History Fridge / CharlottesWeb

** Probably has something to do with ValuesDissonance. I was pretty shocked myself to see that, considering how Fern raised Wilbur since he was a piglet and was clearly very attached to him, and even visited him regularly after he was sold, the adults would not realize that this was not the kind of pig who should be slaughtered for meat. Indeed, nowadays this would be seen as questionable by many, but at the time the book was written, being butchered and eaten was considered the main purpose of raising a pig on a farm. I used to wonder why, even if they wanted ham, why they couldn't get it from somewhere else. Nowadays, it's easy to buy ham at a supermarket for a few dollars. But back then, most farmers got most of their meat from their own livestock.

* Avery tried to catch Charlotte with a stick. Imagine if he'd succeeded - not only would Charlotte die, but Wilbur probably would too, because Charlotte wouldn't be there to help him. He certainly deserved the punishment his mother later gave him for it.

*** And he’s ''right:'' At the county fair where Wilbur's life is saved for good, Fern develops a crush on Henry, and ignores Wilbur - the pig she loved and raised - in favor of spending all her time riding the fair’s attractions (namely the Ferris wheel) with her new crush, not even coming by ''once'' to visit him alone. And when she and her family find out that Uncle, another pig, won first prize, Fern, instead of being terrified that Charlotte’s plan has seemingly failed, ''starts badgering her mother to give her money so she can go back on the Ferris wheel with Henry, within clear earshot of Wilbur.'' She obsesses over that moment on the wheel with Henry even months later, and eventually stops coming to visit Wilbur as often out of a desire to “avoid childish things, like sitting on a milk stool near a pigpen”. So even though Wilbur was saved by the end, Fern slowly lost her emotional investment in Wilbur in favor of Henry. (Averted in the animated version, where Fern cries out, "Oh no!" after discovering Uncle's ribbon.)

*** And he’s ''right:'' At the county fair where Wilbur's life is saved for good, Fern develops a crush on Henry, and ignores Wilbur - the pig she loved and raised - in favor of spending all her time riding the fair’s attractions (namely the Ferris wheel) with her new crush, not even coming by ''once'' to visit him alone. And when she and her family find out that Uncle, another pig, won first prize, Fern, instead of being terrified that Charlotte’s plan has seemingly failed, ''starts badgering her mother to give her money so she can go back on the Ferris wheel with Henry, within clear earshot of Wilbur.'' She obsesses over that moment on the wheel with Henry even months later, and eventually stops coming to visit Wilbur as often out of a desire to “avoid childish things, like sitting on a milk stool near a pigpen”. So even though Wilbur was saved by the end, Fern slowly lost her emotional investment in Wilbur in favor of Henry.

* When Templeton brings back a wrapper that says "Crunchy" and Charlotte shoots down the idea, mentioning that it would make people think of 'crunchy bacon,' Wilbur begins to faint. This time, Charlotte tells him she forbids him to faint, and after a few seconds of shuddering and lip-quivering, he manages to stay up. It's kind of brilliant because maybe Charlotte knows that she's nearing the end of her life and she's possibly either preparing Wilbur for life without her mothering and reassurance. Another reason could be that she thinks Wilbur's fainting habit might ruin her plan to save his life if the humans see it. A sickly, fainting pig would have very little value. Either way, she wanted Wilbur to appear strong - not weak and needy. She wanted him to be seen as special.

* Charlotte's descendants won’t have a longer lifespan than she did – only about a year each. Maybe this isn't exactly "fridge" horror, because it is alluded to in the book: "Each spring there were new little spiders hatching out to take the place of the old." [[MayflyDecemberFriendship Wilbur will have to watch Joy, Aranea and Nellie die]], just like their mother, and then their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on. Every autumn or winter of the fifteen to twenty years Wilbur will live, he'll go through the pain of his best friends' deaths, and know that his new friends who hatch in the spring will only be with him a short time too.

