Fantasy

There are many works of literature which revolve around the subject of chocolate. In this post I am going to look at how chocolate contributes to our imagination, through the words of Roald Dahl, in the mesmerising Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964).

I have often wondered what it would be like to enter ‘the nerve centre’ (87) of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. To visit a place where a chocolate waterfall and river contain ‘enough chocolate to fill every bath tub in the entire country!’ (89). I desired a palace like Prince Pondicherry, with ‘one hundred rooms, and everything was made of either dark or light chocolate!’ (25). Dahl’s descriptions encourage all readers to dive deep into their imaginations, creating their own palace, where the ‘bricks were chocolate, and the cement holding them together was chocolate, and the windows were chocolate, and all the walls and ceilings were made of chocolate, so were the carpets and the pictures and the furniture and the beds; and when you turned on the taps in the bathroom, hot chocolate came pouring out.’ (25).



I was first introduced to this book by my mum after watching ‘Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory’ (1971) starring Gene Wilder as a wonderful Mr Willy Wonka. I’m not ashamed to admit that I still love to watch it, and every time I sit in awe of the children walking around the factory, especially when they are led into the Chocolate Room with the magnificent chocolate river. I wanted to live in the factory, where ‘in every room, something delicious and wonderful [was] being made.’ (150). My admiration for literature developed at a later stage, and so my Mum’s attempts to get me to use my imagination by reading sections from the book failed miserably. However, studying the text on my Literature of Food course brought back fond memories of sitting with Mum or Dad trying my hardest to pronounce the names of Dahl’s various inventions such as the ‘Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight’ (42). My favourite characters were the Oompa-Loompa’s. Dahl writes that ‘You had only mention the word “cacao” to an Oompa-Loompa and he would start dribbling at the mouth.’ (94). I think this is a reaction that occurs in many people today, even if they won’t admit it!

My love for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and everything in it continues today. I am still waiting for a genius to invent ‘lickable wallpaper’ (132) or ‘hot ice creams for cold days’ (133). One of my favourite moments in the film is the scene in the sweet shop. I think it captures the magic of a child’s imagination beautifully and so I have included it for you just in case you haven’t seen it before.