Veruca Salt
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For the alternative rock group, see Veruca Salt (band)
Veruca Salt is a character from the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, written by Roald Dahl. She appears in the two film adaptations, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). In the 1971 adaptation, she is portrayed by Julie Dawn Cole; in the 2005 adaptation, she is portrayed by Julia Winter. Veruca is the only child of the wealthy couple, Henry Salt and Angina Salt (a geography teacher in the revised book only, and named Henrietta in the 1971 film), and is a terribly spoiled brat. Veruca is the second child to find a ticket, and the third to misbehave and get thrown out of the tour.
In all three versions, Mr. Salt, Veruca's father, is the CEO and proprietor of a nut corporation. When Veruca announces that she wants (and must have) a Golden Ticket, her father buys thousands of Wonka Bars and makes his factory workers open them. As three days pass, Veruca spends all of them impatiently kicking her legs about, while she screams about how she wants her Golden Ticket. Finally, a staff member finds the ticket, and, as Veruca's father describes it in the book, she is "all smiles again." She'll have a temper tantrum if she doesn't get what she wishes for, and her parents usually rush to give her her desire.
Veruca Salt represents one of the Seven Deadly Sins: greed. She is described in every incarnation as "spoiled rotten," and each story tells of how her parents have given in to her every whim and desire since the day she was born. As such, she is constantly asking for things whether or not she needs them, and seems to think she can take whatever she wants whenever she wants. For example, in her various incarnations, she has asked for (or rather demanded) an Oompa Loompa (despite the fact that they are technically human) and one of Wonka's squirrels (geese in the 1971 film). She often begins most of her demands with "Daddy/Mummy, I want..." and when she isn't immediately catered to, she follows it up with a vicious and emphatic "NOW!" She also seems to have a slight connection to the sin of envy, such as in the 1971 film when she believes Violet received more gobstoppers than she did and subsequently tries to wrestle them away from her. She is likewise jealous whenever any of the children receive any sort of special gift or token that she herself does not receive, though this aspect of her personality is most apparent in the 1971 adaption of the film but not so much in the others.
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[edit] Veruca in the book and films
In each version, Veruca is portrayed as a spoiled brat that is very immature, whose parents treat her as a princess and give her anything she wants, no matter how ridiculous the price or how outrageous the item is. In the book, she is described as "the daughter of rich parents". When Veruca is unable to get something she wants, she screams, shouts, kicks, stomps, jumps up and down, and takes extreme measures until she has her way. At the start, Veruca's parents seem to view her as a sweet, innocent young lady; however, after being ambushed and dirtied in the factory, these opinions shift more toward reality and they act more like parents than servants. Veruca, in each version, also wears a dress despite fashion conversions over time.
[edit] Book
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
|---|---|
| Veruca Salt | |
| Gender | Female |
| Personality | Spoiled, impatient, demanding, mean and very manipulative. She will do everything she can in order to get her own way. |
| Family | Father Henry Salt, Mother Angina Salt |
| Town/City the character lives in | Unknown; presumably England (based on her vocabulary) |
| Portrayed by | None |
In the original publication of the book, with illustrations by Quentin Blake, Veruca is portrayed as short (her height is never specifically stated), with curly blonde hair and a bow sitting on top. She is dressed in a frilly, pink and purple, tutu-like dress with pink gloves and purple shoes with hearts on the toes. A mink coat completes her outfit. In the book, she is seen to behave like the "typical" spoiled brat, who kicks, screams, cries, and is generally demanding and mean, at least until she is given her desired thing. She also appears to be a bit whiny and immature at times. She is even nasty to both her parents. Her father seems to be aware of his daughter's bad behavior; he confesses to Mr. Wonka that he knows his daughter is "a bit of a frump" but simultaneously says that it's no reason for his daughter to be burned alive, on grounds that he and his wife love their daughter very much.
[edit] 1971 film
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
|---|---|
| Veruca Salt | |
 |
|
| "Don't care how; I want it NOW!" | |
| Gender | Female |
| Personality | Similar to book, demanding, loud, aggressive, and throws tantrums. Is very insecure and lonely; the underlying reason for her spoiledness. She also knows that her dad's workers aren't finding the ticket; she thinks that they're jealous of her. |
| Family | Father Henry Salt
Mother Henrietta Salt |
| Town/City the character lives in | Somewhere in England |
| Portrayed by | Julie Dawn Cole |
In the 1971 film adaptation, Veruca has slightly curly brown hair, which comes down to her shoulders. She wears a red dress with black buttons and a white collar folded outward; light-colored tights; and black heeled shoes. Played by 13-year-old Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca's now-famous song "I Want it Now" was actually filmed on Julie Dawn Cole's 13th birthday), she looks much older than she does in the book and other film and is starting to develop a womanly figure. She wanted to be the first ticket holder, as well as the first to enter the factory. Before entering the factory, Veruca wears a mink coat and a mink hat; she also says she has three other mink coats at her home in England. Veruca's mink coat in the 1971 film was made of real mink fur. The mink coat that she wore in the 2005 film was made of fake fur.