*** And he’s ''right:'' At the county fair where Wilbur's life is saved for good, Fern develops a crush on Henry, and ignores Wilbur - the pig she loved and raised - in favor of spending all her time riding the fair’s attractions (namely the Ferris wheel) with her new crush, not even coming by ''once'' to visit him alone or even saddened when she finds out that Uncle, another pig, won the blue ribbon. Instead of being terrified that Charlotte’s plan has seemingly failed and Wilbur’s still in danger of being slaughtered, she outright ''badgers her mother at the worst possible time to give her money so she can go back on the Ferris wheel with Henry.'' She obsesses over that moment on the wheel with Henry even months later, and eventually stops coming to visit Wilbur as often out of a desire to “avoid childish things, like sitting on a milk stool near a pigpen”. So even though Wilbur was saved by the end, Fern slowly lost her emotional investment in Wilbur in favor of Henry.

** And he’s ''right:'' At the county fair where Wilbur's life is saved for good, Fern develops a crush on Henry, and ignores Wilbur - the pig she loved and raised - in favor of spending all her time riding the fair’s attractions (namely the Ferris wheel) with her new crush, not even coming by ''once'' to visit him alone or even saddened when she finds out that Uncle, another pig, won the blue ribbon. Instead of being terrified that Charlotte’s plan has seemingly failed and Wilbur’s still in danger of being slaughtered, she outright ''badgers her mother at the worst possible time to give her money so she can go back on the Ferris wheel with Henry.'' She obsesses over that moment on the wheel with Henry even months later, and eventually stops coming to visit Wilbur as often out of a desire to “avoid childish things, like sitting on a milk stool near a pigpen”. So even though Wilbur was saved by the end, Fern slowly lost her emotional investment in Wilbur in favor of Henry.

*** And he’s ''right:'' At the county fair where Wilbur's life is saved for good, Fern develops a crush on Henry, and ignores Wilbur - the pig she loved and raised - in favor of spending all her time riding the fair’s attractions (namely the Ferris wheel) with her new crush, not even coming by ''once'' to visit him alone or even saddened when she finds out that Uncle, another pig, won the blue ribbon. Instead of being terrified that Charlotte’s plan has seemingly failed and Wilbur’s still in danger of being slaughtered, she outright ''badgers her mother at the worst possible time to give her money so she can go back on the Ferris wheel with Henry.'' She obsesses over that moment on the wheel with Henry even months later, and eventually stops coming to visit Wilbur as often out of a desire to “avoid childish things, like sitting on a milk stool near a pigpen”. So even though Wilbur was saved by the end, Fern slowly lost her emotional investment in Wilbur in favor of Henry.

*** There are several points in the book where other characters, including a doctor Fern's mother talks to, brush off the oddity of a young girl spending all day watching a pig in a barn because she’s a child who's ever changing. The doctor in particular says that young children can change a lot in the span of a few months, let alone a year, and that Fern would have moved on from Wilbur and found something new to occupy her time - or rather, some''one'', namely a boy named Henry Fussy.
*** And he’s ''right:'' At the county fair where Wilbur's life is saved for good, Fern develops a crush on Henry, and ignores Wilbur - the pig she loved and raised - in favor of spending all her time riding the fair’s attractions (namely the Ferris wheel) with her new crush, not even coming by ‘’once'' to visit him or saddened when she finds out that Uncle, another pig, won the blue ribbon. Instead of being terrified that Charlotte’s plan has seemingly failed and Wilbur’s still in danger of being slaughtered, she outright ''badgers her mother to give her money so she can go back on the Ferris wheel with Henry.'' She obsesses over that moment on the wheel with Henry even months later, and eventually stops coming to visit Wilbur as often out of a desire to “avoid childish things, like sitting on a milk stool near a pigpen”. So even though Wilbur was saved by the end, Fern slowly lost her emotional investment in Wilbur in favor of Henry.

