Charlotte's Web characters

Appears from the start

A young pig, the runt of his litter, who is spared from being killed as a newborn and raised by hand. Innocent, affectionate, and easily frightened, he longs for friendship and dreads being alone. After being sold to a nearby farm, he lives in the barn and comes to depend on the animals around him, especially once he learns that pigs are not meant to live long.

Appears from the start

A young girl on the Arable farm who saves the runt piglet from her father's axe, insisting it is unjust to kill him just for being small. She raises the piglet by hand and dotes on him. Even after he is sold to her uncle's farm nearby, she visits often and sits quietly by the barnyard, where she seems able to understand what the animals say to one another.

Also known as Charlotte A. Cavatica

First appears in chapter 5

A large grey spider who lives in the doorway of the barn, spinning her web in the upper corner. Articulate, clever, and patient, she becomes Wilbur's devoted friend when he is desperate for companionship. Though she is a predator who traps and eats insects, she is loyal and wise, and she resolves to help Wilbur when his life is threatened.

First appears in chapter 3

A rat who lives beneath Wilbur's trough and prowls the barn and the dump for scraps. Greedy, selfish, and sly, he does favors only when there is food or advantage in it for him. For all his grasping nature, he proves useful to the other animals, since he can scavenge and fetch things they cannot reach.

First appears in chapter 3

A talkative goose who nests in the barn cellar and has a habit of repeating her words. Motherly and opinionated, she offers Wilbur advice, including urging him to escape when he first arrives, and she is determined to hatch the clutch of eggs she is sitting on.

First appears in chapter 3

The farmer who buys Wilbur from Fern's family and keeps him in his barn. A practical man, he is astonished when words praising his pig appear in a spider's web, and he comes to believe Wilbur is a remarkable animal worth showing off, which draws crowds and attention to his farm.

First appears in chapter 4

The hired man on the Zuckerman farm who feeds Wilbur and handles the daily chores. He is among the first to notice the strange writing in the spider's web above the pigpen, and he helps care for Wilbur and get him ready for the county fair.

Appears from the start

Fern's older brother, a rowdy, mischievous boy usually armed with a toy weapon or caught up in some scheme. He teases Fern and takes a rough interest in the animals, at one point trying to catch the spider, and he provides a boisterous contrast to his sister's gentleness.

First appears in chapter 14

The family doctor whom Fern's mother consults when she worries that Fern spends too much time alone at the barn, talking about the animals as though they speak. Calm and thoughtful, he listens to her concerns and gently suggests there is nothing wrong with a child who loves animals and wonders at the world.