Charlotte’s Web: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

As the days pass by, Charlotte weaves and re-weaves her webs each time one of her prey disturbs its threads. Wilbur admires Charlotte’s hard work and special talents, and begins wishing that he could spin a web, too. Charlotte amusedly begins instructing Wilbur in the steps while Fern chuckles along. Wilbur jumps around the barn with a piece of string borrowed from Templeton tied to his tail He has fun at first, but soon grows frustrated and begins to cry when he falls in front of all the other animals after jumping off a bale of hay. Wilbur admits that he just wants to be as clever as Charlotte, and was trying to show off.

As twilight settles over the barn, Fern knows it is getting near time to leave, but can hardly “bear” leaving her friends. As the pleasant sounds and smells of dusk fill the bar, Wilbur remembers the old sheep’s warning, and whispers to Charlotte that he doesn’t want to die—he loves “everything about this place.” Charlotte reminds Wilbur of her promise—she is not going to let him die and is hard at work on a plan for how to save him. 

Wilbur asks if he can do anything to help with the plan, and Charlotte encourages Wilbur to eat a lot, get plenty of sleep, stay healthy, and stop worrying. After going back out to his trough to eat some scraps, Wilbur bids Charlotte goodnight—still nervous about his fate. Fern heads for home as Wilbur settles in for the evening, “her mind full of everything she ha[s] seen and heard.”