Summary: 

Willy Wonka’s famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life.

Favorite Character & Characterization: 

My favorite character was obviously Charlie Bucket. He is able to pull through in tough situations. He also has a very positive outlook towards his life despite being poor. The sole breadwinner of the Bucket family is Mr. Bucket, who recently got laid off from his job as a factory worker since everything became automatic.

Storyline Development: 

The book started out with the introduction of Charlie and his family, as well as telling us about how Charlie loves chocolate. When the other characters are introduced, we see a wide variety of personalities and motivations. Each more cliche than the next. In the end, Roald Dahl does a great job of illustrating the greed of the other contestants, which is shown by their antics. 

World-building: 

The story is set in a great town. Charlie’s family lives on the edge of the town with his family, while Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory is at the center of town.

The town doesn’t really get a name, and with a bare minimum illustration, it’s sorta hard for me to glean an idea of what Dahl imagined the ‘great town,’ to look like.

Feedback & Critique: 

The story was very creative and original, and is a great children’s bedtime story. Sadly, there are still many flaws in the book.

This book was written a long time ago so there is no diversity (as expected). In addition, the other characters don’t have much depth. Charlie is depicted as a shallow hero coming from less than humble origins, while the other children are portrayed as greedy and selfish brats.

Overall, with characters that each fit cliche stereotypes and Wonka’s odd motivation for re-opening his factory to ‘a lucky few,’ (apparently he saw one gray hair) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is your classic fairy tale. With flimsy world-building and superficial characters, I feel that this book only serves to entertain young readers.