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Violet Beauregarde is the third child to find a golden ticket and the second to get into an accident. She is a pushy little girl who is obsessed with chewing gum. The book makes Violet’s gum chewing seem as gross as possible to make it comparable to the other children’s vices. Violet sticks the piece of gum she’s chewing behind her ear at night, and she leaves pieces of chewed gum on elevator buttons. Additionally, Violet’s gum chewing habit reveals her competitive nature. At first, she chews gum simply because she likes it, but when she finds out her best friend earned a world record for chewing a piece of gum for months, Violet immediately changes her habits so she can compete too. Her parents encourage this competitive spirit. For example, when Violet insists on chewing the gum at Willy Wonka’s factory, her father proudly brags about how she’s the first to try it. The narrator cements Violet as one of the bad children by portraying her as rude and pushy. She talks over her mother during the newspaper interview and refuses to listen to Willy Wonka’s cautions. However, the book focuses on her gum chewing as her primary flaw. Her punishment, turning into a blueberry, is a result of her inability to resist the opportunity to chew gum, not her rudeness or competitiveness.
