Exploring Charlotte’s Web classical literature and the author’s use of theme and setting of the novel

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Exploring Charlotte’s Web
Charlotte’s Web is a classic novel about the friendship between Charlotte, a barn spider, and a pig named Wilbur. The children’s novel explores various themes and reveals the value of friendship. This essay will illustrate why Charlotte’s Web is a classic literature based on Lukens ideas that literature should provide insights of what motivates human beings and assist in determining what is essential in life. Moreover, the paper will explore the use of setting and theme in the novel.
Analysis of Lukens/Classic Literature
The first criteria that this essay will analyze is the notion that literature should provide insights of what motivates human beings (Lukens 289). In his novel, E.B White focuses on life; in particular, he narrates about friendship, death, loyalty, and courage. White gives insights into why people form friendships, particularly those from different backgrounds (Housel 43). He incorporates a wide range of characters that take animal form so that the audience (children) can acquire an understanding of friendships. He explores what friendship is all about and how one can handle death. Through the use of this setup, White sheds light into ethnicity in the metaphorical sense by using variety in the story (Housel 12). These animals represent individuals with different backgrounds and ethnicities.
Lukens (292) states that literature should assist in determining what is essential in life. Charlotte’s Web illustrates why friendships are important.

White explores the associations between characters, their feelings towards each other and how they help each other to deal with tragedy. The three main characters in the story are Charlotte, Wilbur, and a young girl named Fern. They represent people of different ethnicities as friends and illustrates the essence of friendship and what it takes to sustain one. White’s novel facilitates children with an understanding of the value of companionships and how to care for something deeply without being possessive (Housel 44). The author applies the use of different ethnicities and friendships to hand out lessons about life and death.
Setting
According to Luken (150), the setting helps to identify the place and time the narrative took place. Charlotte’s Web is set on an American farmland. Most of the events in the novel take place at Homer Zuckerman’s farm, specifically the pig pen in which Wilbur lives. Wilbur becomes friends with Charlotte and other animals in the barnyard. He is dreaded after he finds out that he was going to be slaughtered the next spring. With the help of Templeton, a rat, Charlotte looks for words that she could weave into her web so as to describe Wilbur (White 28). After seeing these words, the owner of the farm. Zuckerman is instantly enthralled with his outstanding pig and opts to enter him in the county fair rather than slaughtering him. After the slight focus on the fair, the setting goes back to the farm, where Charlotte passes away. She left behind kids, and three of them stayed with Wilbur until he retired. The setting employed in the novel is integral. It takes place when the story, the characters, and theme are influenced significantly by the setting (Luken 150). In Charlotte’s Web, the story is centered on farm life. Charlotte decides to spin the web that depicts Wilbur’s name so that she could save him from the slaughterhouse. The farm plays a major role in how the story turns out

Although White isn’t too specific about the time the narrative takes place, one can tell that it is set in the 1950s. The biggest innovation in the farm is the freezer Mrs. Zuckerman owns. Another indication is the advertising material that Templeton brings back to the farm, a printed brochure (Housel 32). The printed brochure became prominent in the 1950s when the advertising industry took off. This time, the setting is a backdrop since the characters are not influenced by it (Luken 150). Charlotte’s place can take place in today’s world as easily as it happened when it was written.
Theme
A theme is described as the subject of narration. It is the focus of a story and provides the underlying meaning. The main theme in Charlotte’s Web is the importance of friendship. Wilbur and Charlotte are good friends; their friendship entails loyalty to each other and even sacrifices. Their relationship also has flaws and difficulties, nonetheless, they watch out for each other, and one can count on the other, especially when it matters the most. The story begins with a girl named Fern, Wilbur’s owner. Unknown to her, the baby pig will be slaughtered when he grows older. Subsequently, after she finds out that Wilbur was going to be killed, his friend Charlotte rescues him. Another example of how friendship is depicted in the novel is when Wilbur wanted to impress Charlotte by creating the web to tell Charlotte “he was very smart and competent” (White 65). This shows a friend trying to please another to win his affection. At the end of the narration, Charlotte’s tells Charlotte states “You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you” (White 66). This statement reveals the close relationship between the two.
Another theme is death and the effect it has on an individual (Housel 73). Upon finding out that Wilbur was going to be slaughtered, Charlotte’s reaction was to find a way of saving him from this fate. She successfully manages to do so by weaving the web that depicts his name that made the owner reconsider his position. At the end of the story, Charlotte passes away after Wilbur had retired from the fair. Wilbur had anticipated that he would spend his retirement days with his best friend only to be hit with a cruel fate. Instead of being overwhelmed with despair, Wilbur decided to live the rest of his life joyfully with the company of Charlotte’s kids.

Intended Audience
White wrote the novel for children, particularly those who are yet to discover about the concepts of life like friendships and death. The author showcases friendship in a positive way. He metaphorically illustrates how individuals can care for each other and how loyalty and honor are the bases of a sustainable relationship. In the middle of the novel Wilbur asks, “You mean you eat flies? Do they taste good?” (White 37). His inquiry symbolizes a kid questioning the meaning of death. White then delicately describes how death is a natural process without alarming a kid through Charlotte’s reply. She states “I don’t eat them, I drink them—drink their blood” (White 37). He illustrates to children that death should not be feared.
Conclusion
Charlotte’s Web is a classical piece of literature meant for children. The story explores why friendships are important and how one can cope with death. It is set on American farmland in the 1950s and follows the plight of two friends as they support each through life. Even though the novel was released in 1952, it continues to be relevant up to this day.
Works Cited
Housel, Debra J. An Instructional Guide for Literature: Charlotte’s Web. Teacher Created Materials, 2015. Print.
Lukens, Rebecca J. A Critical Handbook of Children’s Literature. Pearson, 2007. Print.
White, E B, and Garth Williams. Charlotte’s The Web. New York, USA: Harper & Brothers, 1952. Print..