The Chocolate War

 

Cormier, R. (2004). The chocolate war. New York: Knopf.

The Chocolate War, written in 1974 by Robert Cormier, introduces us to Jerry Renault, a freshman in Trinity High School. Trinity has a school gang that calls themselves the Vigils and they specialize in making assignments that other students have to complete. The Vigils are headed by Archie Costello and he makes sure these assignments inflict as much psychological injury as possible. One day Jerry's friend, known as The Goober gets an assignment from the Vigils. He sneaks into one of the classrooms and unscrews all the desks, chairs, and hinges, leaving everything hanging "by a thread". The next day when students come to class, everything collapses and falls apart which devastates the poor, sad professor. The Goober suffers emotionally and is not the same afterward. Jerry eventually gets called to complete an assignment when the annual chocolate sale begins. He is told to refuse to sell chocolates for ten days. After ten days, Jerry is supposed to accept the chocolates and start selling them, but he continues to refuse. Inspired by the poster in his locker he thinks, "Do I dare disturb the universe?" Jerry becomes somewhat a hero in the school and the chocolate sales dip. It turns out that Brother Leon, who was in charge of the chocolate ale, spent unauthorized money to buy the chocolates and needs to sell to break even. Archie decides that the Vigils will make the sale popular and make Jerry an outcast and soon all the chocolates are sold--except for Jerry's.

After failed attempts at making Jerry's life miserable enough to convince him to sell chocolates, Archie comes up with a new plan. He plans a student-only assembly to raffle off tickets. Those tickets will dictate boxing moves that Jerry and school thug, Emile Janza will use on each other. The fight gets out of hand and Jerry is beat to a pulp. In the end, Archie and the Vigils are still "in power" and Jerry has no hope for the future. He tells his friend The Goober to not disturb the universe because it is not worth it. 

This is not your typical feel-good book. It is about the realities of life; how life is difficult and sometimes tragic, and how we are not truly in control of our own destinies, and sometimes, no matter how hard we try to do what is right, three are people out there that can bring you down. This hard-hitting novel will make you question your own values and think.

Read more about Trinity High School and the Vigils in Beyond the Chocolate War the sequel written by Robert Cormier.