Who lives with Charlie Bucket?

Charlie Bucket, the protagonist of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, lives with his parents and both sets of his grandparents in a flat in London. Although the novel is set in the present, in the modern era, the impoverished conditions of Charlie's living situation call to mind a Victorian London, similar to the city portrayed by Charles Dickens in his novels. This is a London where people live in desperate conditions, and something as simple as a bar of chocolate is seen as a luxurious treat.

In the film adaptation called Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie does not appear to have a father living at home; this underlines his role as the "man of the house" and this portrayal makes his attempt to win the golden ticket even more important, because it is seen as a way to lift his family out of poverty. In the film version as in the novel, Charlie's mother works hard taking care of his grandparents who are all elderly and bedridden, although lively and loving as a family.