Summary
The Bucket family—the hero of the story, Charlie Bucket;
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bucket; and his four grandparents, Grandpa
Joe, Grandma Josephine, Grandpa George, and Grandma Georgina—is a
loving but poor family. They live in a small house with only one bed,
which the four grandparents share. Charlie and his parents sleep
on mattresses on the floor. Mr. Bucket works in a toothpaste factory
and barely earns enough money to feed his family. They are forced
to subsist on bread and margarine for breakfast, boiled potatoes
and cabbage for lunch, and cabbage soup for supper. Charlie longs
for more filling foods, especially chocolate, which he receives only
once a year on his birthday. On that day he gets one bar of Wonka
chocolate, which he savors for months and months. Charlie’s house
sits on the outskirts of a large town that is famous for the Wonka
chocolate factory. Charlie must pass by the Wonka chocolate factory
every day on his way to and from school. Each day as he walks by
the factory’s colossal iron gates, Charlie inhales deeply and prays
that someday he will get to venture inside the factory.
Every night after dinner, Charlie goes into his grandparents’ room.
Just the sight of Charlie enlivens his grandparents. Grandpa Joe
tells stories to amuse Charlie, and the others listen in rapture. One
evening Charlie asks his grandparents about the Wonka chocolate
factory, and Grandpa Joe tells Charlie the story of Mr. Wonka. He
begins by saying Mr. Wonka is the greatest chocolate maker in the
whole world and his factory is the biggest in the whole world. Grandpa
Joe recounts many of Mr. Wonka’s amazing feats, including his more
than two hundred varieties of candy bars, which are eaten by kings
and presidents across the world. Grandpa Joe also regales Charlie
with tales of impossible Wonka inventions, such as ice cream that
stays frozen in the sun, marshmallows that taste like flowers, and
chewing gum that never loses its flavor. During the storytelling,
Mr. and Mrs. Bucket stand in the doorway and share in the listening
enjoyment.
Analysis
The opening chapters of the story create a stark dichotomy
between what Charlie has and what he does not have, which demonstrates Charlie’s
infinitely patient and humble character. Charlie’s four grandparents—all
of whom are over ninety—require constant care from his mother, and
his father’s meager wages barely buy enough food for their family.
The physical differences between Charlie’s home and the chocolate
factory further reinforce this dichotomy: Charlie lives in small
wooden house on the outskirts of town. The chocolate factory is
gigantic, indomitable, and the guardian of untold treasures. Indeed,
Charlie’s mattress lies within the shadow of the factory, and he
is constantly bombarded with the sight of overabundance while he
himself is nearly starving to death. Grandpa Joe’s stories about
the wondrous creations lying within the Wonka vault further magnify
the difference between what Charlie has and what others have.
Dahl employs an overly familiar writing style, in which
he talks to his reader as if telling the story out loud to an audience.
He does this in order to point out to the reader important details,
such as with whom to sympathize. Dahl makes Charlie a universally
loveable character by having him courteously address the reader—“How
d’you do? And how d’you do? And how d’you do, again? I’m pleased
to meet you.” —and by almost overemphasizing the hardships in Charlie’s
life, like the torture of seeing other kids indulge in chocolate
while he goes hungry. Dahl accentuates these hardships through the
use of italicizing and further through the use of exclamation points.
