The sound of crunching snow beneath his feet was slightly slower and out of beat with the rushed percussion of the dirty London streets. Facing the bullies today would be particularly hard. He was in no rush.
It’s never easy being poverty-stricken in the eyes of the world. As he felt the ice-cold ground permeating his worn leather soles, he also felt a warmth in his chest as he thought of his overly-generous family. They had no material wealth with which to be generous, but their words and actions were welcoming, encouraging and deeply affectionate. At that moment, he felt like the luckiest boy in the world. He embraced the true wealth of his family and all he appreciated in them.
But his mind took over again and reminded him that all five had been found, and he once again found gravity gripping at his young heart.
Passing the world’s biggest and best chocolate factory in the world was pure torture for an 11-year old who only ever got one bar of chocolate a year. But it was nothing compared to the torture he would face as he rounded the next corner and had to keep a keen eye out for flying snowballs, jeering looks and snide comments.
It was easier to look down and hope for the best. To concentrate on the patches of clean snow not yet overturned by foot and hoof traffic. His thoughts wandered. He hoped he could finally get a corner stand with the London Gazette, they were always looking for paperboys on the well-to-do streets of the city. Maybe Mr James would need an extra hand at the store, and maybe he could take home the old food that was no longer good to be sold.
But his grandparents would never allow it. Neither would his parents. ‘It’s off to school with you, young man! You’re the smartest of the lot, we need you to have every opportunity available to you. You’ll do great things!’
As his mind returned to the sound of crunching snow, he felt like his luck would never change.
It was then that he saw it; roughened from the hands that had exchanged it countless times before. Grey and dark like the turned earth around it, it was distinctly round and distinctly 50p. Something momentous was about to happen in Charlie Bucket’s life.
————
It’s been almost 60 years since Roald Dahl wrote ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. His readers needed entertainment, but they also needed hope. He probably also wanted to address bad parenting, gum chewing, television watching and various other contentious topics, but deep in the heart of this story is hope.
And how more hopeful can you be in a story where a little kid succeeds, despite all the odds stacked against him?
Whatever the motivations, it is a hit because the reader can easily identify with the story. This is why telling stories, being authentic and being vulnerable remains a valuable part of creating digital content. When your community can identify with your content, they will most likely engage with that content – and that will lead to a conversation.
When our digital communication strategies lead to conversations (not sales), we will become more successful in creating communities of value.
