Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Chapter 29 : The Other Children Go Home | Summary

Summary

Mr. Wonka insists on lowering the elevator so they can see the other contestants and their parents. He points to a row of gigantic vans and says that they're filled with the first installment of the other contestants' lifetime supply of candy. The three people in the elevator watch as a much thinner Augustus Gloop and his parents get into the first truck. Mr. Wonka explains that of course Augustus is thin now: he was squeezed in the pipe.

Violet Beauregarde and her parents are next. She's back to her normal size, but she's still purplish-blue all over. "There's nothing we can do about that," says Mr. Wonka.

Veruca Salt and her parents are covered with garbage. Mike Teavee is 10 feet tall; the Oompa-Loompas must have overstretched him on the gum-stretching machine.

"It is time we left these four silly children," says Mr. Wonka. There's something very important he needs to talk to Charlie about. He presses an elevator button, and the glass elevator climbs back into the sky.

Analysis

Still Dahl is keeping readers in suspense! But it's essential that Wonka, Charlie, and Grandpa Joe (and the reader) catch up with the other four contestants.

Readers sometimes feel that the other contestants are not dealt with equally. Though each of the children's punishments fits his or her misdeed, it seems unfair that Veruca Salt is only covered with garbage. She only needs to take a bath to return to normal. Violet, on the other hand, will be blueberry-colored for the rest of her life. Augustus also seems to come out better than Mike Teavee. After all, Augustus needed to lose some weight. He hasn't actually lost any, but he's still thinner. Mike, whose weight was normal, has not been helped by being over stretched.

But consistency is not the point here. It's satisfying to see the other four contestants be punished. None of them appreciated the factory the way Charlie does. And surely the last chapter will explain, finally, how Charlie will be rewarded.