EB White excerpt from Charlotte's Web

In this small excerpt from Charlotte's Web the characters have much to say about the people of today's society. They each have their own style and way of being. Charlotte is seen as the spider that is the nice person of the whole story. She also is the one that helps everyone else, like Wilbur. At this point of the story she is very sick and at the point of death, which worries her because her children are at the risk of dying along with her. Wilbur is with her in a barn house and is pleading to not leave him. He says that she is the only friend that he has and doesn't want to lose her. He makes the choice of saving her children since he can't save her. In order for him to save the children, he runs to plead to the rat, Templeton, for help.
Templeton does not seem to want to cooperate because he feels like no one really appreciates him and tells Wilbur he will not help him save Charlottes' children. Wilbur full of despair, pleads for Templeton's help and makes the decision of offering his food to the rat in exchange for his help. With this offer, Templeton runs to help the two friends. He makes it just in time before the people come to pick-up Wilbur. As Wilbur is being taken, he turns back to see his old friend one last time and then feels like it will all be okay because he at least has her children with him. Back at home, things seem to be just like before when Charlotte was still around, and Wilbur is at peace with it all.
Wilbur in this story is sort of like a contradiction in itself because he "helps" his friend, but is also helping himself along in the process. He seems to want to not be alone again so he chooses to save Charlottes' children instead. He also knows that Charlotte won't be around anymore, but conforms to having her children instead. Also, Wilbur sacrificed his own food in order to get the eggs to safety which wasn't too selfish on his part.
Templeton on the other hand doesn't think about anyone else but himself in this situation. He uses the situation to his own advantage as well. He could be seen as the typical person today that will only give if he is given something in exchange. He could have been moved by the emotional part behind this task, but instead he forgets about everyone else and centers it all on himself. I didn't really like Templeton in this section because he showed no compassion for what Charlotte was going through.