Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Quotes

It's rare for a book to open by directly introducing readers to the main character. By doing so, Dahl creates an immediate feeling of intimacy between the reader and the characters.

Poor Charlie is always hungry, and chocolate is what he craves the most. It tortures him to be so near his favorite food, but he can't resist stopping to inhale the wonderful smell.

Grandpa Joe's years seem to fall off him when he's with Charlie, which is why he makes the perfect companion for the visit to the chocolate factory.

This is the newspaper headline announcing the contest to find one of the five Golden Tickets. The lucky finders will spend a day at Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

This is the bleakest section of the book. Hunger makes Charlie weaker and weaker. Luckily, he's about to find a Golden Ticket.

Charlie had given up completely. As his father reads from the Golden Ticket, it begins to dawn on Charlie that his wish is actually about to come true.

"This" is the beautiful valley, deep underground, through which the chocolate river flows and is distributed to the other "departments" in the factory.

Veruca Salt is the first in the group to spot an Oompa-Loompa. These tiny people from Loompaland work in the chocolate factory. Veruca describes them as if they were toys, providing readers with insight into her self-centered personality.

This is the final couplet in the Oompa-Loompas' song about Augustus Gloop, who is at that moment being sent through a pipe to the Fudge Room—perhaps to be mixed in with the fudge.

Violet feels strange because at that very moment, she's turning into an enormous blueberry. Her understated expression creates humor and undercuts the severity of her treatment.

Square candies that look round are one of Mr. Wonka's best inventions. They actually look 'round, a shortened way of saying around.

Mr. Wonka keeps 100 trained squirrels to open walnuts for his candy. When Violet barges into the Nut Room, the squirrels decide she's a bad nut and throw her down the garbage chute.

Mike Teavee can't restrain himself when he learns Mr. Wonka has created a TV that can send chocolate right through a person's TV screen. He has to try it.

Mr. Wonka explains the real reason he held the contest of the Golden Tickets was to find a worthy successor to his chocolate business. Charlie is that person.

As the novel closes, Charlie and his family are about to move into Wonka's Chocolate Factory, and Grandma Josephine is wondering if there will be any food there. The last sentence provides a satisfying ending and suggests that the family's adventures will continue beyond the confines of the novel.