Veruca is shown to be demanding, loud, and aggressive, sometimes resorting to threats and (in some cases) physical violence. For example, she refuses to attend school until she gets her ticket, and she shoves, pushes, and hits her father. While she isn't particularly nasty to her mother, Veruca's "target" is her father, since he is easier to coerce. However, in one scene, she is very polite, especially to Mr. Wonka. She seems to be more concerned for the welfare of others in this version as well, unlike in the book and 2005 film where she seems to not care at all. She says to her father after Augustus Gloop falls into the chocolate river, "How long is he going to stay down, daddy?" Also, when Violet's face turns blue and she begins to swell up into a blueberry, Veruca's eyes are wide and her mouth is agape.
Because Veruca is much more aggressive, greedy, and overall rotten in the 1971 adaption than she is in either of her other incarnations, many see her as Charlie's primary rival for the prize, or rather the film's true "villain." She is the antithesis of every aspect of Charlie's personality: where he is kind, she is mean; where he is grateful due to his extreme poverty, she's spoiled rotten due to her wealth; while Charlie remains calm throughout all of his troubles, Veruca is a whirling vortex of emotion and anger. Indeed, Veruca on many occasions is shown to be downright callous to the other children and those around her.
In the 2005 film, however, her temper tantrums are significantly toned down, and instead her position of primary rival is transferred over to Mike Teavee, who in the new adaption is a violence-obsessed boy genius with lack of control over anger.
[edit] 2005 film
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory character | |
|---|---|
| Veruca Salt | |
 |
|
| "Veruca is a very bad nut." | |
| Gender | Female |
| Personality | Similar to original book, but not as childish. |
| Family | Father Mr. Salt, Mother Mrs. Salt |
| Town/City the character lives in | Buckinghamshire, England (lives in a huge countryside mansion) |
| Portrayed by | Julia Winter |
In the 2005 film adaptation, Veruca is played by 12-year-old Julia Winter, making Veruca herself a preteen. She appears very prim and neat, with brown hair pulled back with two fancy hair clips and styled in oversized ringlets. With her typical mink coat, she wears a pink and white dress with white tights, and black Mary Janes, carrying a little pink purse. She and her parents live in a mansion in Buckinghamshire, England; surprisingly, it looks more like a royal palace given its size and shape. Her personality is neither whiny nor aggressive in this version, but rather calm and straight-forward about what she desires. Despite her snooty and arrogant demeanor, she can also be very sweet and charming when she believes it will benefit her. However, while waiting for her ticket, Veruca stomps her foot with great impatience and demands that she be given what she wants. Only when she is denied something does Veruca completely lose her cool. As in the 1971 movie, Veruca isn't particularly nasty to her mum (though her mum does roll her eyes after her daughter's impatient outburst), and her target is her dad. Also, she is very impatient and disobedient, as shown in various scenes of the film. She also is very ungrateful for the things that she gets or has; when her father hands her the golden ticket that his workers toiled to find for her, she does not say "thank you". Instead, she tells her father that she wants another pony. On the matter of the things that she already has, she states that all she "only" has, at home, is one pony, two dogs, four cats, six bunny rabbits, two parakeets, three canaries, a green parrot, a turtle, and a hamster, all of which are earlier gifts from her parents. All of these were mentioned in the book.
Veruca and Violet Beauregarde pretend to become friends, but each is clearly unimpressed by the other. (The girls who played them, Julia Winter and AnnaSophia Robb, became friends during filming of the movie. Coincidentally Julie Dawn Cole and Denise Nickerson who played the girls in the 1971 movie - although onscreen they disliked each other - actually became good friends). Later, when Scarlett Beauregarde wonders what she'll do with a blueberry for a daughter and how she's supposed to compete, Veruca says "You could put her in a county fair." Due to her relationship with Violet, it is implied that Veruca has no concern for the welfare of the other golden ticket winners; however, she is one of the two children that doesn't tease or be rude to Charlie (the other being Mike Teavee), implying she might have liked him a little bit more than the others.
While Veruca is portrayed as English in the films, her nationality is never mentioned directly in the book (though she uses British English words and accent).
[edit] Veruca's endgame
In the book and 2005 film, Veruca's demise takes place in Wonka's nut-sorting room. After being denied a squirrel by Willy Wonka and her dad (her mum in the novel), Veruca brazenly attempts to take a squirrel for herself, only to be grabbed and knocked down by the creatures. The squirrels drag her across the ground, deem her a bad nut, and throw her into the garbage chute, with her parents quickly suffering the same fate afterwards. Her fate is similar in the 2005 film, though her mother isn't present (although the Oompa-Loompas throw a painting of Mrs. Salt down the garbage chute to emphasize that she, along with her husband, spoiled Veruca rotten). In the film, Wonka says that the furnace is only lit on Tuesday. Mike Teavee then reminds him that the day of the factory tour is Tuesday. Fortunately, after Veruca's father falls down the chute, an Oompa Loompa tells Wonka that the incinerator is broken and there is three weeks' worth of rotten garbage to break the fall of Veruca and her father.
