Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

난 로알드 달의 안티임을 선언한다. 그의  이야기를 좋아하지 않는다. 밝지 않고 뒤틀림이 있어서다. 단지 작가가 유명하다는 이유만으로  그의 비정상적인 캐릭터들이 정당화될 수 있는 상황이 싫다. 

마틸다.. 재미있고 유쾌했다. 하지만 교사가 너무 바보같지 않은가. 꼬마아이도 해결할 수 있는 문제를... 성인이 너무 무기력하고 부족하며 교장은 악질이다. 

미스터 팍스는 도둑일 뿐이다. 세 농부가 나쁘지만 도둑질 역시 나쁘다. 정당화될 수 없다. 

1. Summary

Charlie who was born into a poor family filled with love lived in a ramshackle house with his parents and two sets of grandparents. Since the family didn't have enough money to buy food to live on, Charlie had little or no chance to win the golden ticket to tour the mysterious chocolate factory that is owned by an eccentric chocolate maker, Willy Wonka.

Charlie became the last lucky kid to obtain the fabulous opportunity following a fat glutton Augustus, a spoiled brat Veruca, a gum-chewer Violet, and a TV addict Mike.

Inside the factory did they meet cacao-loving little Oompa-Loompas who used to primitively live in tree houses in a thick jungle and visit various special rooms such as the chocolate room, the inventing room, the nut room, and the television-chocolate room. The kids one by one, doing what they were not supposed to do, fell behind and only Charlie remained in the end. Charlie became the successor of Willy Wonka to run the factory and sent the good news to his family by boarding a glass elevator rocketing through the roof of the factory.

2. Reaction

I admit that Roald Dahl is such a story teller and no one is as creative to generate children's fiction as he is. It's scrumdiddlyumptiously fun to read his puns. (How can you whip cream without whips?; A poached egg isn't a poached egg unless it's been stolen from the woods in the dead of night!)

I don't think Charlie is eligible enough to be a hero. He is neither honest nor brave. He didn't turn it in to the police when he found a dollar bill. But rather he used it to buy chocolate for his benefit. His character is disappointing, compared with the mischievous but adventurous Tom Sawyer. He didn't take risks on anything. He just followed around and waited for the other kids to disappear. I guess at least he is patient. The author embellishes an antihero and justifies that a poor kid can't be mean or evil. The poor are not always good people who are deceived by greedy rich people. What lessons does this story give to children?

I've recently seen a significant number of poor students who are helpless and lethargic not only in class but also in everything except for being hooked on games. They just seem to be blaming their poor backgrounds and not trying to achieve anything on their own. I do hope that poverty doesn't give any excuses for their behavior and they also have a dream to fulfill.

I'm not sure whether I'll recommend this book. It's like a double-edged sword.