The children’s novel “Charlotte´s Web“ was written by Elwyn Brooks White. White was born in July, 1899, in Mount Vernon, New York, and was an famous American author and poet. He died in October, 1985, in North Brooklin, Maine.
The novel is about a pig, called Wilbur, who meets the spider, Charlotte. Both live on a farm. The farmer wants to kill Wilbur, but Charlotte tries to prohibit it. The main characters are Charlotte, Wilbur and the eight- year-old girl, Fern.
The novel starts with the birth of Wilbur at the farm of Fern´s dad. Wilbur is weak and small. That is the reason why the dad wants to kill him, but Fern appeals to her dad and convinces him that she can take care of the pig. Fern is very smart and assertive. After some weeks the pig has to move to the uncle of Fern. Wilbur is sad and does not know other animals here. But then he meets the spider Charlotte, who is very smart, and becomes a member of an animal community. She knows that the uncle, called Homer Zuckerman, will kill Wilbur at Christmas.
She explains to Wilbur, what will happen to him. Wilbur is nervous because he does not want to die. “I just love it here in the barn,“ said Wilbur. “I love everything about this place.“ Willbur asks Charlotte if she can help him. The spider promises Wilbur help, although she does not have a plan. Wilbur and Charlotte get to know each other better with time; she teaches him how to spin a web and then she gets an idea, how she could help Willbur.
Charlotte spins a web, in which she writes words. These words describe Willbur as a fantastic and extraordinary pig. Through these words, she tries to prohibit the slaughter of Wilbur. When Mr. Zuckerman sees the web with the message “Some pig” he was thinking that he “received a sign- a mysterious sign.”
Fern´s uncle goes to the minister´s house and explains what happened. “Everybody knew that the Zuckermans had a wondrous pig.” From then on, Wilbur and the Zuckermans become famous. Wilbur is represented as an amazing and miraculous pig. The miracle of the message is explained by the minister in the church: “The words on the spider´s web proved that human beings must always be on the watch for coming of wonders.”
Charlotte succeeds; Wilbur won´t die at Christmas. In order that the people can gaze further at Wilbur, Charlotte writes new words in her web. For this purpose she gets help of a rat, called Templeton, who helps her with finding good words: “TERRIFIC, RADIANT.”
Fern spends a lot of time at the Zuckerman farm and plays with the animals. Her mother, Mrs. Arable, is worried about Fern’s attitude. Therefore she contacts the doctor, who can put Mrs. Arable´s mind at ease.
Wilbur asks Charlotte, if she wants to come to the fair. But Charlotte does not want to got there because she has to protect her web and lay eggs.The fair is a special event, for animals as well as for people. In the night before the fair, Zuckerman dreams, that Wilbur will win a prize.
I think, that Wilbur will win a prize. But I think that Charlotte will get into trouble because she thinks of her new babies.
Elwyn Brooks White uses simple language and he often quotes conversations and thoughts of the animals and people.
In conclusion, I like the novel because it is funny to read the conversations between animals, especially between Charlotte and Wilbur. The spider, Charlotte, bolsters the pig, Wilbur, and protects his life.