“Charlotte’s Web” by E. B. White (post 4): Fable about fiction writing, in which a spider represents an alternate personality, writing behind the scenes

Wilbur is a pig who is awarded a special medal at the country fair, because a series of words that make reference to him have appeared in a spider web. Since all of the humans (except a girl named Fern) assume there is no such thing as spiders who are writers, they have given Wilbur credit for the writing, by some kind of miracle.

Fern, since she can understand what the animals are saying to each other, knows that the spider, Charlotte, has been writing these words in her web as a way to make Wilbur seem special, so that he won’t be killed for food. But when Fern tries to tell people that Wilbur is not responsible for the writing, that it is Charlotte the spider, working behind the scenes, nobody believes her.

That E. B. White saw Charlotte as representing writing, and how writing is actually done, is seen in how he ends the novel. These are his last words:

“It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both” (1, p. 184).

1. E. B. White. The Annotated Charlotte’s Web. Introduction and Notes by Peter F. Neumeyer. Pictures by Garth Williams. New York, HarperCollins, 1952/1994.