Blog for Week 10/26/15 - Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

      The book that I just finished was Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. The book is about a pig named Wilbur and his best friend named Charlotte. There is a girl named Fern who a baby pig from being killed because he was the runt of the litter. She adopts him and raises him until he is about one month old. He is then sold the Fern's uncle's farm, where he meets Charlotte, a kind spider who lives in the corner of Wilbur's pen. They become best friends, and when Wilbur learns that he is going to be killed for Christmas time (so that the family can have bacon and ham and things like that), Charlotte devises a plan to save his life. This plan involves Wilbur to become famous. When this happens, Charlotte and the other animals are certain that it will save his life.

Prompt: How does the conflict drive the character development (how does the character change)?

      The conflict definitely helps the character development. Wilbur started out as a lonely, scared, little runt, to a strong, confident pig. The strong, confident, new Wilbur was a result of Charlotte's plan, which she created because of the conflict.  In the beginning of the story, it says, "This was the worst day of his life. He didn't know whether he could endure the awful loneliness anymore." This shows that Wilbur is alone, scared, and doesn't have any friends to help him through the tough time he is having settling in to the barn. And at the end of the story, it says "'Actually,' said Wilbur, 'I feel radiant'. 'Do you?' said Charlotte, looking at him with affection. 'Well, you're a good little pig, and radiant you shall be.'" In the end, it also says, "'...in token of appreciation of the part played by this pig -- this radiant, this terrific, this humble pig -- in attracting so many visitors to our great county fair.'" These quotes show that Wilbur has changed because in the beginning of the story, he was lonely and sad, and he would've never complimented himself, or be so confident in himself. Also, in the second quote, he is winning an award for being a radiant, humble, and terrific pig. In the beginning of the story, he was a sad, lonely, and scared little runt, and turned into a humble, terrific, and radiant pig. This is all a result of the conflict because the conflict forced Charlotte to save Wilbur's life, and the only way she could think of was making him famous. Wilbur's confidence and strength changed in the process. Therefore, the conflict definitely drove the character development.