Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

[WARNING: This contains MAJOR spoilers]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is an extremely famous children’s novel by British author Roald Dahl, published in 1964. The story features a vast cast of characters, particularly the young and poor Charlie Bucket, and the eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka [I know, it’s a queer name; but Wonka is awfully queer. And frighteningly intelligent. And, well, quite creepy—though children may not realise that immediately]. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a great book—there’s a reason it’s so famous—but it’s rather dark; it’s effectively been disguised as a harmless children’s book.  I do hope that bratty children stopped being brats after reading it! I’m a fan of dark humour, and though the dark humour in this isn’t really explicit, it still leaves a lasting impression on anyone who reads it. I really, really love this book—it’ll remain one of my favourites. Forever. Charlie and Wonka are both very grey characters and Wonka is, in my opinion, Dahl’s greatest creation [come fight me if you don’t agree]. Charlie may be just a kid, but his circumstances have made him a quiet, insightful, mature person; his calmness is unnerving at times. Wonka is not a bad person, but he shows little to no regard for people’s safety [nope, no one dies, but you get my point, right?]. I’d say he’s leaning toward the darker shades of grey. And I’m sure Charlie will grow up to be a lot like him. Uh, let’s just plunge into the story, shall we?

11-year-old Charlie Bucket lives in dire poverty in a tiny house with his parents and four grandparents. His grandparents, who are so old and weak that they can barely move, share the only bed in the house, located in the bedroom. Charlie and his parents sleep on mattresses on the floor. One day, Grandpa Joe, who knows several interesting stories and is extremely close to Charlie, tells him about the wonderful and… “weird” is the only word that can be used here… chocolatier Willy Wonka, one of the world’s greatest geniuses. He made the loveliest and most creative candies, until other candy-makers, who were bristling with jealousy, sent spies into his factory to steal his secret recipes. This led Wonka—who was already reclusive—to close the factory to outsiders. Charlie wonders how Wonka runs that massive factory without any workers, but Grandpa Joe doesn’t know either. The next day, the newspaper announces that Willy Wonka is reopening his factory to outsiders, and five extremely lucky children can tour the factory—provided they find a Golden Ticket in a Wonka chocolate bar. Of course, this news shakes the world; each ticket find is a media sensation, and each finder becomes a celebrity. The first four tickets are found by the gluttonous Augustus Gloop, the spoiled and vain Veruca Salt, the gum-addicted Violet Beauregard, and the TV-obsessed Mike Teavee. [ What a bunch of insufferable brats…].

Charlie and his family, meanwhile, have other things to worry about. It’s a particularly harsh winter this year, and the Buckets are starving. One day, Charlie sees a fifty-pence coin buried in the snow. He buys a Wonka bar [he loves chocolate, but his parents can’t afford to buy more than a bar a year] and finds the fifth and final Golden Ticket. Hurray! The ticket says he can bring one or two family members with him, and Charlie’s parents decide to allow Grandpa Joe to accompany him; the old man is so excited about the Golden Ticket that he does something he hasn’t done for twenty years—he jumps straight out of bed and does a little celebratory dance [lol…]. The next day, Wonka effusively greets the five children and their parents [and Grandpa Joe]. The little crowd mills inside. There, they meet Oompa-Loompas, a curious and tiny race of people who help Wonka run his factory since he rescued them from fear and deprivation in their home country, Loompaland. Here is when the story gets dark while retaining its humorous touch; the children, except Charlie, are ejected from the tour in painful and mysterious ways—justly befitting their greedy and imprudent characters. Augustus gets sucked up a rather narrow pipe after falling into the Chocolate River in the Chocolate Room; Violet [gum was her downfall] inflates into a giant blueberry after sampling an experimental chewing gum; Veruca is flung down the rubbish chute in the Nut Room after she tries to grab a nut-testing squirrel [his comrades grab the girl and throw her down the chute]; and Mike gets shrunk [oh god that’s probably the understatement of the century] after he tries to be the first person to be transported by television in the Television Room’s Television Chocolate Technology. All through these events, Wonka maintains a cheerful demeanour, and even Charlie is unfazed and calm.

As child after child gets eliminated, the Oompa-Loompas sing a humorous [but chilling] song about morality. All this seemed quite normal and funny to me when I read it the first time [I was a half-baked nine-year-old then] but it sends chills down my spine now. I’ve re-read this book loads of times—that’s just how much I love it.  Now that only Charlie is remaining, Wonka congratulates him on “winning” the factory [what is this—a survival contest? Exactly], and explains his true age and the reason behind his Golden Tickets. Then, he declares Charlie his worthy successor. They ride the Great Glass Elevator [another magnificent but eccentric invention of Wonka’s] to Charlie’s house [imagine that…] while the other four children, who have been extricated from the mess they found themselves in, go home, quite “cured” and subdued [Augustus is squashed flat, Violet is all blue in the face, Veruca is covered in trash, and Mike is stretched ten feet tall]. Afterwards, Wonka, who has taken a fancy to Charlie [of course, since the boy is to be his successor] invites the Buckets to come live with him in the factory. The book ends here.

Isn’t is a lovely book? It can be enjoyed by people of all ages! [It’s appalling too though…].           

On a side-note: I love Matilda, Witches, and The BFG too; perhaps you, dear reader, might like to give them a read [if you haven’t read them already, that is].  See you next time!

Thank you! I hope you liked my article!