Exciting Adventures

'When directed at young readers, who are trying to understand the world and their place in it, these dystopian warnings are distilled into exciting adventures with gripping plots.' - Contemporary Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults 

Dystopian fiction is a genre which is widely missed when discussing children's literature. Due to the deep and disturbing themes that usually resonant within the plot of dystopian fiction, it would be extremely difficult to write a novel of this genre appropriate for children. However, many fantasy children's novels have utopia/dystopia elements, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. In the book, Charlie and the other golden ticket holders enter Willy Wonka's magical factory which houses advanced sweet-making technology but, what appears to be a delicious dream world quickly turns into a nightmare as the children begin to disappear in strange manners throughout their tour. Evidently, food plays a large role in this plot especially inside the factory however, it also highlights issues within the general world in which the book is set.

Grandpa Joe Sharing his Cabbage Soup
https://www.bustle.com/articles/111343-25-things-you-
notice-when-you-re-watch-willy-wonka-and-the-chocolate-factory

From the very beginning of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory we see the issue of food discussed, firstly in terms of Charlie's family meals. 'The only meals they could afford were bread and margarine for breakfast, boiled potatoes and cabbage for lunch, and cabbage soup for supper.' (5) This introduction to the food Charlie eats regularly, indicates an issue of poverty within the fantasy world. The issue of poverty is then deepened when the first two golden tickets are found. '...as soon as my little girl told me that she simply had to have one of those Golden Tickets, I went out into the town and started buying up all the Wonka bars I could lay my hands on.' (30) Mr Salt bought thousands of chocolate bars just so his daughter could have a ticket, highlighting a huge gap between the poor and rich of the world; the Buckets can barely afford enough food for them all to survive and yet, the Salt family can afford to buy a ridiculous amount of chocolate bars AND employ a large work force just to sort through the bars to find the ticket. Dahl is gently hinting at a corrupt society in his novel through the lens of food, or perhaps making a comment on our own society. Nevertheless, the story definitely has key dystopian elements shown through food and I believe it reflects more on a problematic future because of the comments on advanced technology; Mr Bucket loses his job at the toothpaste factory as he is replaced by machines.

Mr Bucket's Replacement
https://blog.bigtalker.io/the-future-of-work-job-training-for-humans-50f8fe9be3f3

On the whole, food clearly plays an intrinsic part in forming the story world of this novel not just within the chocolate factory plot line. It suggests societal problems in the fantasy realm which cause conflicts between the inhabitants, similar to that of many works of contemporary dystopian fiction. The underlying technological complications and advancements also convey a dystopian element and closely connects with theme of food.

Bibliography

Basu, Balaka; Broad, Katherine R; Hintz, Carrie. Contemporary Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults. New York: Routledge, 2013. Ebook: Last Accessed 22/11/18.  

https://www.dawsonera.com/readonline/9780203084939 

Dahl, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. London: Puffin, 2016. Print.