The following column appeared on December 24 in The Portland Press Herald. They apparently share my love of EB White enough to carry it.

Commentary: What gives ‘Charlotte’s Web’ such formidable staying power?

Seventy years after its publication, E.B. White’s little book of wisdom continues to enthrall readers – children and adults alike.

BY ARTHUR C. BENEDICT   SPECIAL TO THE PRESS HERALD

“Confronted by new challenges, surrounded by new acquaintances –

including the characters in the barnyard, who were later to reappear in

‘Charlotte’s Web’ – I was suddenly seeing, feeling, and listening as a child

sees, feels, and listens.”

That’s the author E.B. White in a later introduction to “One Man’s Meat” –

the collection of columns he wrote for Harper’s Magazine from his saltwater

farm in North Brooklin, Maine. It sheds light on how this former New Yorker

could imagine a world in which animals say things that only children can

hear and a spider weaves words into her web.

“Charlotte’s Web,” published 70 years ago this year, has sold over 33 million

copies. Before the year expires, I’d like to commemorate the anniversary and

celebrate the wisdom and the enjoyment to be found in this little book.

When this book came out, I was 9 years old. I may have read it in school (I

hope I did). But I certainly read it to my kids some 20 years later.

I had been introduced to E.B. White in college. First as a freshman, along

with thousands of other freshmen, when I was required to purchase

“Elements of Style,” the helpful guide to writing that he co-authored with his

former professor William Strunk Jr.

I met Mr. White again the following year in a writing class that used “One

Man’s Meat” to show us what clear writing looked and sounded like.

Advertisement

In 1999, The New Yorker published an article by John Updike titled

“Magnum Opus,” to honor the centennial of White’s birth. It motivated me to

read “Charlotte’s Web” again. And, as an older adult, to appreciate things

that I had not seen before. (After the latest rereading, my used paperback

edition gave up the ghost; its cover separated, spilling pages onto my lap.)

What gives this barnyard tale such staying power?

For young readers or listeners to parents reading it, I think it’s the story of

friendship between this pig, who seems so innocent, and the wise spider who

saves him. Wilbur, faced with death, is pining for a friend. Initially, he must

overcome the revulsion he feels when Charlotte describes how she sucks the

blood from the bugs she traps in her web. You hear a child say “ugh!” and

scrunch up her face when she hears that.

The main actors are backed up by a supporting cast of characters. The gander,

goose and goslings who say things three times. The old sheep who speaks the

truth and dispenses wisdom. The spring lambs and their mother. There’s even

a villain in the mix – the yucky rat, Templeton, who eventually does the right

thing (even if it’s for the wrong reason).

I would imagine that any child could identify with Fern, sitting on the

milking stool, listening to and observing her friends. Or experience the joy

and freedom that Fern and Avery did on the barn swing, or when they went

off on their own to explore the county fair.

There’s also the physical comedy children can appreciate. For example,

Avery getting his comeuppance when he falls off the trough and breaks the

stinky goose egg. Or, when Wilbur faints and the farmhand, Lurvy, throws

the pail of water. He misses the pig and soaks both Mr. Zuckerman and

Avery.

Advertisement

And there’s the verbal humor, when Templeton, doing something good for a

change, talks like this, “Thith thtuff thticks in my mouth,” when he climbs up

to the web to carry Charlotte’s egg sac to safety. “It’th worth than caramel

candy.” You can hear the giggling when the parent tries to repeat these lines

to his child.

Like any good novelist, White builds tension and suspense, releasing them

when the time is right. Will Wilbur be saved? Will Avery’s stick reach

Charlotte’s web, letting him add her to his collection? Will Wilbur win the

medal at the fair? Will any of Charlotte’s children stay behind as hundreds

are lifted on the warm updraft and float away?

Perhaps White’s biggest accomplishment is that he can introduce children to

death by showing them that it is a natural part of life.

Charlotte’s ready to die after she constructs her magnum opus, the sac with

five hundred and fourteen eggs in it. Her life ends, but death’s sting is

softened because some of her children and grandchildren will be left to

befriend Wilbur.

“Charlotte’s Web” isn’t just for children. It is a little book of wisdom

disguised as a children’s book. As adults, we can’t help but feel the sadness

of Charlotte’s death when the author writes: “No one was with her when she

died.”

But again, when this happens, the book isn’t over. Life goes on in the

barnyard as Wilbur waits for Charlotte’s eggs to hatch. White captures his

anticipation: “Life is always a rich and steady time when you were waiting

for something to happen or to hatch.”

Advertisement

Just as children can appreciate White’s childlike voice and humorous scenes,

we adults can also hear him. Charlotte is the voice of White, the lover of

words and writer. She not only writes in her web, but also teaches vocabulary

to Wilbur. I can’t imagine many authors of children’s books using big words

like salutations, untenable, gullible, terrific, radiant, versatile, humble,

languishing and magnum opus. But White does, and takes the time to define

and use them.

There’s also White’s devotion to justice in Fern’s fierce reaction to her father

wanting to kill the runt of the litter: “This is the most terrible case of injustice

I ever heard of.”

There is also the more down-to-earth Dr. Dorian, explaining to Fern’s mother

that she shouldn’t worry about Fern hearing the animals talk. “Children pay

better attention than grown-ups.” He goes on to lament, “Perhaps if people

talked less, animals would talk more.”

For me, who is almost 10 years older than the book, my favorite part is when

Charlotte talks to herself as she is weaving “TERRIFIC” into her web.

“Now for the R! Up we go! Repeat! Attach! Descend! ….” She goes on like

this for a paragraph.

That is something that only a more mature person like me can relate to. These

days, it seems that my comments accompany my every action. Apparently, I

am not alone.

Thank you, Mr. White – 70 years late – for giving me a lifetime of pleasure

with this little book of wisdom and love.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Arthur C. Benedict is a resident of Peaks Island.