《夏洛特的网》中的友谊主题分析

教学单位

外国语学院

学生学号

100314106

本科毕业论文（设计）

题

目

《夏洛特的网》中的友谊主题分析

学生姓名

甘义祥

专业名称

英语双学位

指导教师

鲁定元

2013

年

2

月

4

日

AN ANALYSIS OF THE THEME OF FRIENDSHIP IN

CHARLOTTE

’

S WEB

By

Gan Yixiang

February, 2013

Hubei Engineering University

Abstract

Pure and sincere friendship is the eternal theme of fairy tales, meanwhile, it is

also

one

of

the

most

touching,

inspiring

and

wonderful

human

sensibilities

to

lure

people to desperately long for it. Therefore, plenty of excellent fairy tales to express

and praise this sensibility have come into being like the post- raining bamboo shoots in

the spring, including American children-literature writer

‘

s

Charlotte

’

s Web

being able to compare beauty with the world-famous

Little Prince

written by French

writer

Saint-Exupery.

But

Charlotte

’

s

Web

is

rarely

known

among

most

of

Chinese

readers at present.

This thesis aims to make a brief introduction of the author E.B. White and the

plot

of

Charlotte

’

s

web

at

first,

then

according

to

the

development

of

plot,

it

comprehensively analyses the differently vivid main characters, including both people

and

animals,

to

support

the

theme

of

friendship.

Furthermore,

it

discusses

the

enlightenments from the theme of friendship. At last, it makes a brief conclusion to

finish the whole thesis.

Key

Words:

Charlotte

’

s

web

;

the

theme

of

friendship;

main

characters;

enlightenments.

《夏洛特的网》中的友谊主题分析

摘要

纯洁而真挚的友谊是童话的永恒 主题，

同时也是最动人、

最励志、

最美 好的

人类情感之一，

吸引着人们去强烈地憧憬。

因此，

大量的优秀的表达和赞颂这种

情感的童话如雨后 春笋般涌现出来，

这其中就包括足以与法国作家圣埃克苏佩里

写 的举世闻名的《小王子》相媲美的美国儿童作家

E.B.

怀特的 《夏洛特的网》

。

然而，

《夏洛特的网 》在中国读者当中在目前仍鲜为人知。

本文旨在首先从简要介 绍

《夏洛特的网》

的作者

E.B.

怀特及它的故事情节入

手，

然后结合情节的 发展全面地分析其中的包括人和动物在内的各个不同的生动

的主要角色来论证其友谊主题 。

进而探讨从友谊主题中获得的启示，

最后在简要

做出总结的基础上结束全文。

关键词：

《夏洛特的网》

；

友谊主题

；

主要角色

；

启示

。

Contents

1. Introduction

.

.............. .................................................. .............................................

1

1.1About E. B. White

.

..................... .................................................. ......................

1

1.2 About

Charlotte

’

s Web

................................... .................................................. .

2

2.

A Comprehensive Analysis of the Main Characters ..........................................

4

2.1

Wilbur ................................ .................................................. ............................

4

2.2

Fern

.

........... .................................................. .................................................. .

6

2.3 Charlotte

.

........................... .................................................. ..............................

7

2.4

Templeton ............................. .................................................. .........................

8

3.

The Enlightenments from the Theme of Friendship .........................................

9

3.1 A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed .......................... .....................................

1

0

3.2

Sincere Friendship Creates a World Full of Miracles ....................................

1

0

4. Conclusion ....................................... .................................................. .....................

11

Bibliography .......................... .................................................. ...................................

1

2

An Analysis of the Theme of Friendship in

Charlotte

’

s Web

1. Introduction

Charlotte

’

s

Web

is

a

wonderful

fairy

tale

for

children

and

adults

to

share;

meanwhile, it is also for anyone who appreciates life and friendship. Once the author

started to read with his son, as a result, both of them were enjoyed and deeply touched

by

it.

Furthermore,

it

is

also

regarded

as

an

excellent

fairy

tale,

which

is

able

to

compare

beauty

with

the

world- famous

Little

Prince

written

by

French

writer

Saint-Exupery, in the western countries even in the contemporary times. However, it

is rarely known among most of Chinese readers at present.

The introduction both of its author E. B. White and a rough plot are as follows:

1.1About E. B. White

In 2007, a very agreeable BBC Article wrote of E. B. White:

―

On 11 July, 1899,

a baby boy entered the world full of promise and hope. Then his parents named him

Elwyn Brooks White. It is not startling that the boy, when become a man, signed only

with his first initials and surname; under these he became the world-famous author of

Charlotte

’

s

Web

,

co-author

of

the

Elements

Style

and

?

number-one

wheel

horse

‘

for

The

New

Yorker

.

E.

B.

White

is

adulated

as

one

of

the

most

skilful

masters

of

the

English

language

of

the

20

th

century,

and

possibly

several

other

centuries

as

well

‖.

(

谢红林，

2010)

E.

B.

White

(1899-1985),

the

author

of

such

beloved

classics

as

Stuart

Little

(1945),

Charlotte

’

s

Web

(1952)

and

The

Trumpet

of

the

Swan

(1970),

was

born

in

Mount Vernon, New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1921 and, 5 or 6

years later, joined the staff of

The New Yorker

magazine, then in its infancy. Finally,

he died on October 1, 1985.

The connection with

The New Yorker

magazine proved a happy one and resulted

in a steady output of satirical sketches, poems, essays and editorials. But in 1938, he

moved to the country to begin his transition to life in Maine, meanwhile, he began to

turn

his

attention

to

children

literature.