*** There are several points in the book where other characters, including a doctor Fern's mother talks to, brush off the oddity of a young girl spending all day watching a pig in a barn because she’s a child who's ever changing. Young children can change a lot in the span of a few months, let alone a year. They may have assumed that, come slaughter time, Fern would have moved on from Wilbur and found something new to occupy her time- or rather, some''one''. And they were ''right:'' by the time of the county fair where Wilbur's life was saved for good, Fern had developed a crush on a boy named Henry Fussy, and ignored Wilbur - the pig she loved and raised - in favor of spending all her time riding the fair’s attractions (namely the Ferris wheel) with her crush, not even coming by ‘’once'' to visit him. She obsessed over that moment on the wheel with Henry even months later, and eventually stopped coming to visit Wilbur as often out of a desire to “avoid childish things, like sitting on a milk stool near a pigpen”. So even though Wilbur was saved by the end, Fern had slowly lost her emotional investment in Wilbur.

*** There are several points in the book where other characters, including a doctor Fern's mother talks to, brush off the oddity of a young girl spending all day watching a pig in a barn because she’s a child who's ever changing. Young children can change a lot in the span of a few months, let alone a year. They may have assumed that, come slaughter time, Fern would have moved on from Wilbur and found something new to occupy her time- and she ''did.'' At the county fair which saved Wilbur's life, Fern ignored Wilbur, the pig she loved and raised, in favor of spending all her time riding the fair’s attractions (namely the Ferris wheel) with her crush Henry Fussy (to the point that she was still obsessing over that moment on the wheel months later), and eventually stopped coming to visit Wilbur regularly. So even though Wilbur was saved by the end, they were ''right'' that Fern would slowly lose her emotional investment in Wilbur by the time he was ready to slaughter.

** There's also a very logical reason for Uncle to have won: his size. Wilbur, having been a runt, was lucky to have even reached average size. It was likely Fern's care that let him grow even that large.

* Avery tried to catch Charlotte with a stick. Imagine if he had succeeded. Not only would Charlotte die but Wilbur probably would too, because Charlotte wouldn’t be there to help him. He certainly deserved the punishment his mother later gave him for it.
* Charlotte's descendants will have no longer a lifespan than she did – only about a year each. Maybe this isn't exactly "fridge" horror, because it is alluded to in the book: "Each spring there were new little spiders hatching out to take the place of the old." [[MayflyDecemberFriendship Wilbur will have to watch Joy, Aranea and Nellie die]], just like their mother, and then their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on. Every autumn or winter of the fifteen to twenty years Wilbur will live, he'll go through the pain of his best friends' deaths, and know that his new friends who hatch in the spring will only be with him a short time too.

** Probably because of the above, that, and a lot of parents don't want to "sugarcoat" the truth, in which case, that's why. The "romanticize and anthropomorphizing" probably wasn't intended
*** There are several points in the book where other characters, including a doctor Fern's mother talks to, brush off the oddity of a young girl spending all day watching a pig in a barn because shes a child who's ever changing. And indeed, young children can change a lot in the span of a few months, let alone a year. They may have assumed that, come slaughter time, Fern would have moved on from Wilbur and found something new to occupy her time. Indeed, even by the time of the fair which saved Wilbur's life, Fern was already near ignoring Wilbur in favor of wanting to spend time with her crush at the fair attractions by the end. So even though Wilbur was saved by the end, they may well have been ''right'' that Fern wouldnt have been so invested in Wilbur by the time he was ready to slaughter that she would have fought as she had when he was newborn.

* The TearJerker page mentions that Charlotte died abnormally young for her species, dying in early fall instead of the first frost at earliest (given adequate weather and food, they can live a few years), and hypothesizes that it was either bad luck or her straining herself throughout the year helping Wilbur. The animated film gives another possibility: At one point, Wilbur stops Charlotte from eating a moth, and though she honors this, she comments that she could have used the nourishment as she's about to lay her eggs. Did Wilbur unintentionally hasten her friend's end by doing that, thereby leaving her with inadequate resources for both herself and the egg sac?

* Wilbur at one point makes Charlotte give up eating a fly. That probably contributed to her death.

* Wilbur at one point makes Charlotte give up eating a fly. That probably contributed to her death.

** I counted the number of lambs in the flock: there's a total of thirteen, with there being twelve white lambs and Cardigan. If Cardigan is the youngest of the bunch, ''thirteen is an unlucky number.''