Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

14 reviews

dillybar20's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This was an entertaining story but there are 2 slurs within the book (m-word and the slur for Romani), Wonka tells multiple people to shut up and calls them an ass, everything that Roald Dahl considers bad is described as fat, and Wonka almost kills Charlie's family at the end by crashing the glass elevator into their home. For the age that this is written for (age 7-12) I don't like Wonka calling people asses or telling children to shut up.

Overall it was interesting but not good in my opinion.

Content Warnings

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

kate_has_book_thoughts's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

✨ Reviews are for Readers ✨
Any spoilers are hidden!

I read this book as an audiobook narrated by Roald Dahl.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory functions as a morality tale, but the punishments feel disproportionate to the misdeeds.
As a kid, I saw the silliness in this book, but as an adult it just seems so harsh on the child characters with pretty poor justifications for being so cruel to them.

A kid was so excited about candy that they didn’t follow directions?
Off to the guillotines with them!
That’s just a joke, but here are some actual examples from the book:

The Oompa Loompas sing a song about Ms. Bigelow who chewed gum so much she bit her tongue in two and thus "spent her life shut up in some disgusting sanatorium”.

When singing about Violet, a child who chews gum a lot, they sing, “Dear friends, we surely all agree there’s almost nothing worse to see than some repulsive little bum who’s always chewing chewing gum.” Actually, I don’t agree. lol I don’t think that would even make it in my top 100 worst things to see.

Augustus’ crime is being greedy, which is depicted as him being fat. This means that the song that’s sung chastising him includes lines like, “However long this pig might live, we’re positive he’d never give even the smallest bit of fun or happiness to anyone.”

If you’re an adult considering rereading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for nostalgia, be forewarned that your warm fuzzy feelings from childhood may not survive by the end of the book…

much like the characters in it.

Content Warnings

mysticfaerer's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Content Warnings

stindex's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

Content Warnings

nathanjhunt's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

This was my 15th book finished in 2024. I've seen the 2005 film, and most recently the "origin story", but never read the book.

There are such mixed messages in this book... Wow, Roald Dahl sure hates fat people, especially fat children Fat people bad, but as outlined in the beginning of the book, Charlie's selflessness is good. But then Charlie's greed when buying two chocolate bars instead of giving his family the money is what makes him win the ticket. So what's meant to be the message here, Roald? Is greediness good under certain circumstances?

According to Wonka, nothing is better than chocolate! Unless you're fat. "Don't indulge in too much because it will make you fat and then you'll be sucked into a tube and punished. Oh but then I have said I'll give you a lifetime supply of chocolate when you win".

Also for most of the children, their bad behaviour is explained by the way their parents brought them up. But Mr Wonka will punish the children for it.

Some of the play on words in the book were amusing, and Mr Wonka can be funny sometimes, but he just gaslights everyone throughout. I assume you're supposed to like his character, but I didn't. And I don't understand why he liked Charlie so much? That boy has zero personality and basically didn't say a single thing in the factory.

Remember kids, Roald Dahl says you're a bad person if you're fat, if you chew gum, if you're spoiled (fair, but the parents are to blame), and if you watch TV! A very dated message from a middle aged man in the 1960s who didn't want to change with the times. Boomers love defending Dahl, but the book really is getting a bit dated sixty years after publication.

The TV chapter was the most annoying of all... yes yes we get it, TV "rots your brain". We've been hearing that nonsense for three generations now. We'll be fine, get over it Roald.

On a last note (the elephant in the room), the Oompa-Loompa songs got very annoying very quickly. Not to mention the horrid colonial undertones of enslaving African pygmies and making them work in your factory for a pittance of cacao beans. Icky.

I give it a 3.25 because it was clever and amusing in places, but I didn't enjoy the dated undertones and mixed messages.

Content Warnings

burnourhistory's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Content Warnings

madmadmaddymad's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I liked it as much as chocolate but
Oompa Loompa’s rhyme kind of lazily
And towards the end - their songs become tedious
If you like songs - it might make you crazy

Heartwarming, sort of, we all know the story
Willy Wonka has the ability to make me feel like a child
There’s candy and whimsy and lessons about love and kindness
Thank you Roald Dahl for a book that’s both worthwhile and wild

Content Warnings

kayleigh_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was so cute and fun! I had such a good time while reading and really enjoyed it! I will say this book did have some issues that just didn’t sit well with me like Willy Wonka being depicted as the savior of the Oompa Loompas and the fatphobia present throughout the book. I also felt like some of the chapters felt disconnected from the one previous and made it seem like some chapters were there own little story. Overall though I really enjoyed it and it was a fast fun read!

Content Warnings

te_ss_i's review against another edition

Go to review page

fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

More...