“Some Pig”

Salutations! From Charlotte’s Web.

“The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been born very small at birth, would you have killed me?”- Fern

 “Trust me Wilbur. People are very gullible. They’ll believe anything they see in print.”- Charlotte

Wilbur- “Charlotte, why did you do this for me?”

Charlotte- “You’re my friend, Wilbur. That in itself is a tremendous thing.”

E. B. White (1899-1985) worked as a contributor for The New Yorker magazine for nearly 60 years. He started writing children’s books for his niece in the 1930’s. The first children’s book he published was Stuart Little (1945); the second was Charlotte’s Web (1952).  Both books went on to critical and commercial acclaim, and in 1978 E. B. White was awarded the honorary Pulitzer Prize for his work.

White had previously published in 1948, an account of his failure to save a pig that had been purchased for butchering, and Charlotte’s Web is often seen as White’s way of going back and saving the pig.

The scientific name for an orb-weaver spider is Araneus cavaticus, but the proper name will always be Charlotte. Fern saved Wilbur on the day he was born, but Charlotte gave him life; she was his friend when no one else was. Charlotte not only saved Wilbur from being slaughtered but she gave him a reason to live. Wilbur was some terrific, radiant, humble pig because Charlotte gave him the confidence to be. I’m much more embarrassed to admit that it took me 23 years to finally read this book than I am to admit that when Wilbur took the egg sac back to the barn and Charlotte was left behind to die there alone I had tears in my eyes. I was already familiar with the story before reading the book, but it relieved me to no end when I read that Charlotte’s daughters Joy, Aranea, and Nellie were staying in the barn with Wilbur.

“Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”

 I really hate spiders, but the next one I see I will probably let it live in honor of Charlotte; oh and I won’t be able to eat pork for at least a week.

2 down, 98 to go.