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Chapter 12
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Vice and Virtue
Parenting
Poverty and Wealth
Fun, Absurdity, and Wonder
Prejudice and Bigotry
Summary
Analysis
The next morning is sunny but still cold and snowy. Crowds gather outside of Mr. Wonka’s factory to see the winners enter the factory; police can barely keep the crowds back. The small group of lucky children and their guardians stands off to the side. Charlie holds tightly to Grandpa Joe’s bony hand, while the other children are barely under control. They try to climb the fence as their fathers scold them to be patient. People in 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 coat. The church clock strikes 10, and the gates open slowly.
The way Charlie holds Grandpa Joe’s represents his love and respect for his grandfather. But the other kids don’t seem to respect their parents in the same way, since they’re trying to scale the factory’s fence and have to be restrained. This encourages readers to draw comparisons between Charlie and the other kids, and it shows that Charlie is the most obedient and virtuous of the bunch. It also makes it clear that Charlie’s poverty is obvious to onlookers, since they notice that he’s not wearing a coat (presumably because his parents can’t afford to buy him one).
Themes
