Charlotte’s Web: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

The next morning is foggy and wet, and the farm is covered in dew. Charlotte’s web is “a thing of beauty,” and each strand shines with beads of water. When Lurvy comes out to the barn with Wilbur’s breakfast he stops short at the sight of it—not just because it is beautiful, but because two words have been woven into the web. At its center, in capital letters, Charlotte has written out: “SOME PIG!” Lurvy feels weak and faint, unsure of whether he’s “seeing things.” Forgetting all about Wilbur’s breakfast, Lurvy goes back up to the house to fetch Homer—he says there’s something the man needs to see. Together, they return to the barn and look at the web. At the sight of the words, they both start to “tremble,” and the proud Charlotte looks on.

Homer goes back up to the house to tell Edith what’s going on. He says they have received a “sign” about their “unusual pig.” Homer declares that a “miracle has happened on [the] farm,” and when he tells Edith about the web, she suggests they go take a look at the spider. Edith and Homer go down to the barn and look at Charlotte, who sits completely still as she feels them observing her.

As they all head back up to the house, Homer tells Edith and Lurvy that he’s “thought all along” that Wilbur is an “extra good” pig. The three of them agree that Wilbur is indeed “some pig.” After changing into a suit, Homer goes to see the local minister and explain what has happened on the farm. The minister urges him to keep the news quiet while he thinks on what it means—he hopes he’ll be able to talk about the incident in his sermon next Sunday, and tell the whole community about the Zuckermans’ wonderful pig.

Well before Sunday, however, word about the web has spread, and people begin coming from miles around to visit the Zuckerman farm and get a look not at the web but at their “wondrous pig.” Homer is constantly busy entertaining friends and visitors, and he and Lurvy begin shaving more often and dressing in fine clothes. Homer instructs Lurvy to feed Wilbur four times a day instead of three, and in all the fuss over Wilbur, they even forget about their other duties on the farm.

That Sunday, church is full, and the minister instructs his parishioners to “always be on the watch for the coming of wonders.” As Fern sits in church listening, she feels happy and relieved—Charlotte’s plan is working. At the same time, she feels wistful, and misses when the Zuckermans’ barn was ordinary and empty, and she could be “alone with her friends the animals.”