Wonka sees himself as part Augustus, Violet, Veruca and Mike, but these are all of the parts of himself that he secretly hates. So he punishes those kids when they act out on their bad tendencies. I think this is already kind of there with all the mystery built up around the fact that he's a shut-in now. He has a taste for candy as his sweets are the best. He has the ambition as his brand is a global phenomenon and a success. He obviously gets what he wants since he's managed to keep doing things his own way for so long and had a temper tantrum when his secrets were being stolen that cause him to fire all of his employees and run on a skeleton crew. And we know he's got his finger on the pulse of pop culture because he's experimenting with new media technology and his golden ticket campaign was a cultural phenomenon.

Charlie represents the part of Wonka that he actually loves. To Wonka, Charlie is a younger version of himself, before all the bad stuff happened that turned him into the bitter shut-in he's become. He's Wonka before he became Wonka.

But there's a catch-- Charlie has a family and Wonka doesn't. This is made apparent in the fact that he has nobody to leave his factory to. He's not necessarily searching for a successor as much as he's looking for a family. He's not quite so old yet that he actually NEEDS someone to take over for him. But he IS getting too old for that person to be a child who he can teach his secrets to and raise like a father and watch grow into adulthood.

The reason why Wonka doesn't have a family is the same reason why he tests Charlie the way that he does-- because he's afraid that having loyalty to family means compromising your ideals. And it's apparent that Wonka has closed himself off from the world because he REFUSES to compromise.

So through Charlie's struggles with his own family we can see Wonka testing the part of himself that still yearns for a family connection. He finds the most innocent, lovable, humble child in the world with some of the worst family luck and he gives that child the chance to compromise his dreams and his integrity in order to provide for that downtrodden family.

But Charlie holds true and does the right thing. It doesn't mean he doesn't love his family, it means something else entirely-- that he loves Wonka like a family member. He understands Wonka's struggles because he sees it in his own family-- he understands people who are in pain. But more importantly, when he sees someone in pain, he shows them kindness and love.

So when Charlie gives Wonka the Gobstopper it's a gesture of love, because Charlie has to stay true to himself and at his core he's a person who loves people deeply. He cares about the nasty kids that were punished for their hubris and he cares about Wonka, even seconds after becoming the object of all his anger and pain. While two people he loves are screaming at one another, Grandpa Joe and Willy Wonka, the only thing Charlie can think to do is to help the man who doesn't have a family to return to after this is all over.

And in doing so, it helps Wonka to connect to the person he was when he started making candy. The reason he does things the way he does, the reason he put so much into his candy-- the thing that sets him apart from his competitors is that he makes his candy with love. He sees candy as his way of comforting people, of giving love to those who are hurting. And we can see that in the things he creates-- a piece of candy for poor children that will never shrink, a way to give people candy right from their TV, a piece of gum that could feed the hungry, even exploding candy for your enemies. We can see how Wonka wants to help people, even if his pain causes him to hurt people more often than not.

And his factory is a good example of that. By shutting out the world he's become bitter and his factory has reflected that. It has wonderful things lurking in the corners, but there's a lot to be afraid of too. But Charlie is the one who can always see through the bad parts and understand that Wonka is like him, someone who wants to help people who are hurting. The bad parts are just how Wonka protects himself, just like his grandparents all protect themselves by staying shut in bed. Charlie understands weird behavior for survival and he doesn't judge.

And Charlie has all the GOOD versions of the qualities the other kids represented. Since he doesn't have much to eat he sees candy as something sacred. He appreciates it like Augustus, but he doesn't take it for granted the way Augustus does. Like Violet, he knows how to put in the hard work to do what you want to do as he keeps his family fed with his paper route money. He actively goes for his desires like Veruca, finding ways to participate in the Golden Ticket contest despite being poor. And like Mike he has an interest in culture-- he's the only kid who actually studies up on Willy Wonka before coming to the factory.

And it's because he talks to Grandpa Joe about Willy Wonka that we know why Wonka is so bitter-- because he has the best candy in the world so people wanted to steal his secrets. So I think we frame the mystery through the lens of what is Wonka hiding, which the movie does a pretty good job of already. Nobody knows what to expect when they get into the factory and things are a little alarming at first, but the candy room is so amazing that we get the sense that the only thing Wonka is hiding is unappreciated genius.

But it's not the only thing he's hiding. He's hiding two aspects of himself from the world, the part of himself that is still bitter and in pain and the part of himself that's like Charlie and only wants to do good things. And it's up to Wonka, who is finally ready to let people back into his life, which side he wants to show. So far he's shown the world that he's a bitter old man who thinks he's better than everyone else. His inventions are cool,but they don't excuse the amount of abuse he puts the first four children through.

That's why he lets everything play out. He all but pushes Augustus into the chocolate when he's frustrated that Augustus can't control himself. He barely stops Violet from chewing the gum and then when she does start chewing it he doesn't tell her what it's going to do to her. He allows Veruca to continue her temper tantrum even though she's around dangerous equipment and temperamental giant-sized animals. And the fact that the Oompa Loompas operated the camera equipment to shrink Mike Tevee shows that the whole thing was probably planned, each one being a perfect trap for each kid. He allows Charlie to believe that the Fizzy Lifting drink was HIS trap and that he failed, so that the real test with the Gobstopper not only proves to Wonka that you can love your family without compromising who you are, but it throws him completely for a loop because it proves that he, Wonka himself, is worthy of someone's love.

The other four kids only see the bad side of Wonka, so they take whatever they want from him because they think its their right for being treated so badly. Only Charlie is grateful for the experience, even if he loses the prize AND the chance to sell the Gobstopper to Slugworth. So they mystery that is presented is this-- is Willy Wonka good or bad? Everybody wants to believe he's a good guy, but when he shares a piece of his pain with them, they react poorly and they frame him as the bad guy. But Charlie is always there to keep trying to build up evidence that he's actually a good guy. He's always the first to defend Wonka and Grandpa Joe backs him up.

So it's really when Grandpa Joe looses faith in Wonka that Charlie's devotion to him matters the most. Because again. Charlie understands people in pain. The other kids would probably turn their nose up at Charlie's bedridden family the same way they turn their nose up at Wonka. And Charlie understands that Grandpa Joe's pain is because he thinks Charlie is having his dreams ripped away from him.

But Charlie's dream was to meet Willy Wonka, to solve that mystery posed at the beginning of the movie-- what's in that factory and is Willy Wonka a good guy or a bad guy? Now Charlie has that answer-- there are amazing things in that factory and Willy Wonka is a good guy, he's just in a lot of pain.

Cliffs holy shiit cliffs dude.

Not reading all that but Grandpa Joe was a lazy goldbricking turd. Lying around in bed all day then up & about like a whippet as soon as he sniffs a bit of cash & a day out.

Just read it. I never knew the story was so deep.

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