Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory made me wince. Seems Dahl is trying to warn us of the proliferation of patronizing, misogynistic, judgmental, egomaniacal, narcisstic, and manipulative corporate CEO types. How Willy Wonker ended up in a children's book as a good guy is bizarre and.... wrong.

He has a serious problem interacting with adults and children. Gets away with his awful behavior because he's outrageously wealthy. Producing candy doesn't make him a hero.

Charlie and his family deserve better.

Why not call it poetry?

Here we have an excellent book for those who love children stories with a dark appeal. Fortunately, it also carries a moral: Silly children are not able to control their urges after being introduced to the Magic of the Chocolate Factory. So they are punished by the factory itself, an archetype of the 'real world' punishing people who are ignorant to their own sins. And the Oompa Loompas are the ones who deliver the lessons, and they do so in the most exquisite fashion:

These are Veruca’s new found friends
That she will meet as she descends,
And this is the price she has to pay
For going so very far astray.
But now, my dears, we think you might
Be wondering–is it really right
That every single bit of blame
And all show more the scolding and the shame
Should fall upon Veruca Salt?
Is she the only one at fault?
For though she’s spoiled, and dreadfully so,
A girl can’t spoil herself, you know.
Who spoiled her, then? Ah, who indeed?
Who pandered to her every need?
Who turned her into such a brat?
Who are the culprits? Who did that?
Alas! You needen’t look so far
To find out who these sinners are.
They are (and this is very sad)
Her loving parents, MUM and DAD.
And that is why we’re glad they fell
Into the garbage chute as well.”
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I couldn't recall reading this book as a child, so I decided to pick this up for a bit of entertainment. Let me start by saying that Dahl is a genius for disguising his morality tale through the veils of dark (yet kid friendly) humor. This book is truly entertaining and at times, quite frightening while also being touching (I love Charlie's relationship with his grandfather).
We all know the story. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a classic children's book about five kids who win a chance to tour Willy Wonka's mysterious candy-making operation. It's a vividly told wild ride with amusing, cartoon-like sketches from Quentin Blake. What is interesting about the story is that various forms of bad behavior are demonstrated -- but the show more punishments perfectly fit the crimes. Most the kids are addicted to one vice or another such as lust or greed, except for our hero Charlie, who is pure at heart, even though he lives a life of poverty that's portrayed as bleak and depressing. He has love and a wild imagination that isn't focused on owning things, over eating, or watching glops of television. You can tell Charlie is thankful for his circumstances while all the other demanding kids aren't. This is not a sanitized Children's story. It is raw and dark and truthful and it's message of thanksgiving, imagination and the affects of various vices remains quite important for children and adults alike. show less

An odd experience. I mean, odder than normal.

Do you know what two books should not be read back-to-back? I do.

Previous to Dahl's book, I just read the 1963 essays The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. That read was like having surgery on all your organs, where you are splayed with your innards exposed and, now, sewn back up, you are still sore to the touch.

Then, next, I read this 1964 children's book by Roald Dahl, making a very odd pairing. I "ouched" a few times at things that I would not have had a reaction to at all had I read this as a kid in the 60s. Still, I don't ascribe to the near-sightedness of judging everything under the sun by today's standards, but I do notice them now.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was entertaining, show more well-written, fabulously imaginative. No wonder it's clearly a classic, beloved by millions around the world. You have to love Dahl for all the children who love him. He knows what they like. His stories see the world through the eyes of children, and rallies them around another child for whom life is deeply unfair. Always in the end, with the help of often odd characters, hurrah! Sweet justice and happiness is had.

Wait. It just occurs to me that my two back-to-back reads aren't entirely an odd pair. They both share that subject of unfairness. Baldwin's child, though, is black America, and that story is still being written.

Sigh.

Well, not all meals have to be kale and broccoli. Chocolate is a good treat. So it is with books--not all have to be serious, much less serious to an adult. It's quite alright to enjoy a book, to dream of fantastical sweets and being given the answers to all your problems simply because you are deserving. Do remember, though, the part where you need to actually be deserving by having a kind and loving heart.

May I suggest in lieu of a lifetime of chocolate and a magic man in a velvet coat with tails appearing, let us grownups keep working on fairness and justice within ourselves. Let's be the good guys of the story we live. show less

Roald Dahl creates a world in which children aren’t safe, which I think appeals to kids because they DON’T feel safe. In their particular position, they’re subject to the whims and fancies of the adults around them and have very little control over their lives. Readers, particularly young readers, see these over-indulged children who get everything they want which, at first blush, is something most kids would love. However, as the book progresses, we watch as each child suffers an accident which their own self-centeredness is a direct cause. Violet rips the meal-in-a-gum from the drawer and chews it, ignoring Wonka’s warnings, and ends up a giant blueberry. Veruca Salt refuses to take NO for an answer, in fact is inflamed by show more being told she can’t have one of Wonka’s squirrels, and goes in the nut room to claim one anyone, ending up tossed into the garbage chute by leader of the squirrels who judges her to be a “bad nut”. In the end it is the considerate and well-behaved Charlie who is rewarded. Even when Dahl shows the children leaving the factory in one piece, they are still not escaping unscathed, but instead will retain some scarring for the rest of their lives. Violet, for instance, is still purple, while Mike Teavee has been over-stretched and is now very tall and thin, about whom Wonka makes an almost-callous remark that every basketball team in the country will want him. I think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory could fit in the fable category, as it is a cautionary tale with a lesson.

full review: http://thekoolaidmom.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-... show less

Back when Tim Burton was still a pretty decent director, I was overwhelmed by his wonderful 2005 film adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Watching the film was like entering some alternative universe where magic - and food - are the key point. I was intrigued by the amazing scenarios created and so of course, (shamely) a few years after the film, I decided to pick up this short book by Roald Dahl, whose writing I really enjoyed in Matilda.

And I was not dissapointed! Dahl's writing sucks you into a tasty world, full of sweets and chocolate and quirky characters and nice people and not-so-nice people - and does it so well you can't seem to put the book down. I seriously read the whole book in 30 minutes, only because it was show more such a big pleasure to be reading it.

I used to be obsessed about finding a Wonka Golden Ticket when I was a child. I think I still do, even more now. Couldn't care less about whether it is childish or not. Charlie, our main character comes from a very unfortunate family who doesn't have much to eat or clothes to cover themselves with but above all, they have a strong family bond. So, when Charlie finds a Golden Ticket and gets to, along with other 4 kids, visit Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, where no one ever went in or out, life changed.

And we're told the magic tale of how the factory is run by all these super awesome creatures and how the factory insides are fenomenal.
Super great read. Picking up the sequel right away! show less

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2919171.html

It's really difficult to read the original novel now without seeing clashing visions of Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp being Willy Wonka, and of the 1971 Oompa-Loompas vs Deep Roy. It's a story where the grotesque, benevolent but also threatening Wonka uses the Oompa-Loompas as agents of moral justice, bringing about the downfall of evil (gluttony, parental indulgence, excessive use of chewing gum and too much television) and the triumph of impoverished virtue (Charlie and his family, who are otherwise not all that interesting). But this is in the context of a dystopian consumerist society, whose tastes Wonka is pandering to, a course that he expects Charlie to take up in due course; and a close show more examination of how Wonka runs his factory is also rather uncomfortable.

So, like most of Dahl's better stories, it's a fairy tale with a troubling core. show less