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Chapter 21
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
Mr. Wonka sighs that there are “two naughty little children gone,” and “three good little children left.” Charlie asks if Violet will be okay again, and Mr. Wonka assures him that they’ll juice her, and she’ll be “thin as a whistle” after. She will, however, still be purple—that’s what happens when you chew gum all day long. Mike Teavee asks why Mr. Wonka even makes gum if he hates it, but Mr. Wonka tells him not to mumble and hurriedly leads everyone through a secret door. The door opens into another pink corridor, and Charlie holds tight to Grandpa Joe’s hand so that he doesn’t get lost.
Mr. Wonka sets up a dichotomy here when he implies that Augustus and Violet were “naughty,” and that Charlie, Veruca, and Mike are still part of the tour because they’re “good.” This is more evidence that this tour is designed to weed out greedy, selfish children. Again, when Charlie grabs onto Grandpa Joe’s hand, it shows how much he respects and relies on his grandfather to point him in the right direction.
Themes
Mr. Wonka rushes ahead, past more doors. They pass rooms for Eatable Marshmallow Pillows and Lickable Wallpaper for Nurseries, which feature pictures of fruits—including snozzberries. When Mike Teavee asks what a snozzberry is, Mr. Wonka accuses him again of mumbling. They pass doors for Hot Ice Creams for Cold Days (which warms eaters up in cold weather) and Fizzy Lifting Drinks (which lift people up like balloons; you must burp to come down again). Once, Mr. Wonka says, he gave some to an Oompa-Loompa outside, and the Oompa-Loompa floated away. Perhaps he was too polite to burp. Mr. Wonka stops in front of a room for Square Candies that Look Round.
Mike Teavee still wants to know exactly what’s going on in the factory, rather than just accepting what Mr. Wonka says and enjoying it. Because of this, the novel implies that he’s enjoying his tour less than Charlie is. This final Oompa-Loompa seems to be another unwilling test subject for Mr. Wonka’s candies—and Mr. Wonka still doesn’t seem to care about the Oompa-Loompa’s fate. This drives home how little respect the Oompa-Loompas receive, even though they’re the ones who keep Mr. Wonka’s factory running and act as a kind of moral compass for the children and parents touring the factory.
Themes
