Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Dahl immediately establishes Imagination and Adventure as an important theme as the Buckets and Willie Wonka float over the world in the glass elevator, suspended by mysterious “skyhooks.” As in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willie Wonka is not limited by the rules of science or practicality; his is a fantastical and ridiculous world in which glass elevators orbit the earth.

Dahl uses simile to comedic effect when he conjures the image of the Buckets and Wonka “floating about like fish in a tank” (15). This imagery becomes more comedic when Shuckworth adds that three members of the floating group are “in nightshirts” and are “about ninety years old” (16), and that there is a bed floating as well. The American astronauts’ outside perspective draws attention to the absurdity of the situation. Hyperbolic and ridiculous situations are typical of Dahl’s comedic style, which is designed to particularly appeal to a readership of young children.

Dahl establishes Willie Wonka as an unpredictable and chaotic character when he takes the Buckets into space with the dangerous plan of crashing back through his factory roof. Part of his charm is his nonchalance, even in outlandish or life-threatening situations. When Grandma Georgina exclaims that they’ll be killed, he simply says, “More than likely” (6). His casual agreement that the group will likely be crushed to death further establishes the theme of Imagination and Adventure; it is obvious that the Bucket family is not in any real danger despite Wonka’s ridiculous scheme, as he seems able to live outside the bounds of natural laws. Wonka’s unpredictability is further demonstrated when he responds with nonsense words to the President’s demands that the group identify themselves. In true Wonka style, this leads the President to assume that the group are aliens.

Dahl creates a hyperbolically useless group of government officials in the President and his advisory group, and through them Dahl explores the theme of Politicians as Ineffectual and Ridiculous. Dahl playfully mocks the inefficiency of bureaucrats, who may spend a lot of time discussing problems but ultimately are incapable of generating practical solutions. The Chief Financial Advisor receives the praise of the group when he—literally rather than figuratively—balances the budget: “‘Look at me, everybody! I’ve balanced the budget!’ And indeed he had. He stood proudly in the middle of the room with the enormous two-hundred-billion-dollar budget balanced beautifully on the top of his bald head” (35). This humorous play on words (a literary technique often employed by Dahl to comedic effect), which has the financial advisor balancing a budget on his head rather than actually managing the country’s finances, further establishes the group’s incompetence. Likewise, the President’s ridiculous and humorous “Gilligrass Patent Fly-Trap” (36), which he designs in the middle of an emergency, demonstrates his unfitness to govern. The group of advisors show themselves as equally unfit when they praise the President’s so-called ingenuity: “‘Tremendous, Mr. President!’ they all explained. ‘Fantastic! A stroke of genius!’ ‘I wish to order one hundred thousand for the Army immediately,’ said the Chief of the Army’” (36). Dahl, a British writer known for his patriotism, may be playfully mocking American politicians in particular.

Dahl alludes to the theme Greed and Gluttony Will Be Punished in these opening chapters through the decadence of Space Hotel “U.S.A.” The hotel, which is the “marvel of the space age” (12), contains tennis courts, a swimming pool, a gym, and 500 luxury bedrooms. People bid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the chance to stay there. Dahl will later “punish” the opulent hotel, symbolically condemning the excess it represents.

Modern readers of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, which was published in 1972, may note racist language in Chapter 4. The President has trouble getting a hold of the Premier of China; in a mix-up, he is instead connected to a Mr. Wong, an assistant stationmaster at a train station, who says, “If you asking about ten o’clock train, ten o’clock train no lunning today” (33). Racist orientalism is evident in this depiction, which conjures an English speaker with a stereotypical Chinese-English accent. Furthermore, the American Postmaster General explains to the President that “it’s very difficult to phone people in China […] The country’s so full of Wings and Wongs, every time you wing you get the wong number” (34). Similarly, the Chinese Premier is called “Premier How-Yu-Bean,” and the Assistant Premier is “Chu-on-Dat,” leading the President to threaten: “I’m going to tell my Chief of the Army to blow them all sky high! So chew on that, Chu-on-Dat” (35). These plays on words, designed to be humorous, may be offensive to modern readers.