In the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl presents the viewer with a movie filled with metaphors for traditional Christian theology. Characters in the film themselves are representations of the deadly sins, the human’s role on this earth, and even God himself. The move contains concepts of Christian morality which Dahl presents distinctly throughout the film.
The film is about a candy manufacturer named Willy Wonka who has locked himself away in his factory due to threats of his competitors spying on him and hasn’t allowed anyone to enter it. Moreover, the secrecy attributed to Mr. Wonka’s factory gives it an ominous and dark aura making it a mystical and almost spiritual place. Suddenly Wonka announces that five lucky golden ticket winners will be allowed to enter his secretive factory and eventually be entitled to a remarkable prize, a lifetime supply of Wonka’s chocolate bars. Without delay, the world impatiently watches through their local news channels as the
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Wonka’s secret recipe for his Everlasting Gobstoppers. The man states that his name is Slugworth and that he is a competitor of Wonka’s who will give the children $10,000 in exchange for their services. Slugworth represents Satan. Similar to the serpent in Christian theology, he is there to test the moral compasses of people and in this case to tempt Charlie into stealing the recipe. This offer seems very appealing to Charlie at first as he can lift his family out of poverty with the money Slugworth is offering. This test becomes critical to the metaphors of God, Satan, heaven, and good deeds in Christianity.
About half way through the film, the viewer is introduced to Willy Wonka. The shroud of mystery that surrounds his physical appearance is lifted however the cover that surrounds his personality, and the nature of his factory remain there to keep his God-like aura