A BEAUTIFUL LIFE IN CHARLOTTE’S WEB 5 “You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing. 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. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. 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.” In the end, we come to see that Charlotte has acted consistently upon the rule of necessity, and that friendship is, indeed, a necessary part of life. A life lived only according to necessity—only for the sake of living—is impoverished. It is necessary that we acknowledge the limits of living for the sake of our own existence. To have a satisfying life, one needs true friendship. Wilbur instinctively understands these limits of necessity and the appeal of friendship. He is discontent with the merely necessary physical functions of sleeping and eating. Wilbur loves life and loves to be a part of the world. He wants to “breathe the beautiful air and lie in the beautiful sun.” The pig’s desire to live amidst beauty rightly matches his desire for friendship: both are not merely necessary for his physical existence. As White writes, “Wilbur didn’t want food, he wanted love. He wanted a friend—someone who would play with him.” In scripture we also see how true friendship enriches our lives. Friends give faithful wounds (Proverbs 27:6), make our hearts glad with good counsel (Proverbs 27:9), and love us even in the midst of adversity (Prov. 17:17, 18:24). Charlotte serves Wilbur in all these ways. She often chides him for his anxiety, gives good counsel as to how to participate in tricking the human farmers to spare his intended butchery, and loves him despite the ominous impending death. These activities of friendship ultimately beautify a life that otherwise would be spent focusing on necessity. False Friendships: Alternatives to a Beautiful Life White also pictures for us an alternative to this beautiful life. In contrast to Charlotte, Templeton’s friendly acts towards Wilbur throughout the story
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