Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Chapters 24–30

“All right, my pet,” Mrs. Salt said soothingly. “Mummy’ll get you a squirrel just as soon as she possibly can.”

The moment she entered the room, one hundred squirrels stopped what they were doing and turned their heads and stared at her with small black beady eyes.

“That particular chute,” Mr. Wonka told her, “runs directly into the great big main garbage pipe which carries away all the rubbish from every part of the factory—all the floor sweepings and potato peelings and rotten cabbages and fish heads and stuff like that.”

Over she toppled, into the hole head first, screeching like a parrot.

“But what about the great fiery incinerator?” asked Charlie.

“But what about the great fiery incinerator?” asked Charlie.

Down goes Veruca! Down the drain!
And here, perhaps, we should explain
That she will meet, as she descends,
A rather different set of friends
To those that she has left behind—
These won’t be nearly so refined.

And then a little further down
A mass of others gather round:
A bacon rind, some rancid lard,
A loaf of bread gone stale and hard

These are Veruca’s new found friends
That she will meet as she descends,
And this is the price she has to pay
For going so very far astray.

For though she’s spoiled, and dreadfully so,
A girl can’t spoil herself, you know.
Who spoiled her, then? Ah, who indeed?
Who pandered to her every need?

Who turned her into such a brat?
Who are the culprits? Who did that?

EXPLODING CANDY FOR YOUR ENEMIES.
LUMINOUS LOLLIES FOR EATING IN BED AT NIGHT.

“Get up, get up!” cried Mr. Wonka, roaring with laughter. But just as they were staggering to their feet, the elevator changed directions and swerved violently round a corner. And over they went once more.

“Help!” shouted Mrs. Teavee.
“Take my hand, madam,” said Mr. Wonka gallantly.

Then suddenly, as though it had come to the top of the hill and gone over a precipice, it dropped like a stone and Charlie felt his tummy coming right up into his throat, and Grandpa Joe shouted, “Yippee! Here we go!”

A great, craggy mountain made entirely of fudge, with Oompa-Loompas (all roped together for safety) hacking huge hunks of fudge out of its sides....

A great, craggy mountain made entirely of fudge, with Oompa-Loompas (all roped together for safety) hacking huge hunks of fudge out of its sides....

And now the elevator began flattening out again, but it seemed to be going faster than ever, and Charlie could hear the scream of the wind outside as it hurtled forward...and it twisted....and it turned....and it went up....and it went down....and....

And then the doors of the elevator slid open and Mr. Wonka said, “Just a minute now! Listen to me! I want everybody to be very careful in this room. There is dangerous stuff around in here and you must not tamper with it.”

The screen flickered and lit up. Then suddenly, a small bar of chocolate appeared in the middle of the screen.

“Don’t talk about it!” wailed Mrs. Teavee.

And Mr. Teavee said, “We can’t send him back to school like this! He’ll get trod upon! He’ll get squashed!”

We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.

They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they’re hypnotised by it,
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.

IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!

What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do?
‘How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?’

You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!

“Oh, I do congratulate you!” he cried. “I really do! I’m absolutely delighted! It couldn’t be better! How wonderful this is! I had a hunch, you know, right from the beginning, that it was going to be you! Well done, Charlie, well done!..."

Now the fun is really going to start! But we mustn’t dilly! We mustn’t dally! There’s even less time to lose now than there was before!

“Aha!” cried Mr. Wonka. “You wait and see! I’ve been longing to press this button for years! But I’ve never done it until now! I was tempted many times! Oh yes, I was tempted! But I couldn’t bear the thought of making a great big hole in the roof of the factory! Here we go, boys! Up and out!”

The elevator stopped. It stopped and hung in mid-air, hovering like a helicopter, hovering over the factory and over the very town itself which lay spread out below them like a picture postcard!

It was an eerie and frightening feeling to be standing on clear glass high up in the sky.

I want a good sensible loving child, one to whom I can tell all my most precious candy-making secrets—while I am still alive.

“You mustn’t despair!” cried Mr. Wonka. “Nothing is impossible! You watch!”

Charlie climbed onto the bed and tried to calm the three old people who were still petrified with fear.