Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Chapter 22 : Along the Corridor | Summary

Summary

Before anything else can go wrong, Mr. Wonka hurries everyone out of the Invention Room. Once more he's in a tremendous hurry, and he leads them through a confusing warren of corridors, past enticing rooms that there's no time to visit:

• Lickable Wallpaper for Nurseries
• Hot Ice Creams for Cold Days
• Cows That Give Chocolate Milk
• Fizzy Lifting Drinks
• Square Candies That Look Round

Abruptly Mr. Wonka stops in front of the last door. "I am very proud of my square candies that look round," he announces. "Let's take a peek."

Analysis

Once again Wonka doesn't seem to be aware of, or to care about, the cavalier way in which the factory workers are treated. Mr. Wonka casually mentions that he once gave "an old Oompa-Loompa" a Fizzy Lifting Drink in the back yard. "He went up and up and up and disappeared out of sight! It was very sad. I never saw him again ... He must be on the moon by now." This is certainly not a 21st-century sensibility.

Readers will notice there is no reason for Mr. Wonka to be in such a hurry in this chapter. He doesn't actually have to reach anywhere by a particular time; rushing around is simply part of his character: he is a man who explains little yet seems always to have a mission. This blend of egotism, charisma, and mystery frames the childlike recluse-genius all the more effectively.