by without my wanting to see her to tell her the new things in my life and the secrets I feel that I can only share with her. She is always there to listen to me, just as I am always there to listen to her. This friendship, just like in Charlotte’s Web and The Fox and the Hound, was
Mistakes can seriously impact the people who make them; however, the effects are not always negative. In the book, Whirligig, by Paul Fleischman, a teenage boy named Brent is the new kid in town and he faces some major problems with his peers. After being pushed around, treated like a pawn, and utterly rejected, Brent tries to commit suicide by taking his hands off the wheel of his moving car. Although Brent’s attempt is not successful, his actions still have a tragic ending- Lea, a young, kind, beautiful girl, is unlucky enough to be in the car that Brent crashes into. The car accident results in Lea’s death, but also the start of Brent’s magical journey of redemption. Brent’s task is to travel to the four corners of the country, build and display whirligigs, and keep Lea’s spirit alive. Though Brent may not realize it, the trip does influence him in many different ways, one major change being Brent’s newfound ability to create strong relationships with a variety of people that he meets during the course of his adventure. Throughout Brent’s journey, Paul Fleischman uses the people that Brent interacts with to portray the idea that friendships can be formed regardless of personality type, race, and age.
Throughout “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Doodle is met with kindness and cruelty when interacting with his brother. The shifting attitude of Doodle’s brother is a wonderful example of the shifting emotions of the people around the world. Just like Doodle’s brother, people are happy, sad, jealous, prideful, angry, cruel, and kind. Although times and circumstances may change, people can’t live without their
Theme: Situations and surroundings can shatter the innocence of friendship, but more the identity of the individuals.
From the past, my family have to live in the countryside with an old house. Our family life keep stay the same and one day have change by my mother. She has done something and makes my family get better from the poor life. She changed my life from the poor life to a new life and now I can speak english, I can do everythings from that I never have done before. Because of her my life have change and get better from the past. In this novel, Freak the Mighty Rodman Philbrick uses the literary devices of characterization and dialogue to reveal the theme of the importance of friendship.
The most supportive of friends are manifest during life’s toughest of obstacles. They are the ones that help us power through the storm. Karen Karbo claims, “Most of us would prefer to think that we love our friends because of who they are, not because of the ways in which they support who we are. It sounds vaguely narcissistic, and yet the studies bear it out.”(156) while Yvette and I stated off as simple associates, she was soon to be reviled as my most supportive friend. She was just another co-worker. However, after our bosses went through a divorce, our most dependable co-worker moved, and another reunited with her drug habit, Yvette was the only one I could depend on. Together we became an unbreakable team. We could run the front office without any flaws. Since our friendship was growing we became even more supportive of each other, if one was slacking the other would step up and make sure the task was completed. We would switch off on answering the phones and taking on a challenging customer. Occasionally we would go out for a drink to destress from work. We had just started taking our girls out on play dates, and hanging out on weekends. One night my mom called me to let me know she had made other plans for the following night and I needed to figure out another arrangement for my daughter. Most nights I depend on my mom to watch my daughter so I can go to class, and when she is unable my sister will step in. In
saying "she has a kind heart, and she was to prove loyal to the very
...nd “dew-wet grass” (ll. 532-533). As with the girls’ experiences with the goblin men, this homoerotic experience is like a dream (l. 537). Laura and Lizzie, by sharing of themselves, discover that “there is no friend like a sister” (l. 562). Their love, redeeming and life giving, surpasses the seductive yet bitter fruits of the goblin men.
People have and always will enjoy a good read. The success of classics such as William Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, and The Merchant of Venice validate this. Modern authors are no exception to this ideology. In Manuel Puig’s 1976 hit, Kiss of the Spider Woman, the audience is introduced to two characters that inevitably fall into situations of adventure, romance, and deception. These elements are embedded in human kind’s tales all across the ages. The first of the two protagonists, Molina, is an easy-going, homosexual window dresser. Meanwhile, the second of the two protagonists, Valentin, is a non-homosexual, hot-blooded, political anarchist. These two are polar opposites who, in the wilderness of society, do their best to avoid each other’s presence; but being trapped in a prison cell together doesn’t give too much space for options. As the book’s title suggests, there is Spider, and therefore, there must be prey. The question is who is who?
