6 THE FAITHFUL READER represent a form of false friendship that doesn’t beautify one’s life. According to scripture, we are not to reproach our friend (Psalm 15:3), withhold kindness from them (Job 6:14), bargain over them (Job 6:27), repay them with evil (Psalm 7:4), or forsake them in time of trouble (Proverbs 27:10). Templeton attempts all such unfriendly actions towards Wilbur, such as when he stalls in obtaining Charlotte’s egg sack or whines at Wilbur to be careful not to trample him when getting penned. These unfriendly acts emit from Templeton’s character. Unlike Charlotte, the crafty Templeton is not well liked nor trusted; Wilbur himself doesn’t think he is a decent animal. White describes him thus: “The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything.” Templeton is above all selfish, always thinking of his own best interest, in particular the satisfaction of his stomach. He is a self-proclaimed glutton. In stark contrast to Wilbur, the rat Templeton doesn’t want to live forever; he wants to enjoy the necessary pleasure of eating even if it kills him. His life therefore evidences the limits of utilitarian friendship. He offers a friendship built solely on achieving physical necessities. Templeton participates in the plan to save Wilbur’s life through appeals to his instincts for survival, namely eating from the pig’s food trough. Hence the rat appears to be a friend but is in truth merely a slave to necessity. In the end, we see that friendship can be false if we use it as an end towards our own existence. On the other hand, friendship can be true if it is used for the sake of another. True friendship elevates a life of necessity to a life of beauty. While none of us can escape the need to eat or sleep, all of us can choose to cultivate the type of friendship that makes eating or sleeping worthwhile as means, rather than ends. May we each choose to be a true friend to another in our brief lives together.
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