Willy Wonka

Willy Wonka is the retiring owner of the Chocolate Factory. He is a master creator of sweets and inventor of fantastic things. With his helpers, the Oompa-Loompas, he has run the factory for an unknown amount of time. He is now in the process of passing the reins over to Charlie Bucket, a boy who won the factory in the previous book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Wonka is full of excited energy. It seems that he can barely contain his thoughts. The gibberish that sometimes spews from his mouth is proof that he can not keep up with his own brain. Sometimes, though, what appears to be nonsense is really carefully worded thoughts. In these times, he is congenially patronizing as he talks over the heads of slow-witted adults.

He is very childlike. At one point, he has to empty his pockets, and the items he...