Of chocolate rivers & marshmallow rooms

In the University of the Philippines, students forming long lines snaking the corridors of Palma Hall is a normal sight during the first few days of registration. In fact, there are three important things one must always bring during these times: a ballpen, a lot of patience and a good book. Recent favorites I have spotted include Sophie’s World and Nicholas Spark’s A Walk To Remember (the Mandy Moore movie notwithstanding). As for myself, I always find comfort in my favorite book: Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I remember the first time that I told my boyfriend I was entering this contest with Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory. He raised his eyebrows and said, "That changed your life?" True enough, Roald Dahl’s creation is a story written for children. When you’re 21 and getting ready to graduate from college, people have this notion that you’re supposed to be reading "serious" books to match your "serious" adult life. Actually, I don’t blame them. It is hard to imagine anything life-changing from a book with characters called "Oompa-Loompas." The adventure of little Charlie and the mysterious chocolate factory can make any English major easily scoff, "‘Where’s the twist in the plot? Where’s the depth of character? Where’s the challenge?!"

The story begins with Charlie Bucket, the hero of the story. He lives with his parents and his two sets of grandparents in a small shack outside town. Charlie loves chocolates but is too poor to afford any. Little does he know that his bad luck is about to come to an end when he gets the chance to enter the mysterious Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory along with four other lucky children. These other children include Augustus Gloop, the boy who eats too much; Veruca Salt, the spoiled rich girl; Violet Beauregarde, the girl with the ugly chewing gum habit; and Mike Teavee, the boy who watches too much...well, television. What follows is a roller coaster ride into the factory which yields the many secrets of Willy Wonka’s amazing chocolates.

In the end, it’s just Charlie and his Grandpa Joe who are left in the group (due to the other children’s naughty tendencies). When Willy Wonka realizes this, he announces the biggest surprise of all: Charlie is now sole heir to the chocolate factory! Willy Wonka had invited the five children in order for him to choose who he feels would best run the factory after he retires. The story ends with Mr. Wonka, Charlie and Grandpa Joe in the flying glass elevator, zooming off to let the rest of the family know of the good news.

I first encountered the story of Charlie when my grandmother gave me a copy of the book during my 12th birthday.

Since then, I’ve reread the story more than 10 times and referred to it during reading class in elementary, English in high school and comparative literature in college. Truly, having a book like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the top of your list of favorite books is hard to explain to people who are used to books with "deeper meanings." It doesn’t help that I am taking a course in college that teaches you to look for the underlying message in everything.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is simple and, yes, even slightly predictable. Yet, we attribute this to the fact that it was written for children. Therefore, it must contain the charm and predictability that kids find comfort in when they read a story. Still, Roald Dahl goes beyond this by spinning the entire magical world of Willy Wonka’s factory. I love this book because you find yourself getting so into it that your imagination begins to work overtime. When I saw the movie version starring Gene Wilder, I couldn’t help but think that it didn’t hold true to the essence of the story. Roald Dahl was so successful in painting his picture in the reader’s mind, Hollywood technology couldn’t rise to the challenge.

If I were to fall into the trap of trying to find a life philosophy among Willy Wonka’s everlasting gobstoppers and lickable wallpaper, I would find myself ruining the part of Roald Dahl’s story that makes it so great. Of course, this is not to say that Charlie’s story has the same purpose that I fail to see in the tellie tubbies. Of course, Charlie’s story presents a hero for kids to refer to as the model character to follow compared to Augustus, Veruca, Violet and Mike. Yet, I’d like to think that for adults, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is more of a book that reminds one to enjoy the simplicity of a story about something fun and imaginative...such as chocolate and candy inventions.

In the end, I guess what makes Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so great is the fact that you can have so much fun enjoying it as it is. You can laugh out loud at Roald Dahl’s witty humor and frustrate yourself trying to imagine what Wonka’s Whipple Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight must taste like. Reading a story such as Charlie’s – even when you’re way above the age of 12 – makes one feel that the world of cynicism hasn’t corrupted your inner child just yet. Roald Dahl makes one truly appreciate the part of literature which is meant to be something we enjoy and love. Many good works are ruined because people insist too much on social symbolism and literary technique.

When you read about Charlie, and catch yourself smiling after every page, you realize that you’re not shallow. You’re just happy. And there’s nothing wrong with that.