Revisiting a Childhood Classic - "Charlotte’s Web" by E.B. White (1952)

Pictures by Garth Williams

I revisited a childhood classic that I hadn't read in [insert number] of years. I vaguely knew the story of a pig and a spider's bond. Then also vaguely knew of the movie back in the early 2000s. A prompt from the Cincinnati Public Library's Reading Challenge to revisit a childhood story/book was just what I needed in this time of a very personal and discombobulating rebirth.

I chose Charlotte's Web because it was the perfect medium between familiarity and newness. I didn't want to chose a children's story I've never read before--that would lose the entire reasoning of the prompt saying revisit a story. But I also didn't want a book that I knew its story like the back of my hand. So, I was in-between Roald Dahl's The BFG and E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. I chose not to read The BFG because I was not emotionally prepared for the experience of it. See, my copy of The BFG was given to me by a very memorable elementary school teacher that I hold very dear to my heart. I've had it for all these years. To read that specific copy of the book while going through, again, what I would consider a TOWER rebirth (those who understand the art of Tarot will understand this), is just TEW much. I'll have to face it eventually--my new adult self meeting my child self--but that is for later.

E.B. White from first chapter "Before Breakfast" demonstrates why Charlotte's Web is solidified in literary history as a childhood classic. I immediately and so deeply connected with Fern who dares to be a little girl with something to say. And it is oh too often when little girls with mouths are told to shut them. What I appreciate that White does here with the Arables is that the parents feel real as they teeter-totter between giving their children the freedom to explore the world around them and shutting down that childlike curiosity when deemed "too ridiculous."

Mr. and Mrs. Arable does not shut down Fern's curiosity and defiance completely. If they did, Wilbur would've been bacon the next day and this would've made for a shorter, more depressing book. We, the readers, probably know of many parents/adults in our real lives that would've done exactly that--kids crying and all! But when Fern actively stops her father from killing Wilbur, he listens (albeit in reluctant parent fashion). For a book written in the 1950s when media openly depicted adults neglecting or harming children and called it "discipline," this is daring to be different. The Arables listen to Fern. Yes, they have a mouthful to say about it, but they at least allow her to be a silly kid.

I want to talk about how much death (and mentions of killing) is in this book. I love it. And I love this for children. White does not treat children as if they are unknowing or absent-minded of the world. In fact, White addresses Mrs. Arable's attempt to soften what is goign to happen, hiding using a euphemism for the word kill.

"Do away with it?" shrieked Fern. "You mean kill it? Just because it's smaller than the others?" Fern to her mother Mrs. Arable (p. 1).

Fern, like the audience of children reading, can put two and two together. That meat comes from animals. Those animals must die for us to consume them.

White is not afraid to address difficult topics and does it in a way that is still child-friendly (or introductory) to the topics at hand. Besides, if a child still did not understand the concept of death, it is a great placeholder for the adults in their lives (parents, guardians, trusted grown-ups) to have those conversations with them. Especially this book's famously tear-jerker ending is a way to help guide children through difficult, BIG emotions and very sensitive life-situations.

I appreciate how much care White handled these characters with. Again, Fern and Avery feel like real kids and not just an adult's interpretation of a kid. You know how movies sometimes have adult actors play the role of children (most of the time, teens) either due to saftey concerns or payment kerfuffles? There has been times when I'm reading what is supposed to be a child/teen character in a book and I think to myself, this is definitely an abstract thought of a child and not a full-fledged kid... As if it was an adult trying to play the role of a kid in a movie. Charlotte's Web does not feel that way at all.

Charlotte's Web gave me the same feeling of watching Little Bear (1995-2001) or Kipper (1997-2000) animated children's shows. This book is quiet, it takes its time, and--to reference a controversial topic of the social media era--not overstimulating. This book was soothing to read. Even in moments of action or tensity, E.B. White choses to keep his sentences relatively elongated. He still chooses to set the scene as it is happening. It is not just about the action but also the world that the action is taking place in. Fern is our silent observer for many of Wilbur's adventures. Humans are on the farm, tending to it. There is a community dedicated to these animals, so much so that their Fair and the declaration of a prize pig is a prime event. This Fair is not some small affair. The setting becomes more than a passive, stagnant backdrop for the farm animals' stories to unfold. The setting becomes an active participant. I truly believe that I could get in a truck, ride the road to town, and interact with the world outside of what's immediately mentioned in the book. All while Wilbur and his friends meddled around.

Here's an activity! Go outside and find a place somewhere where non-human animals or insects may roam. Create a narrative around those animals or insects. Describe the drama between a group of ants. What are the happenings between those squirrels running up a tree? What is an unruly dog saying to the well-behaved dog walking across the street? White takes the boring and makes it so special. What helps builds this magical world is Fern's witnessing of it all.

