Charlotte's Web is the story of Wilbur the Pig and his friendship with Fern Arable, the little girl who adopts him, and his barnyard friends - most importantly, Charlotte the Spider. When a pig gives birth to a litter of piglets at the Arable farm, Fern's father, Mr. Arable, decides to slaughter Wilbur because he is the runt, but Fern persuades him to let her keep him. Knowing that the pig will eventually need to be slaughtered for his meat, Mr. Arable tries to make the separation gentler for Fern; when Wilbur is strong, he's sent to live at the farm of Mr. Zuckerman, Fern's uncle, where Fern goes to visit him as often as she can.