Throughout his book, Roald Dahl contrasts physical wealth to parental passion as an important condition for happiness. Any parent can give love to the child, while wealth, in fact, can make a person indifferent. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory shows how wealth can be more dangerous than even the most extreme poverty. In the following essay, I contrast the characters of Charlie Bucket, Violet Beauregarde, and Veruca Salt to demonstrate that Roald Dahl upholds poverty as more virtuous than wealth. Charlie is the protagonist of the story and exhibits arguably the most virtuous set of traits. He is pure in his heart. The boy is so innocent that the reader even gets the impression that such people do not exist in nature. He is not the kind of child who would complain about his poverty. He treasures his birthday present (a bar of chocolate). His purity can be seen in his interaction with his grandparents, as “his questions are addressed to find out about the factory, never about his own existence or the circumstances that surround him” (León). The image of this cute boy is created specifically to show people how they need to endure in order to be happy, lucky, and eventually get some material prosperity. Dahl intentionally describes Bucket’s house as uncomfortable, where “cold drafts blew across the floor all night long, and it was awful,” rendering the house inappropriate for severe seasonal conditions. (Dahl 5). As a reader, I felt sorry and bitter for the whole family. Yes, the house is in bad shape. Nevertheless, despite the enormous amount of difficulties encountered by Charlie and his family daily, they remain caring, supportive, and don’t lose their humane traits. This shows that poverty, while challenging, cannot strip people from their virtues or take away their joy. For example, it does not stop Charlie from dreaming, despite being described as entering the factory “with a horrible empty feeling in their tummies… Charlie felt it worst of all… He desperately wanted something more filling and satisfying than cabbage and cabbage soup. The one thing he longed for more than anything else was chocolate” (Dahl 4). This is the most positive aspect of poverty. Only people who are experiencing misfortune can understand the grief of others, even the grief of a spoiled soul. Only such individuals can be grateful for what they have. Charlie grew up in a house where these important values were preserved. Therefore, he probably is the happiest child in the world. Roald Dahl does not allow the reader to forget that the main character – Charlie – is poor. Moreover, the author constantly reminds how poor his family is. Their poverty forces the reader to sympathize with him, especially considering the fact that the other children are very rich. For instance, Dahl points out that for Charlie only one thing as important – that his family has something to eat. Neither money nor TV nor chewing gum is important to him. More importantly, it is poverty that evoked this nobility in his soul. The same can be said about his relatives. Indeed, in this case, poverty has not made Charlie and his family offended, angry, and hopeless. Poverty has given them strength to fight for something better. The effect goes beyond material wealth. In this case, it gave Charlie faith in miracles: “But there was one other thing that the grown-ups also knew, and it was this: that however small th