英文兒童文學筆記 week 3－It is a bell。伊莎貝爾

Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web is a children's novel by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published in October 15, 1952, by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered by the farmer, Charlotte writes messages praising Wilbur (such as "Radiant", "Humble", "Terrific" and "Some Pig") in her web in order to persuade the farmer to let him live.

Written in White's dry, low-key manner, Charlotte's Web is considered a classic of children's literature, enjoyable to adults as well as children. The description of the experience of swinging on a rope swing at the farm is an often cited example of rhythm in writing, as the pace of the sentences reflects the motion of the swing.

Plot summary:

After her father spares the life of a piglet from slaughtering it as runt of the litter, a little girl named Fern Arable nurtures the piglet lovingly, naming him Wilbur. On greater maturity, Wilbur is sold to Fern's uncle, Homer Zuckerman, in whose barnyard he is left yearning for companionship but is snubbed by other barn animals, until befriended by a barn spider named Charlotte, living on a web overlooking Wilbur's enclosure. Upon Wilbur's discovery that he is intended for slaughter, she promises to hatch a plan guaranteed to spare his life. Accordingly, she secretly weaves praise of him into her web, attracting publicity among Zuckerman's neighbors who attribute the praise to divine intervention. As time passes, more inscriptions appear on Charlotte's webs, increasing his renown. Therefore, Wilbur is entered in the county fair, accompanied by Charlotte and the rat Templeton, whom she employs in gathering inspiration for her messages. There, Charlotte spins an egg sac containing her unborn offspring, and Wilbur, despite winning no prizes, is later celebrated by the fair's staff and visitors (thus made too prestigious alive to justify killing him). Exhausted apparently by laying eggs, Charlotte remains at the fair and dies shortly after Wilbur's departure. Having returned to Zuckerman's farm, Wilbur guards Charlotte's egg sac, and is saddened further when the new spiders depart shortly after hatching. The three smallest remain, however. Pleased at finding new friends, Wilbur names the spiderlings Joy, Nellie, and Aranea, and the book concludes by mentioning that more generations of spiders kept him company in subsequent years.

Quotes:

"People believe almost anything they see in print." —Charlotte

When Mr Zuckerman first sees the writing in the web, he considers that the spider might have weaved it but he quickly dispels that from his mind. He decides that the writing must be correct and says to his wife: "This is a very serious thing, Edith...Our pig is completely out of the ordinary."

Charlotte is bright enough to realize the ease with which she can manipulate her readers with propaganda. And sure enough, people start to really see that Wilbur is 'Terrific' and 'Radiant' and 'Humble'. A really great writer can make his reader invest in what he writes - both Charlotte and White manage that.

"Oh no...I don't understand it. But for that matter I don't understand how a spider learned to spin a web in the first place. When the words appeared, everyone said they were a miracle. But nobody pointed out that the web itself is a miracle." —Dr Dorian

Dr Dorian is extremely calm about the miracle and when he discusses the matter with Mrs Arable, his level-headedness and reasonableness calms her down. What Dr Dorian points out so succinctly here is that miracles are taking place every day but we are too blind to notice them. Dr Dorian makes the very sensible point that no one really knows how a spider figures out how to build a web but every spider does. It is only when the adults are given a clear sign that there is something magical going on that they actually acknowledge the miracle in front of them. Since Dr Dorian is aware of how miraculous nature is anyway, the writing in the web is just another example of this trust in nature.

"They just keep trotting back and forth across the bridge thinking there is something better on the other side. If they'd hang head-down at the top of the thing and wait quietly, maybe something good would come along." —Charlotte

Charlotte here criticises man's desire for the things he hasn't got. She advocates staying still and being patient and allowing things to come to you. Even though Charlotte demonstrates an independent pioneering spirit by saving Wilbur, she retains a stillness and peacefulness that means she isn't constantly chasing after abstract fantasies. Perhaps it is because man is constantly searching for 'something better on the other side' that he misses the miracles that are right in front of him. He gets bored of what he has in front of him because he doesn't take the time to appreciate it.

"After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to life up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that." —Charlotte

Here Charlotte captures the tone of the whole novel. She is completely unsentimental about life and death but she acknowledges that dedicating your time to a worthy cause while you are alive makes life worth living. Charlotte shows us the benefits of loving and also reveals that life without love can be empty. Although she knows that she will die, she can die proud that she changed Wilbur's life and this represents an achievement greater than anyone else’s in the novel. She accepts her place in nature and that she, like everyone else, must die and make room for new creatures that will have their own opportunities to shape the world.