Poverty and Wealth Theme Analysis

The characters in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are clearly divided into two categories: those who are wealthy, and those who aren’t. Charlie Bucket and his family, for instance, live in a drafty two-room house on the edge of town, where they subsist on very little food and struggle to keep warm. Charlie gets lucky and finds one of five Golden Tickets hidden in Wonka candy bars (which wins him the prize of touring Mr. Wonka’s chocolate factory), but the other four children who win Golden Tickets lead wealthy, privileged lives. For example, Veruca Salt only gets a Golden Ticket because her father, Mr. Salt, converts the peanut-shelling factory he owns into a candy-unwrapping operation for several days. But Charlie and the Chocolate Factory generally suggests that wealth (or the lack thereof) isn’t everything, as Charlie and his family are portrayed as much happier and more fulfilled than the book’s wealthy characters. While wealth may be able to buy something like a Golden Ticket, it can’t purchase what the novel suggests are the more important things in life: happiness, love, loyalty, and a strong, supportive family.

The novel makes it clear that being wealthy can make life easier and help people get ahead in the world. It’s perhaps not surprising that of the five Golden Ticket winners, four are much wealthier than Charlie is. Mike Teavee’s family owns a television, which was still something of a luxury item by the mid-1960s (when the book is set); Augustus’s family has the money to buy Augustus many bars of chocolate; and Veruca’s father is a wealthy man who can afford to have his entire factory staff unwrap candy for several days. Even Violet’s family is well-off compared to Charlie’s: her interview with reporters takes place in her living room, which seems luxurious compared to the Buckets’ tiny, run-down house. Particularly for Augustus and Veruca, their families’ affluence—and thus, their ability to buy more Wonka bars—made it far more likely that they’d find Golden Tickets. The novel reiterates this when Charlie finds his Golden Ticket, and a boy nearby grouses that it’s not fair that Charlie found one when the boy has been buying 20 bars per day. Wealth might not entirely guarantee outward success (like finding a Golden Ticket), the novel suggests, but it can certainly make success more likely.

However, it soon becomes apparent that wealth doesn’t guarantee happiness or a loving, supportive family. Over the course of their Wonka factory tour, the children with wealthy parents meet disastrous fates, yet their parents don’t seem particularly concerned. For instance, when Augustus falls into the chocolate river, Mr. Gloop refuses to wade in to save his son on the grounds that he’s wearing his best suit. With his response, he shows that it’s more important to him to preserve something that signals his wealth than it is to save Augustus. Similarly, when Mr. Wonka’s trained squirrels shove Veruca down the garbage chute, and Mr. Wonka notes that there’s a chance she’ll end up in the garbage incinerator, Mr. Salt is underwhelmed. He insists that he’s “cross,” a darkly humorous response that acknowledges he’s annoyed—but again, it doesn’t suggest that he loves or feels protective of his daughter, who may be in a life-threatening situation. These families may be wealthy and able to spoil their children, but the book makes it clear that this doesn’t mean there’s any love, affection, or loyalty among family members.

The Buckets, on the other hand, illustrate what the novel suggests is an ideal situation: they don’t have a lot of money, but they’re nevertheless loving, loyal, and generous with one another. Charlie only receives a single Wonka bar every year for his birthday—a stark contrast to the wealthy children in the novel—yet he never seems deprived or unhappy. With this, the novel suggests that wealth and material goods aren’t necessary for people to be content and fulfilled, especially when they have a supportive family. Though Charlie has much less than other children do, he never seems to question whether or not his parents and grandparents love him. Instead, Charlie’s family members show their love to one another in other ways. For instance, Charlie brightens his grandparents’ days by spending every evening with them, listening to them tell stories—which brings the whole family together and makes them forget about their difficulties. Being poor doesn’t take away from the fact that they enjoy spending time together, and these evenings are very fulfilling for everyone involved. Indeed, the quality time that Charlie and his family members spend together make the fact that they live in poverty easier to bear. With this, the novel suggests that it doesn’t take money or lavish gifts for family members to be happy, live fulfilling lives, or show one another that they care.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory never shies away from the fact that living in poverty, as opposed to being wealthy, can be dangerous and even life-threatening. The narrator, for instance, describes Charlie and his family’s starvation, Charlie’s increasingly bony face, and the habits he develops to conserve his strength. But on the whole, the novel also suggests that poverty and happiness aren’t mutually exclusive, and it also shows that poverty can sometimes be improvable or escapable—in Charlie’s case, by getting lucky, finding a Golden Ticket, and eventually inheriting Mr. Wonka’s chocolate factory. On the other hand, the novel suggests there’s no real way to fix a family dynamic that’s uncaring or disloyal, no matter how much money that family might have.