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I 100 anni di Roald Dahl: neologismi, giochi di parole e la questione della traduzione dei suoi libri

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I 100 anni di Roald Dahl: neologismi, giochi di parole e la questione della traduzione dei suoi libri

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"Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." - Roald Dahl, "The Minpins".

Roald Dahl nasceva in Inghilterra il 13 settembre 1916 da famiglia norvegese e nel 2016 si celebra il suo centesimo compleanno. L'autore inglese è scomparso nel 1990, a causa di una leucemia, ma fortunatamente ci ha lasciato i suoi scritti, tutti ricchi di fantasia e di importanti riflessioni per la vita di piccoli e grandi.

Nel Regno Unito e nel Nord Europa in generale tutti i bambini leggono Roald Dahl, in Italia purtroppo i più lo conoscono per "La fabbrica di cioccolato" (Salani, 1988) ma, senza nulla togliere a quest'ultimo, Dahl è molto di più.

Roald Dahl ebbe un'infanzia non troppo semplice: se da una parte ricordava felicemente i momenti con la famiglia e le vacanze tra i fiordi norvegesi, dall'altra visse esperienze non troppo positive nei collegi dentro i quali gli venne impartita l'educazione scolastica.

Fu questa la possibile motivazione per la quale decise di non iscriversi all'università, non ne poteva più di insegnanti, punizioni corporali, costrizioni; scelse quindi di intraprendere un'esperienza lavorativa presso una compagnia che gli avrebbe permesso di viaggiare per il mondo. Durante la guerra si arruolò poi nella RAF e solamente negli anni '40 cominciò a dedicarsi alla scrittura. Vi furono alcuni racconti brevi e nel 1943 arrivò "The Gremlins", la prima storia lunga che venne pubblicata da Walt Disney.

Da questo momento in poi Roald Dahl si sbizzarrirà tra storie brevi e libri più lunghi, per bambini e per adulti. Passerà dai giganti ai fantasmi, dai coccodrilli alle streghe, fino ad arrivare a romanzi come "Boy" e "Lo zio Oswald".

Qualunque fosse il tema dei suoi scritti a caratterizzarlo sono sempre stati originalità e creatività, sia per quanto riguarda i soggetti che per la lingua adoperata. E proprio grazie (o a causa) di quest'ultima scaturisce la questione della traduzione.

Si sa, tradurre letteralmente da una lingua all'altra non è quasi mai possibile, ogni idioma possiede i suoi vocaboli, le sue sfumature, e difficilmente si rintracciano corrispondenze semantiche precise. Ciò diviene ancora più complicato quando autori come Roald Dahl creano veri e propri neologismi, combinazioni giocose di parole per crearne delle altre così da ottenere un effetto di ilarità e risultare divertenti anche ai più piccoli. Ma la lingua di Dahl è l'inglese e noi solitamente lo leggiamo in italiano. Staremo perciò leggendo la stessa storia o è possibile rintracciare differenze significative?

Prendiamo come esempio "Il GGG" ("The BFG" il titolo originale), il cui co-protagonista (il GGG, gigante il quale, come tutti i suoi simili, non ha potuto ricevere un'istruzione) ha un modo molto bizzarro di parlare, confonde le parole e ne inventa di nuove partendo da quelle che ha precedente acquisito.

Ne scaturiscono frasi del tipo (l'edizione alla quale si fa riferimento è quella della Salani del 2005 con la traduzione di Donatella Ziliotto): " I giganti è tutto canniballo e assassinistro! Ed è vero che si pappa i popolli della terra! Ora noi si trova nel Paese dei Giganti! E i giganti è dappertutto! Là fuori c'è il famoso Crocchia-Ossa! E Crocchia-Ossa si crocchia ogni sera due popollani e se li ciuccia per cena! Un rumore da spaccarti le orecchie! Un rumore di ossa crocchiate che si sente crizze-crazze per chilometri! "

Vocaboli curiosi senza dubbio e dei quali il significato è intuibile da chiunque. Anche la traduzione qui non riscontra particolari difficoltà. A parte forse il termine 'human beans' - il gigante intendeva 'human beings' - che la traduttrice decide liberamente di tradurre con 'popollani'.

