Vedika Puri
Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ is a classic children’s book about five kids who win a tour to the largest and most mysterious chocolate factory in the world. The children’s charming adventure drastically transforms young Charlie’s life while causing much amusement in the process. Charlie is definitely Dahl’s hero, but a certain dotty and eccentric owner of the chocolate factory completely upstages this protagonist.
Willy Wonka, with his strangeness and peculiarities, causes much entertainment in the novel and although his odd behavior creates a beloved character, it could easily point towards a serious diagnosis of Schizotypal Personality Disorder (STPD). This post aims to psychologically analyze Willy Wonka’s character and to check whether he fulfills the DSM-5 criteria for STPD.
STPD is defined as a pattern of acute discomfort in close relationships, cognitive or perceptual distortions, and eccentricities of behaviour (APA 2013). According to the criteria required for a STPD diagnosis, Wonka exhibits various pathological traits of schizotypy that are discussed below using 3 broad domains.
The first domain, Psychoticism, is characterized by eccentricity, cognitive and perceptual dysregulation and unusual beliefs (APA 2013). During the very introduction of the chocolatier, he is described as wearing a black top hat, a plum-colored velvet tailcoat, bottle green trousers, and pearl grey gloves. This peculiarly colourful appearance is the first symptom of STPD and Wonka concurrently shows unusual behaviour. He clearly displays his eccentricity by continuously making “quick jerky little movements with his head” and also performing “a funny little skipping dance in the snow” (Dahl 1964).
The second set of symptoms shown by Wonka is odd speech and thinking (APA 2013). His speech is often overelaborated with the use of many adjectives for description like “most amazing and fabulous and sensational gum in the world” and “delighted to meet you, sir! Overjoyed! Enraptured! Enchanted!.” (Dahl 1964) His abstract and vague speech causes much confusion and is testament to his odd thinking. (Dahl 1964).
Thirdly, unusual beliefs inconsistent with subcultural norms often influence Wonka’s behavior (APA 2013). His bizarre beliefs in ‘snozzberries’, ‘bald little boys and girls’, breakfast cereal containing ‘curly wooden shavings’, and the existence of vitamins of all letters except Vitamins S and H leave everyone confused. The fact that his guests often question him regarding these statements show that they view his beliefs to be idiosyncratic. Nonetheless, Wonka remains indifferent to their reactions and continues to make statements such as whipped cream is "whipped by whips” (Dahl 1964).
The second domain, Detachment, is characterized by restricted affectivity and withdrawal (APA 2013). Wonka often shows an inappropriate display of feelings incongruent with context. He laughs and cracks jokes when a pipe sucks Augustus, when Veruca is thrown down a rubbish chute and when a miniature Mike comes out from the TV. He roars with laughter during the elevator ride when everyone is flung on the floor and also during the boat ride while everyone is terrified. His lack of guilt, worry and empathy throughout these instances clearly show his reduced affect (Dahl 1964).
Secondly, Wonka’s withdrawal, loneliness and isolation are important symptoms of STPD and the crucial backstory behind it is revealed in Chapter 4 (APA 2013). Due to Wonka’s success, many chocolatiers were jealous of him and had sent spies to Wonka’s chocolate factory to steal his recipes. This led Wonka fire all his workers and to close his factory. He became deeply mistrustful of people and reopened his factory only after reinstating the Oompa-Loompas as his workers. Therefore, Wonka had not interacted with people for years and he himself reveals that he had “no children of his own” and “no family at all.” (Dahl 1964)
The third domain for a STPD diagnosis is Negative Affectivity and it is characterized by Suspiciousness (APA 2013).The incident described in Chapter 4 also leads to the development of Wonka’s paranoia and suspicion. He uses “a bunch of keys” to open various secret rooms in his factory and his mistrust reaches new heights when he reveals that not even the Oompa- Loompas are allowed in his Inventing Room. He doubts others’ loyalty towards him and expects interpersonal harm or ill intent. That is why, he often shows feelings of persecution leading him to bark instructions like “I want no messing about when you go in! No touching, no meddling, and no tasting!.” (Dahl 1964)
Despite the above evidence, some aspects of Wonka’s STPD still remain unclear since we do not know the cause of his disorder or whether it is comorbid with substance use or another psychotic disorder (Smith 2018). However, Wonka’s complete impaired self and interpersonal functioning fulfils the criteria for a STPD diagnosis (APA 2019).
‘He’s crazy!’ they shouted. ‘He’s barmy!’ ‘He’s nutty!’ ‘He’s screwy!’ ‘He’s batty!’ ‘He’s dippy!’ ‘He’s dotty!’ (Dahl 1964)
Throughout the novel, Willy Wonka is called crazy due to his oddities and eccentricities but an examination of the above data points to a diagnosis of STPD rather than insanity.
Works Cited
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-JivBAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT18&ots=ceUO12LGvc&sig=oCu1lN-iEzOV98fvCMyhHsXFW2U&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Dahl, R. (1964). Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
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