Perhaps here Charlotte paused, raised her head, and, contemplating her moonlit grove of orange trees, pondered Martha's reaction to her bold statements. Although these words were painful, Charlotte would not soften them for the sake of her gentle, distant friend. Bound still by a pact of "mutual understanding" nine years old, Charlotte owed Martha complete honesty in "word and deed". Nine years ago, before courtship, marriage, and childbirth, Mrs. Charles Lane of Hingham Massachusetts was simply Martha Luther and Charlotte's dearest friend.
Charlotte's Web Charlotte's Web is a moving story about farm animals. Many writers use abstract and abstruse diction to interpret a particular idea, but E. B. White is different from white. The language used, the style, and the plots. this book is very humorous and I find it so impressive. The author E. B. White, excels in creating animal characters that can talk and feel normally like humans as a simple farm was depicted as a lively family.
Throughout this powerful novel, we observe the injustice in societal rejection and the pain caused by this. However, another extremely dominating theme involving the need for friendship surfaces again and again in all of the prominent characters. The Creature's isolation reveals the effects that loneliness can have when it is the strongest feeling in one's life. Taken as a whole, while the ability to care for oneself is important, people will always need someone to be there when the road gets rough.
As we ponder over our reading experiences as children, almost every American will remember reading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. How we read as children and how we read as adults is not at all the same. One might state children read for the pleasure of the story and adults simply read too much into the given text. However, one must realize the images being portrayed to our children. How could a story about a pig and a spider relay unwanted messages to our children? It is important to remark how social guidelines are presented in this text. The most obvious is the assignment of gender roles to the characters Not only does this affect the human characters in the story, but it also affects the farm life. The other social guideline found in this text is the barnyard society. This society can in turn represent our human society. These two guidelines of society are taught unknowingly to our children through this story. What is perhaps the most surprising is how little attitudes have changed. This book was originally published in 1952 and these stereotypes still exist in our society forty five years later.
Throughout most of my life I have gained friendships and relationships with others that have turned into long term, but others which only lasted a short while. The friendship that has greatly impacted my life significantly over the last eight years is someone who means so much to me. This meaningful friendship all started back when I was in middle school, which has grown stronger over the years. I met Brooke in middle school because we had some of the same classes and were in homeroom together. Our friendship developed quickly and lasted throughout our high school years. We became really close our Junior and Senior year of high school. But, maintaining our friendship hasn’t always been so easy. Today, we text and call each other on our free time, but I know I can count and rely on her when I need someone to talk too. I call her my second sister and vice versa. And when we go home on breaks we see one another as much as we can. The best part of our relationship is that if one is in need of advice or in need of a shoulder to cry on, we are always there for one another. Keeping in contact is very important in our relationship and communication has played a key role in our relationship.
Growing up in school you have your friends in 1st, then in Jr. High, and then when you get to high school you might not even know or see your friends from 1st grade anymore. For the few people who’s had a friend from 1st grade till college I think that someone they need to hold on to because if they stuck with you through all them year I know they’re there for the right reason and there not just there for a season. As Elizabeth Dunphy says, “It’s the little things that matter, that add up in the end, with the priceless thrilling magic found only in a friend.”
As I reach the seemingly boring age of 19, I am able to look back and reflect on how my choices in the past have gotten me to where I am today. One of the most significant decisions I have made in my life was to minimize my friend group. Now, losing friends is something you hear about before you even hit junior high. The common phrase is repeated over and over again, when referring to high school, “You find out who your real friends are.” As a scrawny little freshman, with no sense of reality, I refused to believe that that phrase would ever apply to my life. The end of my sophomore year is when my then, sixteen-year-old self, realized that that overused phrase was more relevant to my life than I wanted it to be. So I did something about it.