Ma cosa accade quando Dahl crea dei giochi di parole tra gli Stati del mondo e gli abitanti di questi? Riassumendo, il gigante spiega alla bambina che ogni notte i giganti galoppano verso nuovi luoghi per mangiarne le persone e lo fanno in base ai loro gusti, in Turchia per esempio la gente avrebbe sapore di tacchino, ma solamente se lo leggiamo nell'originale: " Bonecrunching Giant says Turks human beins has a glamourly flavour. He says Turks from Turkey is tasting of turkey."

I vocaboli Turks (abitanti della turchia), Turkey (la Turchia) e turkey (il tacchino) sono fortemente assonanti e diventa così semplice giocarci. Ben più complicato è stato invece il compito di trasformare questo in lingua italiana. Una traduzione letterale non avrebbe reso giustizia all'originale inglese, così si è deciso di cercare una sorta di corrispondenza. Il testo è quindi diventato questo: " Crocchia-Ossa dice che il popollo Gallese ha un profumo sensuoide. Dice che i Gallesi del Galles ha gusto di gallo". Ecco che come per magia il tacchino si è trasformato in un gallo e dalla Turchia i giganti si sono spostati in Galles.

Questo è solamente un esempio per riflettere sul fatto che quando leggiamo un testo tradotto questo potrebbe non corrispondere esattamente all'originale. Con ciò non voglio colpevolizzare i traduttori, anzi, il loro lavoro non è dei più semplici e spesso non viene neppure retribuito come meriterebbe, ma è un po' come quando visioniamo un film doppiato. Siamo soliti associare una certa voce ad un determinato attore e in questo modo lo riconosciamo immediatamente, ma quell'attore in realtà modificherà la sua voce in base alla parte che dovrà recitare e al luogo in cui la storia si svolge: se ad esempio si narra una vicenda ambientata in Irlanda l'attore dovrà adoperare, e quindi riprodurre, il corretto accento; noi però non ci accorgeremo di questa differenza grazie, o a causa, del doppiaggio.

Tornando ai libri di Roald Dahl, ve n'è un altro, l'ultimo scritto prima di morire, dedicato al tema della dislessia, tema che lo coinvolgeva personalmente. Si tratta de "Il vicario, cari voi" (Salani Editore, 2007; titolo dell'originale "The vicar of Nibbleswicke"), breve volumetto in cui si narra di un vicario che inconsapevolmente si ritrova a pronunciare parole o intere frasi al contrario. Anche in questo caso abbiamo un originale in lingua inglese ed una traduzione in lingua italiana, stavolta a cura di Manuela Barranu e Dida Paggi. Il lavoro di queste ultime è stato piuttosto complicato poiché non era chiaramente possibile avere una uguaglianza in quasi nessuno dei casi. Ad ammetterlo una di loro alla fine del libro (v. pag. 35): " Tradurre questo libro non è stato facile: nell'originale inglese il vicario si limitava a pronunciare le parole al contrario (ciò che noi abbiamo chiamato 'dislessia retroattiva'). In italiano purtroppo i bifronti - parole che lette in un senso hanno un significato, e lette nell'altro ne hanno uno differente - sono pochi, e ancora meno con un'accezione che potesse risultare sensata e comica nel contesto del libro. Poi Manuela Barranu ha avuto un'idea: se i bifronti sono scarsi, gli anagrammi - lettere di una parola o di una frase che mescolate tra loro ne formano un'altra - sono molti di più, e possono assumere una miriade di significati diversi (ed ecco quella che abbiamo chiamato 'dislessia mescolante'). Per restare più fedeli al testo possibile abbiamo quindi deciso in redazione di unire i due tipi di 'dislessia': avremmo usato i bifronti, e dove non fosse stato possibile, gli anagrammi. "

Come vedete il traduttore si trova a reinventare parole, o persino intere frasi, così da avere una traduzione il più possibile fedele all'originale. L'intento di Roald Dahl in questo caso era quello di far conoscere a bambini e adulti la dislessia e lo voleva fare in modo giocoso. Le traduttrici hanno proseguito ciò e quanto leggiamo è in gran parte anche opera loro.

Naturalmente il discorso sarebbe molto più lungo ma tutto questo voleva dare una breve ma intensa panoramica del genio di Roald Dahl, in occasione del centesimo anno dalla sua nascita, e del lavoro che i traduttori quotidianamente compiono permettendoci di leggere splendide opere scritte in idiomi differenti dal nostro.

