Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka And The Paradox Factory

Willy Wonka and the Paradox Factory

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s character Willy Wonka is a paradox because he adds humor to a story about poverty and naughty children. Willy Wonka reminds Charlie that life is fun and it does not have to be taken so seriously. Wonka is at first a godlike figure for Charlie, then becomes a father figure, and finally, the reader realizes that Wonka is a twisted and sadistic trickster.

Charlie Bucket is from a dreary, insignificant town. Living with both sets of his grandparents and his parents, the small home they reside in is not nearly large enough to accommodate the seven of them. To pass the time, Charlie’s grandpa Joe recounts tales about the chocolate factory and Wonka’s strange workers.

Goatees are often linked with goats. Goats typically represent characteristics seen in an animal trickster. Goatees are also associated with the devil.

“Historically, the most iconographic goatee is that worn by Satan… Satan’s beard is invariably portrayed as pointed, dark, and sinister, and indicates the way to hell in its direction of growth,” (Peterkin 171).

Much like the devil, Wonka has fun at the expense of others. His workers, the Oompa Loompas, were African slaves in the first edition of the famous children’s

He is dependent on their mass and energy for the execution of his will. They, unable ever to leave the factory, are like Dante's gargoyle demons in a busy, but in their case childlike, underworld,” (Bosmajian).

Throughout the novel, the Oompa Loompas sing aggressive, cautionary ballads, each time one of the children is disobedient. These playful sounding songs diverge the children’s attention from what really just happened - like Augustus Gloop being sucked into a tube or Violet Beauregarde blowing up until she is a large blueberry. According to Hamida Bosmajian, this “allows the characters and the child reader to indulge all the more amorally in this liberating and libidinal satiric fantasy.” In conclusion, Willy Wonka himself is a paradox. He is silly and fun but has a sick sense of humor. Wonka is incredible in the eyes of young Charlie Bucket because Wonka has everything Charlie dreams of. Wonka gives his chocolate factory to Charlie and promises to teach Charlie everything Wonka knows. In the end, the reader begins to understand that while Mr. Willy Wonka brings joy to Charlie and the Bucket family, there is a certain unexplainable darkness brought as well, thus making Wonka a