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For they loved this little boy. He was the only bright thing in their lives, and his evening visits were something that they looked forward to all day long.
This quotation comes from Chapter 2 (Mr. Willy Wonka’s Factory), when the narrator explains the dynamic between Charlie and his grandparents. Even though Charlie is just one small boy, to the four grandparents, he is their world. By describing Charlie as “the only bright thing,” it portrays Charlie as being like a light in the darkness, a piece of hope and joy in a bleak time. He may be a small boy, but his role in the family is powerful and important.
Charlie picked it up and tore off the wrapper . . . and suddenly . . . from underneath the wrapper . . . there came a brilliant flash of gold.
This description of Charlie finding the golden ticket in Chapter 11 (The Miracle), emphasizes how one small thing can make a huge difference. A chocolate bar is small, but both the literal shininess of the golden ticket and the opportunity it represents has the potential to completely change Charlie’s life. Just like Charlie is a bright spot in the dreary life of his family, the golden ticket is described as appearing with “a brilliant flash of gold,” as if casting a light of its own. In both cases, the physically small are full of possibilities.
The tiny men—they were no larger than medium-sized dolls—had stopped what they were doing, and now they were staring back across the river at the visitors. One of them pointed towards the children, and then he whispered something to the other four, and all five of them burst into peals of laughter.
This early description of the Oompa-Loompas comes from the very end of Chapter 15 (The Chocolate Room). The Oompa-Loompas are doll-sized and yet their labor powers an entire, huge chocolate factory. Furthermore, despite their smallness, the Oompa-Loompas are portrayed as having a better understanding of morality than most of the normal-sized humans. After each accident, they offer a moral lesson, suggesting that while they may be small in size, their spirit is larger than that of most of the guests.
“This gum,” Mr. Wonka went on, “is my latest, my greatest, my most fascinating invention! It’s a chewing-gum meal! It’s . . . it’s . . . it’s . . . That tiny little strip of gum lying there is a whole three-course dinner all by itself!”
Here, Mr. Wonka presents his experimental gum in Chapter 21 (Good-bye Violet). When the machine first produces the strip of gum, Mike Teavee is disappointed by the tiny gray strip. However, Wonka emphasizes that the small size of the strip of gum is part of what makes it so wonderful. He has been able to compress three courses of food into a small space. Dismissing the gum based on size ignores its amazing capacity to contain so much.
“But Mr. Wonka,” stammered Grandpa Joe, “do you really and truly mean that you are giving the whole of this enormous factory to little Charlie? After all. . .”
Grandpa Joe’s concern for Charlie in Chapter 30 (Charlie’s Chocolate Factory) is meant lovingly but ignores that Charlie is the ideal candidate to be Wonka’s successor. Charlie may be little, but inside he has multitudes of compassion, kindness, intelligence, and imagination. Furthermore, because he is so young, Charlie is capable of learning from Wonka’s ideas without too many adult preconceived notions. Wonka has chosen Charlie because he is the ultimate small package that contains huge potential.