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I 100 anni di Roald Dahl: neologismi, giochi di parole e la questione della traduzione dei suoi libri

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"Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." - Roald Dahl, "The Minpins". Roald Dahl nasceva in Inghilterra il 13 settembre 1916 da famiglia norvegese e nel 2016 si celebra il suo centesimo compleanno.

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Burton has worked repeatedly with actor Johnny Depp and with musician Danny Elfman, who has composed scores for all but three of the films Burton has directed.

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From the Chicago Reader (July 8, 2005). Nine years later, having recently reseen this fabulous film on Blu-Ray (a beautiful job from Warners, with many enticing extras), I would currently maintain that what I formerly called the "key cinematic sources" should probably have been called key cinematic cross-references - to which one should add Raul Ruiz's City of Pirates for its own shot which purports to be a view of someone's teeth from the inside of his mouth. - J.R.
Tim Burton finally fulfills the promise of Beetlejuice (1988) with this imaginative masterpiece, adapted from the 1964 children's book by Roald Dahl but characterized by Burton's special feeling for color, architecture, and nightmarish dislocation. Adapted by John August, this schematic fable of five children invited to tour a mysterious candy factory is well served by the surrealistic design, Johnny Depp's mannerist performance as the androgynous chocolate tycoon Willy Wonka, and the deft digital wizardry that multiplies actor Deep Roy into the entire workforce of the Wonka factory, performing crazed production numbers. (Among the key cinematic sources here are the ice cream factory in the Eddie Cantor musical Kid Millions and the hyperbolic The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.) There's a streak of moralism, but it never becomes as sticky as the candy because the invention never flags. With Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, James Fox, and Christopher Lee. PG, 115 min.

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From the Chicago Reader (July 8, 2005). Nine years later, having recently reseen this fabulous film on Blu-Ray (a beautiful job from Warners, with many enticing extras), I would currently maintain that what I formerly called the "key cinematic sources" should probably have been called key cinematic cross-references - to which one should add Raul Ruiz's City of Pirates for its own shot which purports to be a view of someone's teeth from the inside of his mouth.

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To lock in moisture idratare i capelli

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frown upon [sth] vtr phrasal insep | figurative (disapprove of) (figurato: disapprovare) non vedere di buon occhio, non tollerare, condannare

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fun-loving  amante del divertimento
dwarf nano
to hail from (to be native of) provenire
diminutive minuscolo
work force forza lavoro
to feast on banchettare, pasteggiare, pranzare lautamente

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slightly un po', leggermente, lievemente
smart sveglio, brillante, intelligente, astuto
to realize accorgersi di, rendersi conto di
to lie (lied, lying) dire bugie, mentire
unheeded ignorato, inascoltato
to check out dare uno sguardo a, dare un'occhiata, guardare
to spy notare, vedere
without regard for (with no concern for) senza riguardo per, senza curarsi di, senza preoccuparsi di
safety sicurezza
to engineer progettare
filming ripresa (TV)
to shrink down ridurre, restringere
inch (unità di misura) pollice, centimetro (1 inch = 2,54 cm)
to stretch out allungare

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'Good morning star shine! The Earth says hello...' is a quotation from a pop song from the musical Hair (1967)

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'Good morning star shine! The Earth says hello...' is a quotation from a pop song from the musical Hair (1967)

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to burst esplodere, scoppiare
attempt tentativo
antics buffonate
downfall causa di rovina
to grab afferrare, prendere
eagerly impazientemente, ansiosamente
blueberry mirtillo
to juice spremere

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spoiled (overly pampered) viziato
brat  moccioso, ragazzino viziato
to demand pretendere, esigere
to throw tirare, buttare, lanciare
tantrums capricci
mean meschino
self-involved egocentrico
acquiesce acconsentire, accettare
impetuousness irruenza
to claim chiedere, richiedere, reclamare, rivendicare
to deem ritenere, giudicare
chute scivolo

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Fun-loving dwarves hailing from Loompaland. Mr. Wonka’s diminutive work force feasts on cacao beans and performs all of the work in the Wonka chocolate factory. They also enjoy dancing, beating drums, and singing songs about what happens to bad children.

