Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Discussion question 3

What qualities does Charlie have that make him the hero of this story? What do those qualities say about Roald Dahl’s opinions of children? 

Charlie is what Roald Dahl thinks of as a 'perfect child', and all of the other children are used as examples of what Roald Dahl thinks flawed children are.  In the book, Charlie is a loving, unselfish young boy living in poverty with his large family.  "Here Mother, have a bit.  We'll share it.  I want everybody to taste it" (29).  He seems to always do what is right, and that trait has earned him much respect throughout his family.  These are the traits that Roald Dahl believes that every good child should have.  However, Charlie does make one selfish act in this book.  This occurs when he finds a dollar on the street and he uses it to by himself a couple of chocolate bars.  The one selfish act that Charlie commits just happens to be the most pivotal point in the book, for one of those chocolate bars just happened to have a golden ticket inside.  The other children are examples of what Roald Dahl thinks that some children are like in society.  He was very harsh about this, and he used some very extreme examples.  In the end, all of the other children were forced to leave the tour due to their selfish acts.  They all had their major flaws that made them different from the 'perfect child'.  Roald Dahl made this very clear in his book.  He was trying to send a message to all of the boys and girls and forcing them to make comparisons to the 5 characters.  On the back of the book, it says, "...and Charlie Bucket, our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind..."  (back).  Notice the word, our, in that sentence.  Roald Dahl is trying to say how Charlie is the savior of the book.  He is trying to get the readers to understand that there are many selfish and spoiled children in the world and that Charlie is the 'last hope'.  By saying the word, our, he is forcing the audience to 'root' for Charlie so they can realize how flawed the other children are.  Although the other children did make mistakes that nearly cost them their lives, it is hard to resist when you are in such a magical place.  The children where just in the moment and where to young to realize what they were doing was a mistake.  In the end, Charlie Bucket was the last one remaining, and the hero of the book got the biggest reward of his life, Wonka's Factory.