Category Archives: Response 8

               Roald Dahl while he does comment on today’s youth he is even more critical of how their parents raised them. Dahl’s goal isn’t to necessarily alter the way children behave, but to alter the way their parent’s raise them. Willy Wonka, the character with whom Dahl uses to judge society, finds that the source [...] Continue reading →

Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is not your typical fairytale hero story; rather it is just an aimless tale for children.  There is no main hero, villain, damsel in distress, wicked stepmother, etc.  The plot of the story as well is very simplistic and does not offer any challenges to the main character, [...] Continue reading →

Characters in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, each take a stand to represent a different aspect of possible human personalities, but what about the characters who aren’t human?  The Oompa-Lumpas in Dahl’s text seem disconnected from human life; yet they still play an important role in a novel all about the charms [...] Continue reading →

Mike Teavee, Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregarde, and Veruca Salt may be described as “spoilt” children, however they represent more than the average child with pushover parents. However, each child represents six of the seven “deadly sins” that gives a tragic flaw for each character to depict. These qualities are used to warn the reader against [...] Continue reading →

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory five kids get the chance of the lifetime when they get to go to the mysterious Wonka Chocolate Factory.  Of these five kids, four are rotten.  These four kids make up their own “four deadly sins” with each representing a negative quality of children. Each of the children has [...] Continue reading →

All of J.K. Rowling’s characters are notably complex; however, she takes this to the extreme in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, going as far as creating two additional characters in order to play up Harry’s complexity. Especially in this novel, it becomes clear that Ron and Hermione are really just exaggerations of the [...] Continue reading →

J.K. Rowling is often praised for the character complexities and development in the Harry Potter series.  Although a variety of individuals introduced throughout the novels, it seems almost every character comes with a parallel or pair of themselves.  With this pair usually, but not always, coming from the other generation.
Hermione and Professor McGonagall as the [...] Continue reading →

Riddikulis and Expecto Patronum are two spells wizards use to conquer fear. Riddikulis is used against a boggart (a shape-shifting creature that takes the form of whatever someone fears the most). For Professor Lupin it turns into a moon because he fears his transformation into a werewolf at the full moon. Ron Weasley has an [...] Continue reading →

     Although Harry Potter is a favorite hero among readers of all ages, what good is a story without it’s villain?  Harry Potter is constantly under the attack of Lord Voldemort, a dark lord bent on dominating the wizarding and the Muggle worlds.  What makes Voldemort a formidable foe, and does our fear of him [...] Continue reading →