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A boy who cares only for television. The more guns and violence on a show, the more Mike likes it. Mike is slightly more complex than the other bad children in that he is smart enough to realize when Mr. Wonka is lying to him. Still, his attempts to get answers to his questions go completely unheeded. At the factory he wants nothing more than to check out the chocolate television room. Once there he spies the opportunity to be on television himself. Without regard for his own safety, he engineers a filming of himself and ends up shrinking down to a couple of inches. The Oompa-Loompas stretch him out to twice his normal height in the end.

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An avid gum chewer. Violet’s attempt to beat a gum-chewing record completely consumes her. At the factory her gum-chewing antics become her downfall when she grabs an experimental piece of gum against Mr. Wonka’s advice. She eagerly chews the gum and turns into a giant blueberry. After being juiced by Oompa-Loompas, she leaves the factory changed.

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A spoiled brat. Veruca demands anything she wants and throws tantrums until her parents meet her demands. She is mean and completely self-involved, and her parents always acquiesce to her wishes. Veruca’s impetuousness causes her trouble at the factory. She demands to own one of Wonka’s trained squirrels, but when she marches in to claim it, it deems her a “bad nut” and sends her down the garbage chute. Mingled with garbage, she comes out changed at the end of the story.

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Roald Dahl is born in Llandaff, near the Welsh capital of Cardiff, on 13th September 1916.

Roald's parents, Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg, were both Norwegian and he was named after Norway's famous polar explorer, Roald Amundsen.

At the time of his birth Roald had two older sisters, Astri (born 1912) and Alfhild (born 1914), as well as an older brother and sister from his father's first marriage, Ellen (born 1903) and Louis (born 1906.)

Roald's father Harald was a shipbroker and his business, Aadnesen and Dahl, was very successful. In Boy, Roald describes a shipbroker as "a person who supplies a ship with everything it needs when it comes into port - fuel and food, ropes and paint, soap and towels, hammers and nails, and thousands of other tiddly little items."

The country that Roald was born into was in the midst of the First World War. In France the Battle of the Somme, one of the largest and bloodiest battles in the conflict, was raging.

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Roald Dahl is born in Llandaff, near the Welsh capital of Cardiff, on 13th September 1916. Roald's parents, Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg, were both Norwegian and he was named after Norway's famous polar explorer, Roald Amundsen.

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rude scortese, maleducato
insubordinate indisciplinato, disubbidiente
quest ricerca
to fill riempirsi, saziarsi
to indulge accontentare
whining piagnucolio
to suffer for patire
greed avidità, golosità, ghiottoneria
pipe tubo, condotto
to evidence provare, dimostrare

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A fat boy who loves nothing but eating. Augustus is rude and insubordinate in his never-ending quest to fill his own face. His parents choose to indulge him rather than listen to his whining. He suffers for his greed in the factory: while sucking from the chocolate river, he falls in and is sucked up by one of the super pipes. He comes out changed on the other side, as evidenced by his new thin body.

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embodiment incarnazione, personificazione
deprived of privo di
to complain lamentarsi
at (one's) expense a proprie spese
to muster (courage) raccogliere, prendere
dutifully coscienziosamente
bedridden costretto a letto
chore faccenda, lavoro casalingo
undernourished denutrito, malnutrito
meek umile, modesto
to indulge in sth concedersi, permettersi, gustarsi
to wolf (eat rapidly) divorare
to savor assaporare, gustare, godersi
past adv  (by) davanti, oltre, dopo
world-renowned adj (famous all over the world) famoso nel mondo
factory fabbrica, stabilimento
bitterness rancore, amarezza
anger rabbia
savory saporito, gustoso, piacevole
humbly in maniera umile, modesta
to turn up comparire, arrivare
nasty odioso, maligno, cattivo
greedy avido, ingordo, bramoso
peanut arachide, nocciolina
unwrap scartare, aprire
to play fair giocare realmente, rispettare le regole
bravery audacia, coraggio
to overcome superare, vincere, dominare
to cringe indietreggiare
to tear (move fast) accelerare
demurely con contegno
to clutch aggrapparsi a

