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Chapter 6
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
When Charlie walks into his grandparents’ room in the morning, they all wish him happy birthday. He sits down nervously on the edge of the bed, holding his Wonka’s Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight bar. Mr. Bucket and Mrs. Bucket stand at the foot of the bed, and everyone watches Charlie silently. Charlie strokes the bar and makes the wrapper crackle, and Mrs. Bucket gently tells him that he shouldn’t be too disappointed if there’s no Golden Ticket inside. Grandma Georgina points out that whether there’s a ticket inside or not, Charlie will still have a candy bar.
Charlie’s parents and grandparents show Charlie they care about him by preparing him for the possibility that there likely be a Golden Ticket inside his candy bar. However, Grandma Georgina suggests that simply having a candy bar to enjoy is worth being excited and grateful for. This sentiment, combined with Charlie stroking the candy bar and making the wrapper crackle, encourage readers to look on the bright side and enjoy life’s simple pleasures.
Themes
They all know it’s silly to expect that Charlie will find the Golden Ticket inside this candy bar. But even though they know this, they also know there’s a small chance that there is a Golden Ticket inside. So, although the adults pretend to be calm, they’re actually just as tense as Charlie is. Slowly, Charlie starts to peel the wrapping off his candy bar. Then, he rips the rest of it off. A candy bar falls into Charlie’s lap, but nothing more. Charlie looks up at his family, smiles, and offers his candy bar to Mrs. Bucket. She refuses, as do the rest of Charlie’s family when he offers to let them have a taste.
One of a parent or guardian’s responsibilities, this passage suggests, is tempering one’s excitement so that children can learn to do the same. But it also makes clear that being excited isn’t limited to children—adults, the book implies, can (and perhaps should) approach life with awe and wonder. But as expected, this bar doesn’t conceal a Golden Ticket. Charlie demonstrates his maturity and generosity by not getting upset about it—and by offering his family members a taste of his chocolate.
Themes
