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Charlotte's Web By E. B White Analysis

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E.B. White’s children’s novel Charlotte’s Web encapsulates a trifecta of distinctive features. The bildungsroman work accomplishes the tasks of telling a great story, educating the young, and catering to the moral, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs of children, from within the story and out. White captures appropriate progression and maturation, especially through the protagonists Wilbur and Fern.
To Love and To Be Loved A child’s need for love is based on security and it is reciprocated upon those the child trusts the most. An evident case of a child having this moral and psychological need met is “some pig” -- Wilbur. Upon arrival of a new home following rejecting from his previous one, Wilbur becomes lonely and belittled by the …show more content…
In an effort to rescue Wilbur from slaughter, Charlotte creates different phases to save the big by deceiving humans in believing he is some kind of religious miracle: “some pig”, “terrific”, and “radiant”. The pig is thankful, yet he decides Charlotte’s words alone are not enough to save him. He has to prove and live up to Charlotte’s compliments: “Charlotte had written the word RADIANT, and Wilbur really looked radiant as he stood in the golden sunlight. Ever since the spider had befriended him, he had done his best to live up to his reputation. When Charlotte’s web said SOME PIG, Wilbur had tried hard to look like some pig. When Charlotte’s web said TERRIFIC, Wilbur had tried to look terrific. And now that the web said RADIANT, he did everything possible to make himself glow” (15.114). The need for achievement is a staple of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. A child seeking success is in the interpersonal concordance orientation. This orientation entails a child whose behavior is governed by a desire to have …show more content…
Wilbur’s mentor Charlotte provides him with the tools and knowledge he needs to become independent, long before she passes away.Wilbur is naturally curious about the world, yet he feels guilt by bothering Charlotte for what he believes are selfish desires: “Wilbur didn’t understand the word ‘languish’ and he hated to bother Charlotte by asking her to explain. But he was so worried he felt he had to ask” (19.146). Wilbur’s empathetic consideration for Charlotte shows progress correlating to Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. With this behavior, Wilbur is evidently in the preoperational period. At this period, children become less egocentric and make friends. Wilbur shows concern for others and acknowledges that he is not the center of the

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