Roald Dahl's classic novel

The novel I’ll be reviewing today is ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. It has been named a classic for a reason such as it was published in 1964 and its success grants it the classification of a classic novel. Factors leading to its success are children were the targeted audience and to get to their heart they based the book on every child’s dream a factory full of chocolate lakes and waterfalls. The use of children’s fantasy and human desire shaped Roald Dahl into becoming one of the most prosperous children’s writer in Britain. The novel is about a mysterious man of the name Willy Wonka who operates a flourishing chocolate business. Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory has been closed from outsiders’ eyes for many years until five children were given the opportunity to view its magnificence. These children are Veruca Salt a spoiled girl who controls her parents, Violet Beauregarde a selfish champion gum chewer, Augustus Gloop an overeating chubby boy, Mike Teavee a television obsessed pistol shooting menace and finally Charlie Bucket the protagonist of the novel who is humble, smart but poor. If you have read the novel one of the children wins as he makes it through the factory tour. People commonly say that nice guys finish last and this certainly is expressed in this story but in more of a victorious perspective rather than a losing one. There was a clear distinction between the wealthy and poor characters and this created a much more emotionally in-depth story. The selfishness of the character Veruca Salt can be seen when she said “I want an Oompa-Loompa!’ Comments like these from characters show their excessive wealth and greed. On the poorer side Charlie’s family including his Grandpa Joe who’s a humble old man that accompanies Charlie into the factory all live together in a small, run down shack. The novel’s morality is sugar coated literally as big lessons such as selfishness and non-appreciation is covered by the children’s theme. Ultimately the conductor of the moral lessons is Willy Wonka who is a very strange but enthusiastic man. The illustrator of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Quentin Blake, created the virtual version of Roald Dahl’s characters by using pastel colours to express each characters unique persona. Quentin’s illustrations are pure genius but simple enough for a child to recognise its content. This review was based on the book but I can’t finish the review without mentioning Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which is the film version, created in 1971. It is an iconic movie representing the book respectably with mesmerising chocolate scenes. Overall Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a childhood classic and is a good novel by Roald Dahl.