The Importance of Perception
In “Charlottes Web ” by E. B. White, Wilbur an ordinary farm pig learns to see himself as extraordinary. He has this change in perspective due to the perception of his arachnid friend Charlotte. In fact, Charlotte changes the perception of Wilbur’s mundane existence to one that inspires, among all of the human characters as well. Charlotte understands something very integral to humanity, that just a few words can change everything that we perceive.
Perception is an aspect of humanity that is easily swayed. The Zuckerman’s and Arables (excluding Wilbur’s young friend Fern) only see Wilbur value in what service he can provide for them. The book begins with Mr. Arable going to the barn to dispose of Wilbur because
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he is a runt and won’t be anything but a burden. Thankfully Fern sees Wilbur’s intrinsic value and changes her fathers mind, but not quite his perception. She argues that “This is the most terrible case of injustice I have ever heard of.” (White 2) She is appalled that her father would kill the piglet “just because it’s smaller than the others.” (White 1) He still sees Wilbur as a worthless runt but he values his daughter and spares the piglet. The Zuckerman’s see Wilbur’s only worth in his future place on their dinner table.
Instead of Fern stepping up in defense, this time Charlotte is the one who takes action. Charlotte understands that if the Zuckerman’s are told that Wilbur has value, they will believe it and start to see it for themselves. She sees the power that perception holds, changing our very beliefs, and used this to change the humans perception and save Wilbur. After she begins writing in her web, the humans even try and convince themselves that they knew how special he was the whole time. Mr. Zuckerman shows this. “You know,” he said, in an important voice, “I’ve thought all along that that pig of ours was an extra good one.” (White 81) He begins to see this pig, the one he only bought because he was so inexpensive, differently. The pig is the same one that has always been there, the same one that they only cared about when something might interfere with him getting plump. “I think theres something wrong with that pig of yours. He hasn't touched his food. “Give him two tablespoons of sulphur and a little molasses,” said Mrs. Zuckerman.” (White 30-31) That didn't care why he was upset and sick, only that he wasn't eating. The difference now is in how they see him, or their perception, by providing them with the descriptions, “some pig terrific, radiant and finally humble” it shines a light on his ordinary self and it changes it to
extraordinary. As Charlottes words change how the humans see Wilbur, they also change how he sees himself. “Actually,” said Wilbur, “I feel radiant.” (White 101) Charlottes words didn't just label him, they changed him. By seeing himself as radiant and terrific he came upon a boost of confidence and really felt like a better pig. The power of perception is so strong that it not only changes ideas but it can change character too. Another example of this is when Charlotte and Wilbur first meet. After she tells him how she feeds herself, “He was sad because his new friend was so bloodthirsty.” (White 39) Charlotte then explains that spiders actually are helpful, that they rid the world of excess bugs. This knowledge changes Wilbur’s perception and turns a “ fierce, brutal, scheming, bloodthirsty” (White 41) beast into a helpful, kindhearted and loyal friend
Richard’s own identity as well as his personal identification of others is formed through language. For example, in Richard’s encounter with the Yankee, Richard used language to fill up the “yawning, shameful gap.” He uses personification to emphasize the awkwardness of their conversation. This awkwardness was a result of the Yankee’s probing questions. Richard described it as an “unreal-natured” conversation, but, paradoxically, he also admits, “of course the conversation was real; it dealt with my welfare.” The Yankee man then tried to offer Richard a dollar, and spoke of the blatant hunger in Richard’s eyes. This made Richard feel degraded and ashamed. Wright uses syntax to appropriately place the conversation before making his point in his personal conclusions. In the analogy, “A man will seek to express his relation to the stars…that loaf of bread is as important as the stars” (loaf of bread being the metonymy for food), Wright concludes “ it is the little things of life “ that shape a Negro’s destiny. An interesting detail is how Richard refuses the Yankee’s pity; he whispers it. From then on, Richard identified him as an enemy. Thus, through that short, succinct exchange of words, two identities were molded.
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.
