I never really understood why in Willy Wonka, when Violet was chewing the 3 course meal gum and she was told her face was turning blue. She never aligned this with the gum and didn't spit it out :/. why do you think this was? Thoughts?
Why Didn't She Just Spit The Gum Out?
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 06:49
#1
Why Didn't She Just Spit The Gum Out?
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 10:22
#3
bosk
It's also a bit strange that she continued chewing throughout her inflation.
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 11:11
#4
oh2bpreg
The secret ingredient was crack. She was addicted to the taste of the gum.
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 12:00
#5
It's a difference of interpretation. Some see the gum as continuously active -- chew to get more juice to blow up even more. Others see the effect as an infection -- if Violet didn't spit the gum out by the time of the blueberry flavor and blue coloring, then it was already too late. (One possibility of that scenario is that if Violet popped, would the juice "infect" everyone else and blow them up, too? This is the "gray goo" fear mongering of nanotechnology.)
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 15:06
#6
The explanation that i've heard was that she was "stupid", i.e. she didn't think to do it. I think you could go with this in two ways. You could see it as being so shocked at the inflation that it pushes the idea out of her head - it doesn't occur to her because the situation is so bizarre it paralyses her critical faculties. Or, you could see it as the gum taking over and forcing her to keep chewing against her will somehow.
Then there's the obvious explanation that deep down, she wanted it to happen.
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 17:51
#7
Inflate123
I don't think it has anything to do with desire, and I think you're taking the story and its events too literally. Roald Dahl was making a point about negative behavior and bad habits. Violet (and all the kids) aren't stupid so much as creatures of habit, slaves to their unmoderated bad habits of excess (watching TV, eating sweets, being bossy, chewing gum) and their lives were therefore ruined by their bad habits. The kids were not in control; she didn't stop chewing because her habits controlled her, not the other way around. It's as much a message for parents as it is for kids.
So she didn't spit it out because it's a morality play.
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 19:35
#8
Lol, that's like saying she didn't spit it out because it was in the script.
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 19:36
#9
I see what you're saying, but you can bring the two together. She didn't spit it out because it was a bad habit. Someone might bite their nails until they bled, but be unable to stop themselves. Maybe she was doing that.
So, what if someone had a habit which directly caused their inflation and they couldn't help it?
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 20:55
#10
citizensix wrote:
Lol, that's like saying she didn't spit it out because it was in the script.
But the whole point of literature is that it is free to go against the 'laws' of common sense that we are so used to.
Dahl has created a character for whom chewing gum is a compulsion. Sure it's an extreme compulsion you are unlikely to come across in real life, one where even when she starts inflating, she can't break her compulsion... but that is the idea, she is an extreme example.
Dahl doesn't want to make his readers thing he is admonishing them for their behaviour, he simply wants to make a plea for moderation, so his antagonist is an extreme example who the readers will not identify with.
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 21:59
#11
All I know is, I'm sure glad that she didn't!
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 22:39
#12
The blueberry juice from Violet infecting others sound like it be made into an interesting story. For whatever reason, a zombie outbreak (well in this case, it would a blueberry outbreak) comes to mind.
Sun, 08/30/2009 - 22:46
#13
Jnff
in31415 wrote:
The blueberry juice from Violet infecting others sound like it be made into an interesting story. For whatever reason, a zombie outbreak (well in this case, it would a blueberry outbreak) comes to mind.
That only wouldof been good if only the girls blueberried. XD
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 06:17
#14
Blueberryjanell over on DA has a series like that.
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 14:23
#15
When it comes down to it, the entire plot of CATCF makes very little sense. It's a morality tale of course, but leaving the physical feasibility of what goes on aside, the characters are not believable. Charlie gets the factory in the end, Wonka replies to many things with a series of non-sequiturs and so on.
Tue, 09/01/2009 - 06:59
#16
dragon_6860
There's the theory that Wonka set the whole thing up. The characters are less actual characters, but rather personification of bad traits. Violet's prideful, and she would rather not stop chewing than lose her spot as the best.
Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:09
#17
I don't think pride or competitiveness had anything to do with it. I think she's so surprised by what's happening to her that she doesn't even remember she's chewing the gum at all. In her own words, it's a freak out.
Clearly it's because she really wanted to become a blueberry.