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emmaward55 's review for:
Charlotte's Web
by E.B. White
I read this once as a child and this week I reread it for a children's book club.
It's funny how much I've changed in the years since I first opened it, and how that's effected my view on it. My main take away from it as an adult is that Charlotte was indeed the main character despite not being our point of view character.
I also felt that she was underappreciated by all around her. She did all that for Wilbur, even though she was dying and about to lay her eggs. It makes me think of how unappreciated so many women and mothers are, even though I can't imagine White intended the story to evoke such feelings!
Actually, a feminist reading of this book would be really interesting. It's constantly female characters who save the day; Fern intervenes when Wilbur is about to be killed by her father, Charlotte spins her webs, the oldest sheep talks Templeton into going to the fair, and Edith Zuckerman insists on the buttermilk bath trick taught to her by her grandmother. Women are constantly acting to save Wilbur from the threat of male violence (i.e. becoming the Christmas roast!). I'm overthinking it, but it's fun to find these elements within the book.
It's funny how much I've changed in the years since I first opened it, and how that's effected my view on it. My main take away from it as an adult is that Charlotte was indeed the main character despite not being our point of view character.
I also felt that she was underappreciated by all around her. She did all that for Wilbur, even though she was dying and about to lay her eggs. It makes me think of how unappreciated so many women and mothers are, even though I can't imagine White intended the story to evoke such feelings!
Actually, a feminist reading of this book would be really interesting. It's constantly female characters who save the day; Fern intervenes when Wilbur is about to be killed by her father, Charlotte spins her webs, the oldest sheep talks Templeton into going to the fair, and Edith Zuckerman insists on the buttermilk bath trick taught to her by her grandmother. Women are constantly acting to save Wilbur from the threat of male violence (i.e. becoming the Christmas roast!). I'm overthinking it, but it's fun to find these elements within the book.