“Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White
In his classic children’s book Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White spins an enthralling tale about the unlikely friendship between a wise, composed spider and a kindly but confused pig. The book also helps children by addressing death and grieving in a healthy way. Readers become more and more invested as Charlotte and Wilbur meet, gain trust in each other and develop a relationship. Charlotte, with motherly warmth and tenderness, eases Wilbur into his new life on the farm, guiding him through his first feelings of loneliness and uncertainty. She easily proves herself to be trustworthy, despite Wilbur’s initial hesitations.
Charlotte works tirelessly to save Wilbur from an untimely end as next year’s Christmas dinner. She is successful in her mission, but Wilbur’s fear for his own life is quickly replaced by shock and horror at the discovery of Charlotte’s own mortality once she dies.
Wilbur suffers and mourns, but he also learns how to live without Charlotte by finding ways to honor her memory and their friendship.
The final conversation between Wilbur and Charlotte conveys much more than a goodbye between two friends; larger topics, like philosophy on living and dying well, are nestled in their dialogue.
“I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
For the majority of the population, death and grieving are exceptionally difficult subjects to confront. Addressing the topics of death and grieving with children is even more complex.
Children simply grieve differently than adults do — they require a different kind of support. In Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White provides much more than a literary tale; he offers children an accessible and non-threatening means of confronting death and grieving. Speaking through Charlotte, a character the readers have come to love and trust, White conveys comfort and a sense of well-being, as well as a clear acceptance of the passage of time and inevitability of death.
This story can be used as a resource in a wide range of situations. Children who have experienced death directly are given an opportunity to explore their feelings, which is especially important considering that often children are unable to find peers who have gone through similar situations. Children who have experienced loss directly are introduced to the subjects of death and grieving and are perhaps able to better develop empathy. Furthermore, they can create a frame of reference with which they can relate to other grieving children.
For those grieving for the loss of a loved one, relating to others in similar situations is often a lifeline and an immense source of comfort. Reading about death and grieving affords opportunities to both safely express one’s own feelings and to learn from characters as they navigate life after loss. Through stories like Charlotte’s Web, children in particular are granted a space to discover and explore grief.
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