The Beauty of Mortality in Charlotte's Web and Peter Pan

Optimistic View on Death in Charlotte's Web

E.B. White develops an optimistic perspective by using the characters’ acceptance of the inevitable in his novel, Charlotte’s Web. Unlike in Peter Pan, mortality seems to manifest an attitude of universal importance and is something that does not often happen prematurely. Death is portrayed as a resting state following many accomplishments and feats in one’s long-lived life. It is evident that Charlotte’s perspective on life is to do something meaningful and admirable with it when she tells Wilbur, “you have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. 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”. Charlotte’s complacency with this stage of her life conveys how she feels that she fulfilled her purpose, or niche, in life by helping to prepare Wilbur to face the scary realities of life. Charlotte, old and wise, clearly grasps the natural cycle of life and uses her own experience to transform a morbid idea into something beautiful for Wilbur (Misheff 14). After saving Wilbur from a premature death, Charlotte reached her pinnacle of self-actualization and therefore, is not dreading death as she now knows she did something impactful with her life. In Charlotte’s final moments, it is illustrated how “she felt peaceful and contented” (White 153). When one becomes satisfied with his or her life’s accomplishments, death then becomes the final culmination of a well-lived life. Unlike how Peter is disconnected from his shadow, or symbolic spirit in Peter Pan, White sends a message that since Charlotte made such a lasting impact on Wilbur, her spirit is able to live on through memories even though her physical being is gone.

The Weight of Legacy in Charlotte's Web

Along with fulfilling her societal or spiritual role by helping Wilbur, the passing on of her egg sac represents the fulfilment of her biological niche and the continuation of life through legacy, thus further assuaging the harsh nature of death. Though Charlotte herself has passed, her spirit is kept alive though her offspring, indicating the renewal of life after death. Wilbur was “never without friends [and] Charlotte’s children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, year after year lived in the doorway. Each spring there were new little spiders hatching out to take the place of the old” (White 183). Literary scholar and critic, Michael Sims, notes that “the idea of Charlotte living on in her descendants is a rather comforting view and [is] something that is easy for young readers to understand” (Sims 6). The lasting legacy of Charlotte is represented by the magnum opus. Readers understand that rather than being proud of the physical nature of “the great work” alone, she is proud of what will come out of it—eternal life and legacy. White urges readers too notice the continuation of life not only through physical offspring, but also through everlasting memories. 

In addition, White places emphasis on natural happenings to demonstrate how life is one perpetual cycle and that it is impossible for there to be life without death. The reliance upon death for life is shown through Charlotte’s interactions with other insects. Early on in the story, Charlotte explains that she must kill other insects in order to feed herself and survive. Furthermore, by telling Wilbur that “[they’re] born, [they] live a little, and [they] die,” she highlights the circle of life even further and calls attention to the way natural life functions. Moreover, Wilbur starts to develop an understanding of the fact that there are often sacrifices and tradeoffs in life. Soon after, Charlotte’s “campaign against insects seemed sensible and useful and hardly anybody had a good word to say for a fly [as] the flies spent their time pestering others” (White 48). The text makes it seem as if White is justifying the killing of other living things if it is for the greater good and is deeming it acceptable to take the life of an unpleasant nuisance. White’s careful inclusion of Charlotte killing and eating the flies could first and foremost, be a portrayal of how nature functions as well as showing young readers that some living things must die in order for others to survive. The horrors of mortality are overshadowed by the ongoing circle of life.

The Portrayal of Mortality in Literary Works

Mortality is certainly a sensitive topic in literature, let alone literary works primarily meant for children. Oftentimes, authors’ perspectives and insights on the matter are reflected in their works. Though both J.M. Barrie and E.B. White seem to both highlight the perpetuality of mortality, their representations are different in the sense that Barrie upholds a pessimistic view while White upholds an optimistic view. Barrie carefully uses symbolism of Neverland, Peter’s timelessness, and Peter’s shadow to expose the horrors of death and mortality. The story leads readers to face the ugly realities that occur as a result of premature death. Peter’s fate symbolizes the irreversible suspension in a timeless realm as well as the inability to further live on or develop. In contrast to timelessness representing a negative aspect of mortality in Peter Pan, White shows the beauty of timeless in Charlotte’s Web. White emphasizes the fact that life is an ongoing cycle and that there cannot be life without death. In the story, the symbolic nature of the characters’ easy attitudes, Charlotte’s egg sac, and life’s natural occurrences are all utilized to show the beauty of rebirth and the reliance on death for life. It is important for children for learn about death because it is an inevitable and fundamental aspect of life. Addressing mortality in children’s literature helps to teach children an important lesson about a scary reality of life and how to cope with it.