Book Report: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Here’s a book I know I read as a youngster of about 10 or so, but rereading Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” these many years later makes me feel like I’d never read it at all. There’s a lot in here I don’t remember, but a surprising amount that I do — based mostly on the Gene Wilder movie version. It’s still a thoroughly engaging read, however, though which age it’s most appropriate for will be entirely up to you.

Unlike some of the other books for which I’ve done posts, there’s actually very little in this one to watch out for, unless you consider Dahl’s acerbic wit and biting social commentary to be dangerous. Essentially a parable promoting good manners, our hero Charlie is unfailingly sweet, generous, and helpful. This is even more impressive given that he and his family of six adults live in poverty.

Another great element of the book is the multi-generational household. Charlie lives with both parents, and both full sets of grandparents. I understand that in our modern age, we ought to be writing stories that feature the full gamut of living situations: single-parent, same-gendered parents, and the like, and I do appreciate that. I grew up in Hawai’i, however, where it’s commonplace to keep our elders living with us, instead of being relegated to an assisted living facility. “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” never calls undue attention to the fact that all four grandparents live in the same home, and while that might have more to do with the time in which the book was written, or the standards of living in Britain, that doesn’t change that it’s a wonderful thing for a child to learn about.

In fact, the person Charlie takes with him on his adventure in the Chocolate Factory is his Grandpa, and that’s the best part of all. Charlie’s Grandpa Joe is even more daring, and more full of vitality than many of the other characters in the novel, save perhaps for Willy Wonka himself.

Willy Wonka is one of the great characters of our time. He’s childlike, yet not childish; fun-loving, yet conscientious; does not suffer fools gladly; and delights in confounding expectations. He’s a bit more sprightly and manic in the book than he is in the movies, but he’s never too much to handle. He mocks the horrible children and their parents to their faces, and makes it plain at every turn that whatever fate befalls them is both justly deserved, and their own faults.

As a moral tale, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is hardly subtly written, but it’s done with such style one hardly minds. And our hero gets his reward in the end, with an intriguing twist. My five year old loved it — even the edited version I read to him which quietly failed to mention the arsenal of guns that Mike Teavee carries with him at all times. If you haven’t picked it up, run right out and get it!