charlotte's web archetypes

The hero of this book is Wilbur. He starts off as the runt of the litter, and he is changed by the journey. Wilbur's journey is the loss of innocence because throughout the book he is maturing and changing. Charlotte is the mentor, she assists the hero, and she shows wisdom, knowledge, and experience. She repeatedly teaches Wilbur and helps him out. Charlotte's journey is the task, she has to make sure that Wilbur is not killed when the colder weather comes. The shadow of the story is everyone who is in the plot to kill Wilbur. The Zuckermans, the Arables, and Lurvy. They are the conflict, they oppose Wilbur. Templeton is the shapeshifter of the book. He never really wants to help, but sometimes he does. Wilbur starts off as the runt of the litter, and he is saved from death by Fern. From their he is raised by Fern until he grows too big. He is sold to Homer Zuckerman. As Fern grows more and more distant he finds a new friend, Charlotte. Charlotte is very wise and experienced unlike Wilbur, who is still just a child. Charlotte teaches Wilbur many things. She supports him like a mother. then, Wilbur finds out that he is going to be killed around Christmas time. Charlotte's task is to prevent this from happening. Wilbur had to sacrifice his food in order to be able to save Charlotte's eggs.

E.B White's lists

EB white frequenly uses lists throughout Charlotte's Web. The lists that he makes are very specific, each thing is described with sensory detail. whenever it lists what is in Wilbur's meal, it almost makes it exciting for the reader.wilbur's food includes a lot of odd things mixed together, thats why its interesting to read.  One of his lists (page 46) has a great description of Templeton. "the rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything" This list was written to show what everyone thought of Templeton. i think that EB White was stressing how bad Templeton is so that it would come as a surprise when he did something good like saving Charlotte's eggs at the end. E.B white also a great list on pages 25 and 26. The list is Wilburs plan for the day. the list is written from hour to hour. the reason why i love it so much is that the activites are very unrealistic. for example on page26 it says "from 11-12 he planned to stand still and watch flies on the boards, bees in the clover, and watch swallows in the air."

Charlotte's web. Charlotte replaces Fern

At the very begining of the book (page 4) Fern first recieves her pig. her father was going to kill it because it was the runt of the litter, but Fern convinced him to let her keep the pig and take care of it. Fern names the pig Wilbur. she takes care of him as if he were her child (and shes only 8 years old). she feeds the pig, plays with him, and looks after him. she sometimes carries him in a carrige along with a doll. everywhere she goes Wilbur tags allong. Wilbur is quite fond of Fern. Fern is his best friend, he plays with her and goes where ever she is. but after 5 weeks Wilbur grows a lot. Fern's father tells Fern that he must be sold. Wilbur is sold to Fern's uncle, Homer Zuckerman. Although Fern visits every day, she's not allowed to take Wilbur out of his pen. All she does is sit on a milking stool and watch the animals. since Fern is not always there, Wilbur becomes lonely. he cannot go anywhere and he has no friends. one day he meets Charlotte, a grey spider. Charlotte and wilbur become great friends. Charlotte is wise, she knows many things that Wilbur doesn't. shes always using big words that Wilbur doesn't understand. she teaches wilbur. and even when Fern is there, Wilbur always talks to charlotte. Charlotte begins to take on this motherly role for wilbur. she comforts him when hes sad, she teaches him, she cares and looks out for him. but at this point, Fern never talks to the animals. she just watches and listens.