Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Vice and Virtue
Parenting
Poverty and Wealth
Fun, Absurdity, and Wonder
Prejudice and Bigotry
Summary
Analysis
When the elevator is again hovering over the town, Mr. Wonka says that he loves his factory. He asks Charlie if he loves the factory too, and Charlie says that it’s the most wonderful place in the world. Very seriously, Mr. Wonka says he’s glad to hear that—because he’s going to give Charlie his factory. The factory will belong to Charlie when Charlie is old enough. Both Charlie and Grandpa Joe are in shock. Mr. Wonka explains that he’s older than people think and doesn’t have any family. Someone needs to keep the factory going and look after the Oompa-Loompas. But though Mr. Wonka knows that lots of grownups would happily take it over, he wants to give it to a child who can learn Wonka’s way of doing things.
Charlie’s life changes in an instant when he learns that he’s going to inherit Mr. Wonka’s factory. This signals the end of his family’s poverty, and particularly the end of their cabbage soup meals. Now, they’ll not only have candy for the rest of Charlie’s life, as promised by the Golden Ticket; they’ll also have money from the factory’s profits. Mr. Wonka also makes it clear that he prizes Charlie’s way of viewing the world with wonder and awe. It’s exactly this kind of outlook that he hoped to find in one of the children.
Themes
Mr. Wonka explains that this is why he sent out the Golden Tickets: he’d planned to choose his favorite ticket winner at the end of the tour. Grandpa Joe again asks Mr. Wonka if he’s sure about this, but Mr. Wonka cuts him off. He says that they have to go fetch the rest of the Bucket family; they can live in the factory from now on. Charlie points to his house down below, and the elevator shoots for it. Sadly, Charlie says Mrs. Bucket won’t come, since she won’t leave the elderly folks in bed. Mr. Wonka insists that they can fit the whole bed into the elevator and bring them too—nothing is impossible.
Broadly speaking, the novel suggests through Charlie that good things will come to people who look at the world with wonder and delight, without trying to possess or control the world around them. Charlie shows again how loyal his family is when he notes that Mrs. Bucket won’t want to come, since she needs to take care of the grandparents. But in the world of the novel, Charlie is still thinking too literally.
Themes
Mr. Wonka stops the elevator right above Charlie’s house, and then, with the press of a button, the elevator crashes through the roof. Grandma Georgina faints, Grandma Josephine’s false teeth fall out, and Grandpa George hides under his blanket. Mr. Bucket and Mrs. Bucket rush to see what happened. Charlie rushes out of the elevator and into his mother’s arms. He starts to explain what happened as Mr. Bucket cries about the destroyed house.
The grandparents’ reactions add humor and absurdity to the situation. To Mr. Bucket, what just happened is a tragedy: now, the house that he can barely afford doesn’t have a working roof, which is going to make it even harder to keep warm. He’s still focused on trying to get through the day and make sure his family survives—while Charlie’s outlook has entirely changed over the last few hours.
Themes
Mr. Wonka steps out of the elevator, shakes Mr. Bucket’s hand, and tells Mr. Bucket that he won’t need his house anymore. It takes a while, but eventually Grandpa Joe and Charlie are able to tell the family about their day—and that they’re going to live in a chocolate factory. Grandma Josephine, Grandma Georgina, and Grandpa George refuse to go, so Mr. Wonka, Grandpa Joe, and Charlie push the bed into the elevator and pull Mr. Bucket and Mrs. Bucket in after them. The elevator shoots up into the sky, and Charlie climbs onto his grandparents’ bed. He assures them that this is safe and that they’re going someplace wonderful. Grandma Josephine asks if there’s anything to eat—and Charlie, laughing, says that she has no idea.
Now that Grandpa Joe has spent the day in the chocolate factory with Charlie, he’s emboldened to go against the other grandparents’ wishes and push them into the elevator. He knows that once they get to the factory, they’re going to come around and learn a new way of looking at the world. With this, the novel suggests that with certain influences, it’s possible to change one’s outlook and develop a healthier way of looking at the world—one where a person can enjoy the absurdity of certain situations rather than being afraid of it.
Themes
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