Robert Cormier's, "The Chocolate War," is an adolescent novel about a boy who questions the world and the social structures within it. Obviously, the universe in question is not the actual world, but high school, which to teenagers, feels like the world. Jerry constantly questions whether he should disturb the universe. Unknowingly, Jerry asserts his power by saying no to selling the chocolates, which causes Brother Leon to fluster. Soon the rest of the student body starts to admire Jerry, that is, until The Vigils reassert theirs. Ultimately, Jerry is beaten for speaking against what is wrong, which is an odd moral that Cormier projects. Some may believe that "The Chocolate War," is not an adolescent novel because of the evil tone that the world of high school tends to have throughout the novel. However, Cormier shows the high school to be infested with evil by the way the kids rally behind The Vigils, who are obviously extremely mean, and tries to show young adults that following others is not always morally correct.
Roberta Trites states in, "Disturbing the Universe, Power And Repression in Adolescent Literature," that throughout the novel, "Jerry Renault has power in agreeing to exist in harmony with the forces of oppression at Trinity High School" (4). This is because Jerry did not disturb the universe and simply does what he is told. However, to what good is it that no one speaks against what is right and wrong? Even Brother Leon, while embarrassing Bailey says that, "But you, gentlemen, you sat there and enjoyed yourselves. And those of you who didn't enjoy yourselves allowed it to happen, allowed me to proceed. You turned this classroom into Nazi Germany for a few moments" (Cormier 45). Even though Leon may state this and want his students to speak out against what is right and wrong, he does not appreciate it once Jerry does so. Essentially, the novel is not about Nazis, but it is a dictatorship in that Brother Leon and the Vigils rule the school out of the fear they make others feel and once their power is in question, they will do anything to gain it back.
Once Jerry does act out against the Vigils and Leon, originally the rest of the school enjoys what Jerry is doing. Some even stop selling chocolates to support Jerry. However, once Archie realizes that the Vigils power is questioned, Archie decides to reassert it. By doing so, he turns the whole school against Jerry, which makes Jerry start to regret not selling the chocolates. Jerry is literally beaten down because of his use of words. At the end of the novel, Leon even watches and allows Jerry to be beat up. Jerry, finally discouraged, says to Goober, "It's a laugh, Goober, a fake. Don't disturb the universe, Goober, no matter what the posters say" (Cormier 248). Although this is appears to be discouraging to adolescent students, it shows them what happens if everyone follows what is wrong, rather than listening to those who are right. Sometimes, it pays off to disturb the universe rather than walk through the halls not doing anything about what is wrong.
Final Thoughts
14 years ago
It seems to me that you really have a lot of great ideas about the novel and information to back it up.
ReplyDeletePaige - I think this book is absolutely a book for adolescents and it's not as harsh as some real-life scenarios that exist in the schools. I think you're on the right track about the moral lesson Cormier tries to teach via the Vigils and their sinister ways.
ReplyDeleteThere was a huge amount of evil present in the high school. In a way, it almost seemed like a cult. I think you make a good point by saying that this novel shows teens what happens when you follow the bad crowd. It shows that even if you stand up for what you believe it, you may not always come out on top. Isn't that what the real world is like, too? Instead of Cormier making this a fairytale ending, he chose to show you what happens when you don't always succeed.
ReplyDeleteI found myself cheering for Jerry the whole way through. It's amazing how people can change their belief once they feel pressure from others. For instance, the other students were originally in favor of Jerry's battle against the authority. But when Archie, a fellow student, stepped in and protested Jerry's doings, the students began to bad mouth Jerry.
ReplyDeleteWe all have those experiences. A student can be fine one day until another student, usually from a more popular crowd, steps in and pokes fun at that student, allowing other students to get involved and join in the harassment. It's amazing what peer pressure can do.