Fern, in an alternate universe, could join the X-Men. But when I think about it more, of course only a child could see all of this between the animals happening! It is a common trope of certain monsters or entities only being recognized by children. What I think White is going for here is that Fern is observant. She takes the time to get a stool and sit and watch and listen. For hours. This is how great philosophers, artists, scientists are made.

I think the best part about the "Issac Newton under the apple tree" story (even if it's exaggerated for storytelling's sake), is that he gave himself time to sit under an apple tree and just chill there. Evenmore so, the life around him allowed him time to sit under an apple tree. Actually, I was talking to a friend about this about a month ago...reading a book like this during our fast and busy world make me grieve patience and silence. Avery, Fern's playful and goofy brother, doesn't hear the animals speaking and, for the most part, misses out on Wilbur's narrative.

"Perhaps if people talked less, animals would talk more." Dr. Dorian to Mrs. Arable (p.110).

Don't you ever wonder what bees and butterflies are gossiping about in spring? Or even what your pets whisper to each other about? White teaches us that if we just sit and listen, we could maybe find out. Metaphorically, I mean. Mrs. Arable, who I didn't much care for at first, actually had me realizing how valid she was in her concern. After a while, it does seem like Fern is hallucinating. I think this is my biggest critique of the book is that the wives (Mrs. Zuckerman and Mrs. Arable) are made to be the easy naysayers.

Mrs. Arable isn't as accepting of Fern's extended time with Wilbur or with Fern claiming to know what the animals are saying. The wives are painted as killjoys during the Fair as well. I did initally fall into the trap of really disliking Mrs. Arable but it was the scene with Dr. Dorian that had me pause. She has a point.

The farm seems to be their primary source of income. Butchering is part of that process. So is killing runts. (Insert dissertation here about vegans, vegetarians, and ethical meat consumption arguments that I'm not about to write about.)

Also, what could be interpreted as a child experiencing auditory hallucinations (aka hearing animals actually talk) would be concerning if you're a parent. Now, let's say this was a case of auditory hallucination and this book turns into the tale of Fern's experience with some sort of unsaid mental diagnosis. (Can't you tell I'm going on a wild tangent here?) I still believe Mrs. Arable could've handled that situation a lot better. But she did try to get professional help (enter Dr. Dorian) and she eventually accepted the situation for what it was. And it's also the 50s. The last lobotomy was done in the 60s supposedly soooooo...put two-two together about what would've happened to a young girl (emphasis on GIRL) suspected of having hallucinations--end tangent.

There are many moments with the wives in which their gendered dynamics with their husbands feel antiquated. But then I see how White handles Fern and can't help but see so much nuance in how he approaches girlhood. She is defiant. She playful and curious. She also has a crush on a boy. She is also intelligent. She is also a very good child overall.

The Arables allow her to disagree with them. They hear her out (for the most part). They allow her to spend time with Wilbur, even when hesitant about it. But then they say that she'll have to "grow up" sometime and can't spend all her days there watching him. They are also excited to hear Fern has a crush--they allow Fern space to explore her liking for Henry Fussy. Again, they feel like regular parents who are just trying to figure it all out.

I truly wished White gave us more at the end when Fern grows up. Fern's magic just ends. It feels abrupt. It feel unfinished like a planned second book was canceled and he had to end on a whim. But I also think White wanted to focus all of our attentions on the loving moments between Wilbur and Charlotte's spider babies.

I haven't actually talked about Wilbur and Charlotte much. I think their stories really speaks for itself. Ahem--READ!

The animal character whose story I find most unexpected is Templeton. I'm still trying to wrap my head around White's intentions with Templeton. The rat symbolizes selfishness and greed. I guess I was expecting a bit more redemption for the rat. At the Fair, Templeton does seem to help but it's only for his personal gain. Anything he does to help someone else, he must be coerced into it. White ends his story with what I take to be the road to a quick, eventual death for Templeton.

"You would live longer," said the old sheep, "if you ate less." "Who wants to live forever?" sneered the rat. "I am naturally a heavy eater and I get untold satisfaction from the pleasures of the feast." A conversation between the old sheep and Templeton rat (p. 175).

Templeton is assumed to overeat to death. It's not the eating, per se, but his greedy nature and self-interest. The sin of gluttony. To clarify, its not being fat or having an addiction as the sin, but the exploitation of others to fulfill oneself at all costs to the point of extreme excess. I guess I'm just disappointed becaue I SO wanted a redemption arc for Templeton and it just never came. The unredeemable, filthy rat is what he is.

I loved this experience of revisiting Charlotte's Web. And I loved writing this post about it. I think I was the most affected by Fern's story than of Wilbur's. Wilbur and Charlotte--friendship, grief, new life, helping one another, creative thinking. Fern's lessons of embracing the quiet, observing the small things, listening to nature/Earth everywhere you are... I feel so connected to. To conclude,

Read this to your kids.