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Augustus Gloop
Veruca Salt is the second child to find a Golden Ticket; she’s Mr. Salt and Mrs. Salt’s daughter. Her parents spoil her and give her everything she wants, most of which she demands by shouting. She gets a Golden Ticket because Mr. Salt, who owns a peanut factory, makes his employees unwrap Wonka bars instead of shell peanuts until they find one for her. On the morning of the factory tour, Veruca’s parents have to restrain her so she doesn’t scale the fence and enter the factory grounds before Mr. Wonka is ready for them. During the tour, whenever Veruca comes across something wonderful or interesting, she shouts to Mr. Salt that she wants it. She asks for an Oompa-Loompa, a candy boat (complete with a chocolate river and Oompa-Loompas to row her around), and a trained squirrel. Her demand for a squirrel turns out to be her downfall: when Mr. Wonka tells her that she can’t have one because the squirrels aren’t for sale, Veruca races into the Nut Room to grab a squirrel herself. But instead, the squirrels restrain her, declare that she’s a “bad nut,” and throw her down the garbage chute. This, the Oompa-Loompas later suggest, is where spoiled kids belong—though they do insist that Veruca’s parents are to blame for her behavior.
Veruca Salt Quotes in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory quotes below are all either spoken by Veruca Salt or refer to Veruca Salt. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 6 Quotes
“Oh, it was terrible! My little Veruca got more and more upset each day, and every time I went home she would scream at me, ‘Where’s my Golden Ticket! I want my Golden Ticket!’ And she would lie there for hours on the floor, kicking and yelling in the most disturbing way. Well, sir, I just hated to see my little girl feeling unhappy like that, so I vowed I would keep up the search until I’d got her what she wanted. Then suddenly… on the evening of the fourth day, one of my women workers yelled, ‘I’ve got it! A Golden Ticket!’” […]
“She needs a real good spanking,” said Grandma Georgina.
Related Characters:
Mr. Salt (speaker), Grandma Georgina (speaker), Veruca Salt
Related Symbols:
Golden Tickets
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Page Number and Citation:
24-25
Explanation and Analysis:
In the Salt family’s interview with the newspaper after Mr. Salt finds a Golden Ticket for his daughter Veruca, Mr. Salt explains exactly how and why he found the Golden Ticket. This passage introduces Veruca’s vice: she’s extremely spoiled and selfish. Through her tantrums, Veruca demonstrates that she expects to get whatever she wants, when she wants it. But the novel also shows here that Veruca’s behavior doesn’t come out of nowhere—in fact, she likely learned her entitled behavior from her father, Mr. Salt. After all, Mr. Salt doesn’t scold Veruca for her tantrums or otherwise check her behavior. Rather, he throws himself into finding her a Golden Ticket to make her stop throwing the tantrums. This shows Veruca that acting in this way is acceptable and will get her what she wants. Grandma Georgina suggests that this is a poor way to parent, and that it’s actually Mr. Salt’s responsibility to stop Veruca from acting this way. While the suggestion that Mr. Salt should spank his daughter may seem outdated to modern readers, it nevertheless proposes that it’s a parent’s duty to manage their child’s behavior.
It’s also significant that Mr. Salt also shows Veruca it’s okay to act this way through the specific way he goes about finding her Golden Ticket. He’s converted his peanut factory into a candy unwrapping factory—which is, in effect, a way for him to demonstrate his wealth and power, and the fact that he can pay or otherwise force people to do whatever he wants. So, Mr. Salt isn’t just entitled; he has the wealth and influence to back up his entitlement and get what he wants.
“I don’t think the girl’s father played it quite fair, Grandpa, do you?” Charlie murmured.
“He spoils her,” Grandpa Joe said. “And no good can ever come from spoiling a child like that, Charlie, you mark my words.”
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Chapter 13 Quotes
The tall bony old figure of Grandpa Joe could be seen standing quietly among them, and beside him, holding tightly on to his hand, was little Charlie Bucket himself.
All the children, except Charlie, had both their mothers and fathers with them, and it was a good thing that they had, otherwise the whole party might have gotten out of hand. They were so eager to get going that their parents were having to hold them back by force to prevent them from climbing over the gates.
