by Roald Dahl
Rationale by Brooke Carlson
In the timeless young adult novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , Roald Dahl
(1964) tells the story of a young boy that rises from poverty and eventually achieves a very mature goal for his age. Charlie earns the right to a new house for his family, and a very profitable family business.
The themes represented in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are basic appropriate behavior and fairness towards others. Charlie endures unfair treatment by his peers due to his social status. Though he is exposed to such childish mistreatment,
Charlie’s strong family support allows him to move on and not carry grudges or act out because of the trials he has been put to by his classmates. The reading level is of a 6.2 level but would be suitable for an audience of 4.0 reading level and up.
Charlie Bucket is a smaller than average boy that lives on the very edge of town in a tiny house, across from a giant chocolate factory, with his father, mother and both sets of grandparents. Both of Charlie’s parents work long hours to support the family, but with seven mouths to feed off of two poorly paying jobs. The family lives off of cabbage soup and bread.
Every night before his bedtime Charlie goes to his grandparents room and listens to stories of how the chocolate factory across the street used to have people coming and going all day long, until other candy factories started sending spies to work there and steal recipies. After the owner found out that recipies were being stolen he closed the giant factory and nobody has ever been seen going in or out since then. Suddenly, the factory started operating again, but noone knew how. Not one single person was let in or out, yet the factory was producing more marvelous products than ever.
Soon after the factory started operating again, Willy Wonka, the owner, announced that he had hidden five golden tickets in chocolate bars and to the five lucky children that found them he would allow the child and their parents inside of the factory for a once-in-a-lifetime tour, as well as a lifetime supply of chocolate. This was Charlie’s dream and he knew that he had only one chance.
Every year for his birthday, Charlie’s grandparents and parents saved so that they could buy him one chocolate bar and Charlie wanted more than anything to be a lucky winner. Charlie did not get what he wanted for his birthday, but he did receive the news that tickets were being found all over the map and that there was only one more ticket to be found. Charlie’s parents had warned him that he didn’t have much of a chance to win, and that he hadn’t get his hopes up.

The next day Charlie was coming home from school and he found a dollar buried in a snowbank. He picked it up and ran to the candy store. He devoured two candy bars and decided to get one more for the way home. He made the decision to give the rest of the money to his parents for food. When Charlie got outside he couldn’t wait any longer and tore open the candy bar. Sure enough, he had found the last golden ticket. He ran home and couldn’t wait to share the news with the family.
When Charlie shared the news with his family they were more than excited.
Since Charlie’s parents needed to go to work and couldn’t spare missing a day, grandpa
Joe decided to go with Charlie for the wonderful tour of the chocolate factory.
The very next day Charlie and his grandpa Joe excitedly waited their turn in line to see the chocolate factory. Along with Charlie and grandpa Joe, there were Agustus
Gloop (a greedy boy) and his parents, Veruca Salt (a rich spoiled girl) and her parents,
Violet Beauregarde (a girl who chews gum all day long) and her parents, and Mike
Teavee (the boy who does nothing but watch TV) and his parents.
The children, their parents and grandpa Joe all start the tour and are astonished at the size of the factory. One by one the “naughty” children are taught a lesson in manners.
Agustus gets sucked up a chocolate pipe. Violet steals a piece of chewing gum that wasn’t ready for chewing and turns into a blueberry. Veruca tries to steal a squirrel from the factory and gets thrown down the “bad nut” garbage chute. Mike gets sent by TV and shrunken to the size of a toy. There is only Charlie left. All of the “bad” children are returned to the shape and size they were before the tour, but the boys and girls have all learned a lesson or two on behavior and following rules.
Willy Wonka is more excited than ever that a child has made it through his tour and has followed every instruction that he was given. Since Charlie was so responsible
Willy Wonka leaves his factory to Charlie. Of course, Charlie is too young to run the factory, but Mr. Wonka intends on showing Charlie’s parents how to run the factory until
Charlie is old enough to take over. The Buckets get go move into the factory and will never have to worry about work, having enough food, or buying a house ever again.
The first standard in the Standards for the English Language Arts states that:
“Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction, nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.” (Pg. 3)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets this standard and could be applied to any of the other eleven national standards for English. This text when combined with a variety of others would broaden a student’s chance to read a wide variety of texts and while doing do evaluate themselves and other cultures compared to what is represented in the story.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a young adult novel that can be appreciated by nearly any age group. Books further knowledge of others, the world and one’s self as well as challenge and ignite the imagination. This short novel definitely will ignite even the least imaginative person’s thirst for the bizarre, zany, or downright pure silliness.
The pages are filled with elaborate descriptions of things that cannot and will not ever exist on our planet. It is enlightening to see some of these crazy ideas come to life on the pages and with the help of a few illustrations .
Suggested Teaching Objectives
1.
Students will provide accurate summaries using story elements.
2.
Students will use context clues to predict what will happen.
3.
Students will examine whether or not the events of the novel are realistic.
4.
Students will use a variety of organizational strategies.
5.
Students will use new vocabulary from reading and listening.
6.
Students will use specific aspects of the story to better understand other’s thoughts.
7.
Students will analyze the importance of character development in the novel.
8.
Students will understand that language, both written and spoken, reflects a point of view.
Suggested Student Activities
1.
Watch the movie version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and compare and contrast it with the book.
2.
Write a critique of the movie version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory .
3.
Summarize the novel using story elements and then diagram similarities and differences with the movie.
4.
Write a short biography for each of the children.
5.
Write a letter from Mr. Wonka to one of the children explaining why Charlie gets the “real” prize and not any of the others.
6.
Have each student list three words that they did not know from the story and make guesses at what each of the words mean. After all words are collected make a “dictionary” and possibly quiz on the words to broaden vocabulary.
7.
After finishing the novel compare and contrast situations of irony and sarcasm in the novel.
8.
Discuss in groups, then as a class, how the novel would be different if told from another point of view.
1.
Explain who the “hero” is and why.

2.
Compare and contrast the different male characters in Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory . What generalizations does Dahl make about males?
3.
Compare and contrast the different female characters in Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory . What generalizations does Dahl make about females?
4.
Compare and contrast the movie version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the novel.
 Poor portrayal of "family units"
 Family values and morals are highlighted
 “Children should be seen and not heard” philosophy is addressed