Charlotte's Web Summary

Fern sees her father leave the house with

One morning at the breakfast table, eight year old

an axe and asks her mother where he's going. Her mother delivers the shocking news thatMr

Arable is going out to kill a runt that was born the night before. Fern chases her father
down and persuades him to spare the runt, telling him that it is unjust to kill a piglet just because
it is small. Moved by his daughter's plea, Mr Arable decides to give the runt to her to look after.

Fern names the piglet Wilbur and looks after him like a baby, pushing him in her pram
alongside her doll and feeding him with a bottle. At five weeks old Mr Arable insists that Wilbur
is sold and he goes to live in the Zuckerman barn down the road.
Wilbur initially struggles at the barn because he misses Fern so much but soon he becomes

acquainted with new friends, the best of whom is a lady grey spider called Charlotte .
Wilbur is fascinated by Charlotte, although to begin with he is slightly suspicious of the way she
catches her food - he doesn't like the idea that she spins bugs in her web and sucks their blood.
He soon realizes that Charlotte is everything but cruel and bloodthirsty and that her method of
eating is entirely necessary for a spider.
Wilbur is complete happy during the summer days - Fern comes to visit and his new friend tells
him exciting stories and has the patience to try and coach him about how to spin a web (although
she knows fine well he will never be able to) but one day he gets some terrible news that puts an
end to his carefree attitude.

The sheep tells Wilbur that Mr Zuckerman is fattening him up for Christmas dinner and Wilbur
is distraught - he is so happy on the farm and doesn't want to die. Charlotte calms him down and
promises him that she won't let him be killed. She hasn't worked out how to save him yet, but she
is determined that she will.

One morning as Lurvy pours Wilbur's slops, he notices Charlotte's twinkling spider web
in the morning fog. The words 'SOME PIG' have been weaved into the web. Lurvy is
gobsmacked and utters a prayer. He quickly tells Mr Zuckerman who is equally amazed and soon
the news spreads near and far.
Worried that people may be getting bored of 'SOME PIG', Charlotte

asks Templeton the rat to aid her in finding more words to write in her web.
Knowing that if Wilbur is killed he won't have access to his slops, Templeton reluctantly
scavenges for newspaper clippings to help Charlotte. The next word she writes is 'TERRIFIC'
and after that, 'RADIANT.'
Meanwhile, Mrs Arable is concerned that Fern is spending too much time down at
the barn and becomes even more alarmed when her daughter tells her about Charlotte and the
stories Charlotte tells. Mrs Arable decides to go and see Dr. Dorian to ask him what he makes of
Fern thinking the animals can talk and what he makes of the mysterious writing in the

web. Dr Dorian is very calm and rational and says that the real miracle is not the
writing in the web but the fact that a spider instinctively knows how to build a web without any
tuition. He says that it is quite possible that animals can talk and that the reason that adults
cannot hear them might be because they talk too much to hear what is going on in nature.
With the news of Zuckerman's famous pig spreading, the Zuckermans and Arables decide to take
Wilbur to the County Fair. Charlotte agrees to go too although she is feeling tired and soon has
to build a sac to hold her eggs. At the fair, Charlotte is disappointed to see that beside Wilbur's

pen is a much larger spring pig called Uncle . Knowing he is fierce competition, Charlotte
decides to spin another web and once again Templeton is sent off to find a word.

The adults and children enjoy themselves at the fair and Avery and Fern are particularly
excited that they are allowed to go off without their parents all afternoon. Fern spends all

afternoon with Henry Fussy and they go on the Ferris wheel together. For
months after, Fern will look back nostalgically at her time on the Ferris wheel with Henry.
Before nightfall Charlotte weaves her web with the new word 'HUMBLE' written into it and
throughout the night she makes her egg sac. In the morning the Zuckermans and Arables see the
web but they also notice that Uncle has a blue tag on his pen - he has already won first prize. Mr
Zuckerman ignores the tag and tells everyone to buck up and give Wilbur a buttermilk bath.
Everyone who comes to Wilbur's pen has something good to say about him.

Suddenly, over the loudspeaker a voice is heard asking Zuckerman to bring his famous pig to the
judges' booth for a special award. Wilbur is awarded a medal for being phenomenal and
completely out of the ordinary and Mr Zuckerman is given $25. Since the writing first appeared
in the web, the miracle has been on everyone's mind. After the press photos and the commotion,
Wilbur is returned to his pen.