Hoggart, Simon. “Beauty and the beasts.” The Spectator. ProQuest, 31 July 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
Ruth, Elizabeth. “The Secret Life of Bees Traces the Growth of Lily’s Social Consciousness.” Coming of Age in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2013. 63-65. Print. Social Issues in Literature. Rpt. of “Secret Life of Bees.” The Globe and Mail 2 Mar. 2002: n. pag.
Charlotte’s Web is a perfect example of Logos. The text of this story is laid out in the best way possible. It has the proper structure that brings the whole movie together. It has a starting point and the main objective of the movie, which is to save Wilbur from becoming the Christmas ham. There’s a middle, or the body of the story, where we see how the characters go about trying to save Wilbur. Then we have a conclusion, or and ending, which is that Wilbur is saved, gets to see the winter, and doesn’t become the Christmas ham. Therefore this movie is laid out like this essay is as it has all the same characteristics. The logical way this movie is laid out is great. It shows that after each word the Charlotte writes in the web the farmer is getting closer and closer to not killing Wilbur.
Many of Margaret Wise Brown’s most famous books have animals as the main character. For example, Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon, two of her most popular books, feature rabbits as the main characters. Further, in Goodnight Moon, the animal’s behavior is parallel to that of humans. For example, the motherly figure on the rocking chair is reading to the young rabbit as many parents do to their children. Additionally, Brown adds a humorous element as the young rabbit seems to have pets.
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
Lord of the flies, William Golding best exemplifies the theme of the power through the conch shell and the pigs had as both control the boy’s emotions and actions throughout the course of the novel.
The human experience is a special one; The conscious human ability to observe and perceive the world in ways beyond simple or primary observation was brought upon by the rapid evolution of humans, and has helped us grow into the modern beings we are: complex; layered; empathetic, and thoughtful. With these uncommon and advanced qualities comes the realization that there are many ways of viewing our world (man’s world), for all humans develop consciousness; and each individual is shaped by the experiences, knowledge and wisdom of both themselves and others. This quarter we analyzed the theme: a different view of man’s world, through various forms of literature including: Lord of the Flies by William Golding, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka,
Cain’s novel is no doubt full of social commentary, but he has also focused on a very underrated facet of realistic fiction, which is the exploration of flaws in human nature which are constant in every person; this specific emotional chord will strike anyone who reads it profoundly, even in its opening
The creature’s personality, or actions toward society, was displayed as being very calm and compassionate in the novel. He made many attempts to converse with society, but society feared and mistreated...
In the beginning Pigott felt unusual. But when time passes, she starts to observe their ideas to believing them herself. She feels open-minded. Pigott begins to see European tourists as “strange and skeletal….devoid of shape and substance.” She started to see the way of beauty and she completely transformed herself into a Gambian women.
Among the characters is Wilbur and Charlotte. Wilbur had Character vs. Self conflict concerning friendship as she thinks of Charlotte, “I’ve got a new friend, all right! But what a gamble friendship is! Charlotte is fierce, brutal, scheming, and bloodthirsty-everything I don’t like. How can I learn to like her, even though she is beautiful and, of course, smart?” Such thoughts of Wilbur indicate that he had fears and doubt on whether to accept Charlotte as her friend (White 41). But Wilbur is helpless and needs friend to rely to save his life so to solve his problem, he tries to be like Charlotte so as to solve his conflict. Such an attempt is comprehensible to readers that Wilbur imitates Charlotte’s spinning of a web, so as to relate to a friend’s ability. Such mimicking is supposed to alleviate the lack of confidence friendship. As their story continue, Wilbur discover that his impression with Charlotte is wrong. Underneath Charlotte’s cruel exterior, she has kind heart and a loyal and true friend to the very
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.
The narrator sometimes gets inside of the thoughts on particular characters but it does not spend too much time, instead it focuses more on the physical actions of the humans. It describes how the old man is treated towards everyone, he is treated by some like an attraction and something to be feared. The old man kept being an attraction and being poked with sticks until the very end, when a spider lady grabbed the attention of the humans by being new and more unknown than the old man, demonstrating how humans are driven to the unknown due to their