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Chapter 15 Quotes
“Don’t you think they look pretty? I told you I hated ugliness! And of course they are all eatable! All made of something different and delicious! And do you like my meadows? Do you like my grass and my buttercups? The grass you are standing on, my dear little ones, is made of a new kind of soft, minty sugar that I’ve just invented! I call it swudge! Try a blade! Please do! It’s delectable!”
Automatically, everybody bent down and picked one blade of grass—everybody, that is, except Augustus Gloop, who took a big handful.
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Chapter 16 Quotes
“Daddy!” shouted Veruca Salt (the girl who got everything she wanted). “Daddy! I want an Oompa-Loompa! I want you to get me an Oompa-Loompa! I want an Oompa-Loompa right away! I want to take it home with me! Go on, Daddy! Get me an Oompa-Loompa!”
“Now, now, my pet!” Her father said to her, “we mustn’t interrupt Mr. Wonka.”
“But I want an Oompa-Loompa!” screamed Veruca.
“All right, Veruca, all right. But I can’t get it for you this second. Please be patient. I’ll see you have one before the day is out.”
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Augustus Gloop, as you might have guessed, had quietly sneaked down to the edge of the river, and he was now kneeling on the riverbank, scooping hot melted chocolate into his mouth as fast as he could.
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Chapter 24 Quotes
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 needn’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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Veruca Salt Character Timeline in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The timeline below shows where the character Veruca Salt appears in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6
On the day before Charlie’s birthday, a small girl named Veruca Salt finds the second Golden Ticket. Her family lives in a big city far away,...
(full context)
Grandma Josephine insists that Veruca is even worse than Augustus, and Grandma Georgina suggests that Veruca could benefit from being...
(full context)
Chapter 13
...the crowd point out Augustus, Violet (still chewing her piece of gum), Mike Teavee, and Veruca Salt. They discuss how spoiled Veruca is, and several wonder why Charlie isn’t wearing a...
(full context)
Chapter 14
...Mr. Wonka pumps Augustus’s hand up and down, greets his parents, and ushers Augustus in. Veruca steps up next. Mr. Wonka again shakes her hand, but he comments that Veruca’s name...
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Chapter 15
As Mr. Wonka encourages his guests to sample all the candy in the room, Veruca Salt lets out a scream. She points to a small person down by the river....
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Chapter 16
Veruca Salt interrupts Mr. Wonka’s explanation to shout that she wants an Oompa-Loompa. Mr. Salt first...
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Chapter 18
Veruca Salt tells Mr. Salt that she wants a boat just like this and Oompa-Loompas to...
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...that there isn’t time to answer “silly questions.” When they pass a door labeled “whips,” Veruca asks why Mr. Wonka needs whips. He needs them for properly whipping cream; Mr. Wonka...
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Chapter 19
...when eaten, gives the eater a new head of hair, a moustache, and a beard. Veruca is incredulous, but Mr. Wonka says that she’d look great with a beard. He explains...
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Chapter 21
...the chewer can feel the food going down their throat and will be satisfied after. Veruca says that’s impossible, but Violet says it’s gum—so she’ll take it. She puts her piece...
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Chapter 23
...one end painting the faces. Mike Teavee says that the candies don’t look round, and Veruca agrees that they’re square. Mr. Wonka insists he never said they were round; they only...
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...approval. Then, he leads the group to a staircase and slides down the banister. Charlie, Veruca, and Mike are right behind him. The adults—particularly Mrs. Salt, who’s very fat—struggle to keep...
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Chapter 24
Veruca Salt shouts to Mrs. Salt that she wants one of Mr. Wonka’s squirrels; the pets...
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The squirrels stop shelling walnuts and stare at Veruca. Veruca stops and stares back. Then, as Veruca reaches for a squirrel near her, all...
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Shrieking, Mrs. Salt asks where Veruca went. Mr. Wonka explains that that chute leads to the main garbage pipe, which in...
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...shushes everyone; the Oompa-Loompas are singing again. They sing about all the new “friends” that Veruca will meet in the garbage chute, like fish heads and rotting fruit. This is her...
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Chapter 29
...“thin as a straw.” Violet is back to her normal size, but she’s still purple. Veruca, Mr. Salt, and Mrs. Salt are all covered in garbage, while Mike Teavee is 10...
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