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Charlie Bucket is the protagonist of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and he is the embodiment of all that is virtuous. He is deprived of adequate food, a bed, and any privacy. In spite of all this, he never complains, nor does he ever accept charity from his family when it comes at their own expense. Each morning, Charlie musters the strength to walk to school, even though he nearly freezes during the colder months. And each night, he returns home and dutifully spends time with his bedridden grandparents, a chore that he seems to genuinely enjoy.
Charlie’s physical proportions align with his personality: not only is he quite small and undernourished, but also he is meek. He speaks only when he is spoken to. He never asks for more than he is given. He looks forward to the one time a year, on his birthday, when he can indulge in a Wonka chocolate bar, and instead of wolfing it down all at once, he savors it (bite by bite) for many months. Charlie walks past the world-renowned Wonka chocolate factory twice a day, yet this never causes him bitterness or anger. Instead, Charlie simply indulges in the savory smells coming out of the factory and humbly dreams of entering the factory one day. When the golden tickets start turning up in the hands of nasty, greedy children, Charlie never complains about how unfair it is that he will never get to go. Charlie’s strongest criticism of one of the other children comes when he hears that Veruca’s father is using all the workers in his peanut factory to unwrap chocolate bars night and day until his daughter gets a ticket. Charlie’s only comment is that Veruca’s father is not playing quite fair.

Behind Charlie’s meek and virtuous exterior lies an inner strength and courage. He faces the new challenges and mysteries of the factory with the same bravery he employs to overcome the adversity of his everyday life. He finds all of the adventures in the chocolate factory to be wild and stimulating. While other characters cringe at the speed of the boat as it tears down the chocolate river, Charlie demurely embraces it, clutching to Grandpa Joe’s legs for stability and enjoying the ride of his life.

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The Whangdoodles, Hornswogglers and  Snozzwanglers are a fictional species that are mentioned in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It is one of the animals that live in Loompa-Land and prey on the Oompa-Loompas as mentioned by Willy Wonka. In the book, it is mentioned by Willy Wonka that they eat ten Oompa-Loompas for breakfast. Nothing in detail is mentioned about these species in the movie or thebook.

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Did you know Roald Dahl invented 500 words and character names, from the Oompa-Loompas and whizzpopping to the less well known humplecrimp, lixivate and zoonk? Susan Rennie, chief editor of The Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary, takes us on phizz-whizzing tour of the most scrumdiddlyumptious words

The BFG holds up a bottle of frobscottle, the delicious green fizzy drink that giants drink instead of water. Warning: if you drink a lot, you end up whizzpopping (This illustrations is used in the Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary). Illustration: Quentin Blake, with permission from A P Watt at United Agents on behalf of Quentin Blak

Have you ever wondered what language Oompa-Loompas speak, or what the plural is of quadropus, or what rhymes with frobscottle? Or what the difference is between a whangdoodle and a giant wangdoodle (hint: only one is deadly)? Then the Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary is here to help you.

Roald Dahl invented over 500 words and character names, from the famous Oompa-Loompas and whizzpopping to lesser-known Dahlismslike humplecrimp, lixivate, sogmire and zoonk, but this is the first time many of them have featured in a dictionary. It may also be the first time that the words snozzberry, snozzcumber and snozzwanger have appeared on the same page as one another, as they occur in different stories. Whereas slimy snozzcumbers grow in Giant Country, the more appetizing snozzberries are found, contrariwise, in the land of the tiny Minpins (though somehow Willy Wonka also manages to source them for his lickable wallpaper). And snozzwangers? Well, you’ll have to look in the dictionary for those.

Quentin Blake’s illustration of the BFG holding a slimy snozzcumber, grown in Giant Country (This illustrations is used in the Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary). Illustration: Quentin Blake, with permission from A P Watt at United Agents on behalf of Quentin Blake

Dahl knew how much children (and their grown-ups) love words like these, with letter combinations that are fun to pronounce, such as –ozz or –izz, or –iggle or -obble: hence creations like the fizzwiggler, the whiffswiddle and the grobblesquirt(who wouldn’t like saying grobblesquirt?), as well as gobblefunk itself, the name we now give to the lexicon of words he invented. He often built new words from old, swopping prefixes and blending syllables to create words like mispise, poppyrot and sogmire; and he particularly loved the word play of alliteration (good for insults such as grizzly old grunion) and spoonerisms, such as mideous harshland or the inspired Dahl’s Chickens (aka Charles Dickens).

