Good question. Willy Wonka used the tour of the chocolate factory to test the children to see which child would become his heir and successor to the chocolate factory. What happened to them was the consequences of their own actions due to them not listening to Wonka and not doing as they were told and letting their greediness, recklessness, stupidity, not getting what they want and disregarding Wonka's warnings. If they had all listened to Wonka and did as they were told, one of them besides Charlie could have become the winner: Augustus got trapped in the chocolate pipe because he was told by Wonka not to touch the chocolate river, but Augustus ignored him and as a result, he fell in. Violet snatched the gum from Wonka and sampled the gum which Wonka hadn't corrected and Wonka told not to chew it and as a result, her face turned blue and she got really big and fat. Veruca wanted one of Wonka's geese which wasn't for sale, but Wonka refused and in a tantrum, Violet stepped up onto the egg checker and fell down into the garbage chute below. Mike wanted to become the first human to be sent by television and ignored Wonka who told him to "stop!" and as a result, Mike was shrunk. However, Charlie and Grandpa Joe had drunk some Fizzy Lifting Drink which Wonka said was "too dangerous". Charlie and Grandpa Joe almost got chopped to pieces by the exhaust pipe, but they burped which put them back on the ground. Wonka claimed Charlie had violated the contract and knew about the fizzy lifting drink. But, it was all an act and Wonka proclaimed Charlie the winner. Edit