Transcript Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory
ELFE Molde 12 April 2010
Marie N. Sørbø
 First published 1964.
 Cover of an edition by
Alfred Knopf of the
same year.
Roald Dahl
 1916-1990
 Portrait from 1954
 Norway, Wales, US and
England
 Ca. twenty children’s
books, plus stories,
poetry, autobiographies,
etc
Outline
I. Flat characters
II. Vices and virtues

The literary tradition (the catalogues)

Dahl’s use of it
III. Genres and influences

Fairy tale and fantasy

Parody and humour

Literary forefathers
IV. Playfulness of language
I. Flat characters
 Person versus character
 Flat versus round

E. M. Forster Aspects of the Novel (1927)
 What are they for? The twofold purpose.
II. Vices and virtues
 The literary tradition: the catalogues of
vices
 Dahl’s use of it
The catalogues of vices: 1. The Bible
 Gal. 5, 19-23:
’Now the works of the flesh are plain:
immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger,
selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy,
drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn
you, as I warned you before, that those who
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God.’
 Followed by a list of virtues:
’But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such there is
no law.’
Catalogues of vices:
2. In early Christian theology
The Seven Deadly Sins =
PRIDE – COVETOUSNESS – LUST –
ENVY – GLUTTONY – ANGER – SLOTH
The three divine/theological virtues =
FAITH, HOPE, LOVE
+
The four cardinal virtues of Greek
philosophy =
JUSTICE, PRUDENCE, TEMPERANCE,
FORTITUDE
=The seven cardinal virtues
The catalogues of vices:
3. In later literature
Dream visions of hell
Allegories
Various modern examples
Dream visions of hell
Dante Alighieri
(1265-1321)
The Divine Comedy
I.
‘Inferno’ (Hell)
II.
‘Purgatorio’
(Purgatory)
III.
‘Paradiso’ (Heaven)
Norwegian dream visions of hell
Draumkvedet (The Dream Ballad) Norwegian
medieval folk song in different 19th and 20th
century versions. Olaf Åsteson sees various
types of sinners.
Arne Garborg’s Haugtussa sequel: Or Helheim
(From Hell) (1895/1901). Veslemøy is guided
through hell and witnesses the effects of sin.
An English version
C. S. Lewis The Great
Divorce (1945).
A bus trip from the ‘grey
town’ to heaven. The
various sins leading
people to return.
Everyman
from medieval morality play to modern film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360551/
William Langland Piers Plowman (1360-80)
John Bunyan The Pilgrim's Progress (1678, 1684)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5i8WXvSofg&feature=related
Modern examples
 Poetry
Georg Johannesen Ars Moriendi (1965)
 Karin Boye De sju dødssynderna (1966)
Drama
 Bertolt Brecht Die Sieben Todsünden der Kleinbürger (1933)
Music by Kurt Weill
Stories and essays
 Deadly Sins (1993)
 The Seven Deadly Sins (1963)
Norwegian television
 De sju dødssynder, NRK-series (1981-82). Crime.
 De syv dødssyndene, TV2 (Kristopher Schau) (2007).
Entertainment.
Film: Seven (1995) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_(film)





Brecht’s American setting of sin
Sloth = (not named)
Pride = Memphis
Wrath = Los Angeles
Gluttony = Philadelphia
Lust = Boston
Greed = Tennessee
Envy = San Fransisco
Presentation of the naughty children
 Augustus: ’revolting, repulsive’ (34)
 Veruca: ’needs a good spanking…he spoils
her’ (37)
 Violet: ’beastly girl…despicable’ (43)
 Mike: ’Do all children behave like this
nowadays?’ (45)
Four chapters on four vices
 Chapter 17: Augustus. Greed. Song: ’all the
greed and all the gall/Is boiled away for once
and all’.
 Chapter 21: Violet. Chewing gum. Song: a
cautionary tale within a cautionary tale.
 Chapter 24: Veruca. Spoilt. Parents named
’these sinners’.
 Chapter 27: Mike. Television addict. Song on
the value of books.
Dahl compared to the seven deadly sins
 Augustus = greed =
 gluttony
 Veruca = demanding =
 covetousness
 Violet = pleasures =
 lust
 Mike = lethargy =
 sloth
The hero’s virtues
 Self-discipline
 Generosity (both 40, 50-51)
 Respect and love for parents and
grandparents
 Capacity for enjoyment and wonder:


’Isn’t it wonderful!’ (75)
’He was in a whirl of excitement’ (91)
The ideal family
III. Genres and influences



Fairy tale and fantasy
Parody and humour
Literary forefathers
Johnny Depp 2005
Gene Wilder 1971
Some fairy tale elements
 Leprechaun
 Puck/hobgoblin/fairy/elf
www.boldoutlaw.com/puckrobin/puck.html
 The world of sweets
 The mythical space
 Narrative structure
Parody and humour
 The cultivation of absurdities
 The exaggeration of realistic issues



Poverty
Industrialism
Old age
Some literary forefathers
Mid-nineteenth century:
Hoffmann, Lear, Carroll
Early twentieth century:
Belloc
Heinrich Hoffmann (1809-94)
 Lustige Geschichten
und drollige Bilder
(Struwwelpeter) (1845)
 All the stories with
illustrations (see the
Augustus story):
www.fln.vcu.edu/struww
el/struwwel.html
Edward Lear (1812-88)
 Book of Nonsense
(1845)
Lewis Carroll
(Charles L. Dodgson, 1832-98)
Alice’s
Adventures
in Wonderland
(1865).
Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953)
 http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=8rN0xvne0gI&feature=r
elated
 http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=rz1zpzqdnnU&feature=r
elated
 Cautionary Tales (1907)
 http://www.mainlesson.com/d
isplay.php?author=belloc&bo
ok=cautionary&story=matilda
IV. Playfulness of language
 The childish tone
 Playing with names
 Playing with words




Lists of synonyms
Odd words
Rhymes and songs
Puns
Reading
 For flat and round characters:
Baldick on ‘characterization’ or Abrams on ‘character
and characterization’.
 For catalogues of vices:
Sørbø From Dante to Dahl, or Out of the Inferno, into
the Chocolate Factory. A note on Roald Dahl’s roots
in literary traditions. Notat 14/96, HVO/Møreforsking
(first part)
And: Abrams on ‘Seven Deadly Sins’
 For humour and exaggerations:
From Dante to Dahl (second part).
Extra resources
 One of the best fansites, including a list of resources
for teachers: http://www.roalddahlfans.com/index.php
 Information about the author and his books is also
found at http://www.roalddahl.com.
 A list of Norwegian translations is available at
http://www.gyldendal.no/Forfattere/Dahl-Roald .
 The HVO library has a sizeable collection of Dahl
books, audiobooks and films.
http://www.hivolda.no/index.php?&ID=9220
Criticism
 Roald Dahl’s angry response to a critic
dismissing his book as bad for children:
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/articles/1970s/feb73_dahl.asp