The tale of Willy Wonka and Charlie starts out fairly "normal" and then gets zanier. Charlie Bucket lives a poor but happy life with his parents and all four grandparents. Nearby is the giant chocolate factory. One day the enigmatic factory owner announces a contest where 5 lucky customers can visit the chocolate factory. They just need to find the golden ticket in their chocolate. Charlie's grandpa makes a special purchase of a chocolate bar. Alas, no golden ticket. Later through some special luck, Charlie is able to get a chocolate bar and finds the golden ticket. The other kids are all extremely spoiled in different ways.
The chocolate factory is a marvel of high and low technology. The workers are mostly Umpa Lumpas who have been rescues from their land. They happily work and sing, but never leave the factory. There are also squirrels that manage nuts and other strange "employees". Wonka went to extremes to make sure nobody stole his ideas. These ideas included everlasting gobstoppers, gum with special powers and many more such as a teleportation TV.
The other kids ended up meeting cruel ends as they gave into their vices. This left Charlie as the lone kid remaining. He then found out he inherited the factory as he shot off in the great class elevator. The other kids had been "restored" and received their lifetime supply of chocolate.
There is a moral tale in the book, but the delivery is what makes it great.
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