In the 1971 movie, Veruca's exit is made in the Golden Egg sorting room. Willy Wonka denies her the goose that lays the golden eggs, after which she sings her musical solo "I Want It Now," describing the things she wants, and how she'll scream if she doesn't get them. (This makes her the only kid in the movie to get her own song, although Charlie did a duet with Grandpa Joe in "(I've Got A) Golden Ticket".) After making a mess of the room, she stands atop the egg-sorting machine, which judges her a bad egg, and falls down the garbage chute. Her last word is a drawn-out "NOW." Willy Wonka explains that the garbage chute leads to the furnace, although she may have gotten stuck in the pipes along the way. Her father reaches down to get her and falls in. It is not stated what became of her and her dad after this event; after Veruca's father disappears, Willy Wonka says "There's going to be a lot of garbage today," as if to say that the day of the tour was not one of the days when the furnace was lit. At the end when Charlie asks about the other children, Wonka remarks that they will be their normal terrible selves - but maybe a little wiser.
At the end of the book and the 2005 film, Veruca and her father are shown exiting the factory, covered in large amounts of garbage but not actually harmed in any way. Veruca remains bratty as ever. In the film, Veruca spots the glass elevator, and says "Daddy, I want a flying glass elevator." Her father then takes a more aggressive standand sternly states to her that the only thing she'll get that day is a bath, leaving her with an angry expression, returned by her father. Presumably, she won't be as spoiled now that her parents have been punished for not being responsible.
[edit] Veruca's name
While all the names in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are unusual for comic effect (a trend often shown in Roald Dahl's children's novels), Veruca Salt probably has the strangest name, as usually only the characters' surnames, such as those of Charlie Bucket and Mike Teavee, are strange.
Dahl himself has stated that Veruca Salt was the name of a wart medication he had in his medicine cabinet, but since the introduction of the character, many other theories have been created as to additional reasons why he gave her that name.
The word verruca is Latin for "plantar wart" (this makes sense considering her father owns a nut company; Planter's is a popular nut company) and common in British English. As Willy Wonka points out in the novel and in the 2005 movie, a verruca is a "wart you get on the bottom of your foot." Her last name is Salt presumably because her father owns a nut company, but also because salt stings immesurably when it gets into wounds, and Veruca very easily can get under people's skin.
- In the German dubbed version of the movie, the play on words does not translate. Instead, Wonka says, "I once named a wart on my foot 'Veruca'."
- The band Veruca Salt took its name from the character.
- A villainous female werewolf character in the television series Buffy The Vampire Slayer is named Veruca.
- Veruca is phonetically similar to the Arabic word for wig, baruka.
[edit] Veruca Salt song
This song was performed after Veruca is sent down the garbage chute.
In both the book's poem and the 2005 lyrics, the words are about what will become of Veruca as she falls down the garbage chute, as well as who is to blame for turning Veruca into a spoiled brat. The 1971 lyrics center on who is to blame for Veruca's spoiling, and what can be done to prevent children from being spoiled, a topic also of concern for the end of the lyrics in the book and 2005 movie.
In the book, the song is performed after Veruca and her parents are thrown down the garbage chute. In the 1971 film, it is after Veruca and her father have fallen down the chute. In the 2005 film, the song is performed after Veruca is thrown down and as Mr. Salt prepares to look down into the chute (it ends as a squirrel pushes him in the behind, sending him down the chute).
The 2005 version is sung in a psychedelic/soft rock style. Mostly inspired by ABBA.
[edit] Portion of lyrics
[edit] Book
- But now, my dears, we think you might
- Be wondering—is it really right
- That every single bit of blame
- And all the scolding and the shame
- Should fall upon Veruca Salt?
- Is she the only one at fault?
- For though she's spoiled, and dreadfully so,
- A girl can't spoil herself, you know.
[edit] 1971 film
- Who do you blame when your kid is a brat,
- Pampered and spoiled like a Siamese cat.
- Blaming the kids is a lie and a shame.
- You know exactly who's to blame:
- The mother and the father.
[edit] 2005 film
- Veruca Salt, the little brute,
- Has just gone down the garbage chute,
- And she will meet, as she descends,
- A rather different set of friends!
- A rather different set of friends!
- A rather different set of friends!
[edit] Video game
In the video game, two levels have Veruca in them: The Nut Room and The Garbage Chute.
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl) | |
|---|---|
| Characters: |
Willy Wonka | Oompa-Loompas | Charlie Bucket | Augustus Gloop | Veruca Salt | Violet Beauregarde | Mike Teavee | Grandpa Joe | Mr. Slugworth | The Candy Man | Prince Pondicherry | Vermicious knid | Mr. and Mrs. Teavee | Mr. Salt | Mr. Beauregarde | Mrs. Beauregarde | Dr. Wilbur Wonka (only in Tim Burton film) |
| Books: | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator |
| Films: | 1971 | 2005 |
| Misc.: | Differences between the book and film versions | Golden Ticket | Wonka Bar | Video Game | other Roald Dahl films | other Roald Dahl books |
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