Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Charlie is the titular protagonist of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Charlie Bucket’s name, as opposed to Willie Wonka’s, denotes a person with a humble, working-class background. Charlie is a dynamic character, who continues to learn and grow through the challenging situations Wonka throws at him. Charlie’s abiding trust in Wonka is tested when they speed out of the Earth’s atmosphere into space: “He hung on tightly to Grandpa Joe’s hand and looked up anxiously into the old man’s face. ‘I’m scared, Grandpa,’ he said” (7). Charlie is challenged by the stress of this situation, but manages to regain his composure and even advocates putting the elevator in further danger to save the occupants of the Commuter Capsule, illustrating his growing bravery and his compassion. Charlie also steers the elevator under Wonka’s guidance, illustrating his courage and composure.

At the chocolate factory, Charlie must overcome further challenges. When his grandparents selfishly argue over the Wonka-Vite pills, Charlie illustrates his thoughtful and sensible nature: “Please, Grandma, why don’t you just take one or two each, like Mr. Wonka said, and that’ll leave some for Grandpa Joe and mother and father” (110). Unlike Grandma Georgina, Grandpa George, and Grandma Josephine, Charlie’s kindness is not compromised by the temptations of the factory; he remains steadfastly measured and altruistic, further cementing his place as the deserving inheritor of Wonka’s chocolate factory.

Grandpa Joe is an open-minded and adventurous person who relishes the challenges he faces in Wonka’s chaotic and wonderful world. When facing the Vermicious Knids, Grandpa Joe operates the controls that attach the elevator’s steel rope to the Commuter Capsule. His zest for life is illustrated by his exuberance in this situation: “Grandpa Joe, shouting war cries and throwing curses at the Knids, was down below turning the handle that unwound the steel rope” (78). Grandpa Joe stands in contrast to Charlie’s other grandparents in that he is young at heart despite his age. His wife and in-laws are bedbound, and yet Grandpa Joe is an active and energetic person: “He flew across the room and caught Charlie by the hands and the two of them started dancing away along the bank of the chocolate river” (160). His youthfulness is further illustrated when Wonka produces Wonka-Vite, a miraculous medicine that has an anti-aging effect. Grandpa Joe never asks for any of the medication, despite the fact that he is 80. Through Grandpa Joe, Dahl suggests that old age need not be limiting, and that youthful vigor is more closely connected to one’s state of mind than to their age.

President Lancelot R. Gilligrass is the hapless president of the United States. He surrounds himself with an eclectic and unqualified group of individuals as his trusted advisors, including his childhood nanny, Miss Tibbs, who he appoints as the Vice-President, and his best friend, a sword swallower from Afghanistan. Through the President, Dahl explores the theme of Politicians as Ineffectual and Ridiculous. When the President is dealing with a high-stakes situation—terrorists with a bomb who have invaded the Space Hotel “U.S.A.” (fortunately this turns out to just be Willie Wonka, the Buckets, and their double bed)—he pauses proceedings to develop a trap to kill flies, humorously illustrating his absolute incompetence and inability to lead.

Through the President, Dahl suggests that elected government officials are not necessarily capable and intelligent individuals, but rather people who couldn’t make it in other careers, such as the President, who chose a career in politics when he still couldn’t read at 23 and couldn’t get a job as a paperboy (a newspaper deliverer). Dahl, a famously patriotically Brit, may have been implying that American politicians are particularly unintelligent and ineffectual.