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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Chapter 4 Summary

The Secret Workers

  • The next night, Grandpa Joe continues his story: it used to be that there were thousands of people working in the Chocolate Factory, but Willy Wonka had to send them away; somehow, spies had made it into the factory, and other chocolate-makers had begun to copy Wonka's inventions.
  • Sadly, Mr. Wonka had to close the factory.
  • Suddenly, one day, people noticed that there was smoke coming out of the factory's chimneys. All you engineers out there know that this means the furnaces were on.
  • The Factory was back up and running, that was for sure, but still it was locked and no one was coming in or out.
  • All you could see were tiny little shadows in the windows.
  • Since then, Wonka's factory has made some incredible new inventions that no one has copied, and they all come out of the factory through a trap door.
  • The mystery remains: who are these tiny people working in the factory?
  • Before Grandpa Joe can speculate, Charlie's dad walks in with a newspaper. Today's headline: "WONKA FACTORY TO BE OPENED AT LAST TO LUCKY FEW" (4.27).