All these words, and many like them, feature in the new dictionary. But a Dahl dictionary needs to help readers young and old to navigate through the whole of Dahl’s world, so it also explains unusual words you may encounter there, such as steeplejack and rapscallion, as well as more humdrum words which have special significance in the stories, such as the humble alarm-clock and egg-beater (used in unlikely ways by witches and giants respectively). And if you are a budding Matilda, it will also help you to find the perfect word to describe Dahl’s characters, whether they be hirsute (Mr Twit), asinine (Mr Wormwood) or oviform (Knids) – and to learn some very rude words used by giants (let’s just say bopmuggered).

So don’t be biffsquiggled any longer! Here are some key Dahl words from the dictionary:

If you feel biffsquiggled, you are confused or puzzled. The word biffsquiggled is made up of biff ‘punch’ and squiggled, as when you are biffsquiggled, you feel as if your brain is reeling from a punch and is as muddled as a squiggly piece of doodling.

Frobscottle is a green fizzy drink that giants drink instead of water. Unlike snozzcumbers it tastes delicious. The bubbles in frobscottle sink down rather than rise up, so if you drink a lot, you end up whizzpopping.

If you gobblefunk with words, you play around with them and invent new words or meanings. The word gobblefunk sounds a bit like gobbledegook, a kind of language that some grown-ups use that is full of meaningless words.

A human bean is what the giants of Giant Country call a human. (It sounds a bit like human being, but tastier.) Most giants eat human beans, but the BFG is a vegetarian giant, so he only eats snozzcumbers.

A snozzcumber is a knobbly vegetable like an enormous cucumber with black and white stripes. Snozzcumbers taste disgusting but they are all the BFG has to eat, as he refuses to hunt human beans like other giants.

Phizz-whizzing and whizzpopping may sound similar, but they mean very different things! Something that is phizz-whizzing is excellent or splendid. Whizzpopping, on the other hand, is what happens when air comes out of your bottom with a popping sound (as when you drink a lot of frobscottle). Giants find whizzpopping more socially acceptable than burping.

Scrumdiddlyumptious food is utterly delicious. The Fleshlumpeating Giant is very keen to eat the Queen, as he thinks she will have ‘an especially scrumdiddlyumptious flavour.’

A trogglehumper is one of the very worst nightmares you can have. (Words that Dahl invented that start with trog- always mean unpleasant things!)

Zozimus is what dreams are made of. The BFG whisks zozimus with an egg-beater until it forms bubbles just like soapy water.

Susan Rennie is the chief editor of the Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary 2016, and all definitions in this article are taken from the book.

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nuts adj | pejorative, slang (person: crazy) (informale) | svitato, matto
along with prep. (in addition to) oltre a
to hail from (to be native of) provenire
prey (person: victim) preda
caretaker custode
wariness (distrust) diffidenza
to take over prendere il posto di, sostituire
humble umile, modesto
beyond reproach (not to be criticized) impeccabile, irreprensibile
to mold [sb] into [sth] (person: help to develop) fare di qlcn qlcs
foibles mania, fissazione, debolezza
demanding esigente
judgemental critico, severo
to be short (with [sb])adj | informal (abrupt, curt) sgarbato, rude, brusco

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The eccentric owner of the world-famous Wonka chocolate factory. Along with his eccentric behavior, Mr. Wonka also has a benevolent side. The mystery workers operating his chocolate factory after the reopening are called Oompa-Loompas. The Oompa-Loompas hail from Loompaland, where they are the defenseless prey of hungry creatures like hornswogglers, snozzwangers, and whandoodles until Mr. Wonka rescues them. He brings the malnourished Oompa-Loompas back to his factory where they are allowed to eat their favorite food—cacao beans—in unlimited quantities and live in complete safety in exchange for running the factory. Mr. Wonka treats the Oompa-Loompas like children, and, in return, they treat him as a benevolent caretaker. Mr. Wonka further demonstrates his affinity for children and wariness of adults by choosing a child to take over his factory. The child he seeks is humble, respectful, and willing to run his factory exactly how Mr. Wonka runs it himself.

Though benevolent, Mr. Wonka’s character is not beyond reproach. His treatment of the Oompa-Loompas is paternalistic, and his desire to mold a child into a second version of himself is narcissistic. Furthermore, Mr. Wonka is unwilling to accept anyone’s foibles. He can be extremely demanding and judgmental. The four children who do not win the grand prize clearly disgust Mr. Wonka. He is short with each of them—he acts as if he invited each of them simply to prove the virtuosity of Charlie. The humble and gracious Charlie is everything Mr. Wonka is looking for.