Wilbur notices that Charlotte is quiet and looks unwell. She tells him that she is content now that
she knows he is safe - she knows Mr Zuckerman will never harm him now, but she tells Wilbur
that she is failing and will be dead in a day or two. Panicked and distraught Wilbur races around
the pen, begging Charlotte to come home with him, but she hasn't enough energy to move.
Wilbur decides to take Charlotte's egg sac and promises Templeton first choice of his slops if he
retrieves the sac. As Wilbur carries the sac in his mouth and is led into the crate, he winks at
Charlotte and she musters all the energy she can to wave goodbye. The next day, as the Ferris
wheel is being taken apart, Charlotte dies.

Back at the Zuckerman’s, Wilbur is given a noisy welcome home. He waits patiently for the birth
of Charlotte's children and often looks longingly at her empty, broken web. When her children
are finally born, Wilbur is distraught to see them let out loose clouds of fine silk that carries them
far away on the breeze. Three of Charlotte's children stay in the barn with Wilbur, however and
become his good friends. Year after year new spiders are born to replace the old but no one ever
replaces Charlotte in Wilbur's heart.

How It All Goes Down

You'd be surprised how much can happen

in the life of a pig. And for Wilbur, life's got
some definite ups and downs.

Right off the bat, we know Wilbur is in for

some trouble. Just after he's born, Papa
Arable wants to kill the little piggy merely
because he's the runtof the litter.
Thankfully, eight-year-old Fern Arable isn't
going to stand for such injustice. She
convinces her daddy to let her keep the pig
as a pet and then gives him a memorable
name: Wilbur, of course.
Fern is a great little mama to Wilbur, but
Wilbur eventually gets too big to be a house
pet. So, she sells her pet to her Uncle
Homer Zuckerman. Wilbur is sad to leave
Fern. She's the best! But at the Zuckerman
farm he finds good friends and a warm
manure pile. (Gross? Definitely. But Wilbur
likes it.) And the best friend of all in this
barn is an itty-bitty grey spider named
Charlotte.

Wilbur is enjoying his new home until one

day he gets some seriously bad news:
eventually Homer Zuckerman will probably
kill Wilbur and turn him into bacon and ham.
Oh no! Wilbur's a special little bugger, and
we're pretty sad to hear he might get sent to
the butcher block.
So it's Charlotte to the rescue. Our favorite
spider hatches a plan to save Wilbur's life.
There are three steps:

(1) Write the words "SOME PIG" in the

middle of her spider web. This makes
everyone think that Wilbur sure is
something special. In fact, they think he's
"some pig."

(2) Launch the second slogan in the Save

Wilbur Campaign: "TERRIFIC." Now
Zuckerman thinks Wilbur is so terrific that
he'll take the little pig to compete in the
county fair.

(3) Weave the third catchphrase into the

web: "RADIANT." The whole county is
visiting the Zuckerman farm to see this
seriously radiant piggy.
Charlotte has definitely convinced people
that Wilbur is a special little guy—er, pig.
And once the Arables and Zuckermans get
to the County Fair, she's going to have one
more chance to show off her friend. So
Charlotte weaves her final sign. This time it
says: "Humble." All the fairgoers agree:
that's one humble pig.

It's time to break out some cheering

because Wilbur wins a special prize at the
county fair. Charlotte knows she's done her
job well and the Zuckermans will never kill
such a special pig. Check and mate.

But now it's time to break out the tissues:

Charlotte is dying. We know, this seems
pretty sudden. But spiders just don't live
very long. And the worst part of it is that
she's created a sac of 514 eggs that she'll
never get to see hatch. Plus, they're going
to be stranded at the fairgrounds. This is
seriously sad.

Thankfully, her dear buddy Wilbur is going

to save the day. Charlotte saved his life and
now he's going to save the lives of her little
kiddies. So Wilbur takes the egg sac back
to the Zuckerman farm, while Charlotte dies
alone at the fairgrounds. Yep, totally tragic.

But here's the silver lining: once spring

comes, Wilbur has lots of new spider
friends. And even though those spiders
eventually die too, they also leave egg sacs
filled with more future friends. Basically,
Wilbur is never going to be lonely a day in
his life