Summary

Chapter 7, “Bad News.”

Wilbur grows to like his new friend Charlotte more and more and is less disturbed by Charlotte’s diet of insects and her method of killing prey. Wilbur continues to grow bigger, eating three meals of slop a day and enjoying getting fat until one of the sheep tells him why it is that Mr. Zuckerman is fattening him up.

The old sheep tells Wilbur, "Well, I don't like to spread bad news, but they're fattening you up because they're going to kill you, that's why" (Chapter 7, p. 47). Wilbur and Fern are horrified as the sheep remarks that even John Arable, Fern’s father, is in on the plot and that all young pigs are killed before the winter sets in. Wilbur sobs hysterically while Charlotte attempts to reassure him that she will help him escape his dreadful fate.

Chapter 8, “A Talk...