Therefore,

on

his

farm

in

Maine,

he

kept

animals and some of these creatures crept into his stories and fictions.

1

Mr. White

‘

s essays have appeared in

Harper

’

s

magazine, and some of his other

books are:

One Man

’

s Meat

,

The Second Tree from the Corner

,

Letters of E. B. White

,

Essays of E. B. White

and

poems and sketches of E. B. White

. Furthermore, he won

countless awards. For example, President John F. Kennedy named Mr. White as one

of thirty-one Americans to receive the Presidential Medal for Freedom in 1963; Mr.

White was awarded Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his children

‘

s books,

Stuart Little

and

Charlotte

’

s

Web

, in

1970 and this

award is

now given every three

years

―

to

an

author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have, over a period

of years, made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children

‖

; Just a

year

later,

he

won

the

National

Medal

for

Literature.

Otherwise,

he

also

received

honorary degrees from seven colleges and universities.

During his lifetime, many young readers asked Mr. White if his stories were true.

In

a

letter

written

to

be

sent

to

his

fans,

he

answered:

―

No,

there

are

imaginary

tales

……

But real life is one kind of life

——

there is also of the imagination.

‖

1.2 About

Charlotte

’

s Web

Charlotte

’

s Web

is a story of a little girl named Fern who loves a little pig called

Wilbur and of how Wilbur is saved from being slaughtered by his sincere and loyal

friend,

an

intelligent

spider

called

Charlotte.

The

book

was

first

published

in

1952,

with illustrations by Garth Williams. The characters are as follows:

1)

Wilbur is a rambunctious pig, the runt of his litter, who loves life, even that of

Zukerman

‘

s

barn.

He

sometimes

feels

?

s

or

fearful.

Finally,

he

succeeds

in

being alive under Charlotte

‘

s clever plans, and he brings back Charlotte

‘

s egg

sac,

after

Charlotte

takes

her

last

breath

on

the

County

Fair,

to

the

Zuckerman

‘

s barn to be hatched smoothly in return.

2)

Charlotte A. Cavatica, or simply Charlotte, it is a spider who befriends Wilbur,

who

at

first

bloodthirsty

due

to

her

method

of

catching

food.

She

once

promised to

save Wilbur

‘

s

life, as

a result, she spins words into

her web to

make Wilbur become famous and win the medal in the County Fair at last to

save his life successfully.

3)

Fern

Arable,

daughter

of

Mr.

Arable

and

Mrs.

Arable,

is

a

courageous

8-

year-old girl who saved Wilbur

‘

s life from her father

‘

s axe at the beginning of

the story. Meanwhile, she spends such much time in the Zuckerman

‘

s barn to

sit on a stool watching the animals and listening to their talk that Mrs. Arable

pays a call on old Dr Dorian and asks his advice because she is worried about

2

Fern too much. But Henry Fussy, a boy at the same age of Fern, becomes her

favorite friend and play with her to pull Fern back to the real life.

4)

Avery Arable, Fern

‘

s brother, appears briefly throughout the story.

5)

Homer Zuckerman is Fern

‘

s uncle who keeps Wilbur in his barn. Furthermore,

he has a wife, Edith, and hires a man named Lurvy who helps out around the

barn.

6)

Templeton, a selfish, indifferent, gluttonous and disagreeable rat, lives under

Wilbur

‘

s

trough.

He

prefers

to

spend

his

time

eating,

gnawing,

spying

and

hiding. Furthermore, his habit to collect all unusual things. Especially a rotten

goose

egg

did

a

favor

to

save

Charlotte

from

Avery

‘

s

hand

on

occasion.

Seeing from the whole plans which Charlotte weaves words into her web to

save Wilbur

‘

s

life, Templeton

‘

s

actions to

bring

words from

old

magazines,

advertisements and clippings as well as later get Charlotte

‘

s egg sac to Wilbur

only

when

food

is

offered.

Otherwise,

he

absolutely

has

an

appetite

for

Wilbur

‘

s slop!

7)

Other animals living in Zuckerman

‘

s barn with whom Wilbur converses are a

disdainful

lamb,

the

repetitive

couple

of

a

gander

and

a

goose

sitting

on

8

eggs to hatch them as well as a seasoned old sheep.

The Plot. The story begins when John Arable

‘

s sow gives birth to a litter of piglets,

and Mr. Arable discovers one of them is a

runt and decides to

kill it. However, his

8-year-old daughter Fern begs him to let it live. Therefore, Mr. Arable gives it to Fern

as a pet and Fern names the piglet Wilbur. Wilbur is hyperactive and always exploring

new things. He lives with Fern for a few weeks and then is sold to her uncle, Homer

Zuckerman.

Although Fern visits him at Zuckerman

‘

s farm as often as she can, Wilbur gets

lonelier each day. Then in the darkness of one evening, a warm and soothing voice

tells him that she is going to be his friend.

―

Do

you want

a friend, Wilbur?

‖

it said.

―

I

‘ll be a

friend to

you.

I

‘

ve watched

you all day and I like you.

‖

―

But

I

can

‘

t

see

you,

‖

said

Wilbur,

jumping

to

his

feet.

―

Where

are

you?

And

who are you?

‖

―

I

‘

m right up here,

‖

said the voice.

―

Go to sleep. You

‘

ll see me in the morning.

‖

(E. B. White,

Charlotte

’

s Web

P. 40)

The next day, he wakes up and meets his new friend: Charlotte, the grey spider.

Wilbur soon becomes a member of the community of animals living in Zuckerman

‘

s

3