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Chapter 8
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 gets home from school the next day, he finds Grandpa Joe awake in bed. Grandpa Joe beckons Charlie to come close and then, from under his pillow, reveals a single 10-cent coin. He whispers to Charlie that he wants another shot at finding the last Golden Ticket. Charlie asks if Grandpa Joe is sure he wants to spend his money on chocolate, and Grandpa Joe says that he is. He tells Charlie to run to the nearest store, buy a bar, and bring it back to open it.
This chapter drives home that Charlie and Grandpa Joe have a special relationship—in part, it seems, because Grandpa Joe sees the world in a more childlike way than the other grandparents do. He’s willing to hope for the best, even if the best-case scenario in this situation isn’t likely. His desire for a bar also suggests that in some cases, indulging is harmless—a simple pleasure like a chocolate bar can make life more pleasant and hardship easier to bear, whether there’s a Golden Ticket in the bar or not.
Themes
Charlie does as he’s told and returns five minutes later with a bar of Wonka’s Nutty Crunch Surprise. They decide to open it together. Grandpa Joe tears the paper first, giggling that they don’t have a hope—but there’s a tiny chance there’s a Golden Ticket inside this bar. After more dithering, Charlie tells Grandpa Joe to open the bar all the way. There’s no Golden Ticket inside, and they burst into laughter. This wakes up Grandma Josephine, and Grandpa Joe tells her to go back to sleep.
It's significant that as Grandpa Joe is laughing when he insists that he and Charlie don’t have a chance. This is a serious matter—a Golden Ticket could change their lives, after all—but it’s nevertheless something that he can laugh about and enjoy. Laughing again when the bar doesn’t reveal a Golden Ticket suggests that Grandpa Joe is able to enjoy even the smallest things—like the absurd thought that they’d get lucky and find a Golden Ticket.
Themes
