YOUNG ADULT CLASSIC REVIEW

Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War. New York: Random House Children’s Books. 1974.

AWARDS: An ALA Best Books for Young Adults
A School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Choice
A New York Times Outstanding Books of the Year

SUMMARY: Jerry is a student at a boy’s catholic high school named The Trinity School. Trinity School is led by the Assistant Head Master, Brother Leon, who is taking over while the Head Master is recovering from an unknown illness. Trinity is also run by a gang called the Vigils, which is ruled over by Archie Costello. The Vigils main duty is to terrorize the rest of the school. Archie picks on students by providing them with an assignment to carry out. The Vigils never get in trouble for any of their offenses and it seems Archie has control of the adults running the school as well.

Brother Leon has spent money that the school doesn’t have on boxes of chocolate for the students to sell as a fundraiser. To make sure that the sale is a success, Leon asks the Vigils to help him with the sale by showing their support. Archie agrees, but at the same time he gives an assignment to freshman, Jerry Renault. He tells Jerry that he should refuse to sell chocolate for the first ten days of the sale. To everyone’s surprise, after ten days, Jerry still refuses to sell chocolate for the fund raiser. Brother Leon again asks Archie and the Vigils for help in getting the chocolate sale to be successful. Unfortunately, Jerry Renault is no longer playing anyone’s game. He gathers inspiration from the poster in his locker which reads, “Do I Dare to Disturb the Universe?”(Cormier, 1971).

The Vigils decide to step up their abuse of Jerry and try and force him to sell chocolates. He refuses, no matter how much they abuse him physically or mentally. In the end, violence takes over. Jerry has no intention of fighting, but is forced to participate. Jerry is hurt so badly in the milieu that he ends up in the hospital. Brother Leon has watched the whole situation unfold, and has done nothing to stop the violence.

Brother Jaques is about to come down hard on Archie, but Brother Leon comes in and saves Archie and the Vigils from any punishment. On his way to the hospital, Jerry tells his only friend Goober, “Don’t disturb the universe Goober, no matter what the posters say.”(Cormier, 1974)

CRITICAL ANALYSIS: This story of boys attending a Catholic Boys school in 1974 is considered a classic because its theme of violence, corrupt authority figures, and sexual situations were something that had not been written about before in such a brutally honest way. The story allows the villains to win, with the lone sympathetic character failing miserably. The characters are well developed and you will hate to see Jerry go on a downward spiral, from hero to the most hated boy in his school. I felt the emotions of Jerry while reading the story. I felt his contentment when all the boys admired his decision to boycott the candy sell. I also felt his fear when he heard the voices outside his apartment heckling him. Archie and Brother Leon are easy to despise as the villains and the ending made me feel sad. I personally enjoyed the book, although I found the first few chapters hard to follow and didn’t really get invested in the story until a few chapters later.

I think students in high school today would find this story hard to believe. It was such a different time and most students today would not tolerate the bullying, corrupt teachers, and harassment that Jerry took without ever asking anyone for help. Today, Brother Leon would probably be fired and Archie would most likely be in a juvenile facility somewhere. The school would probably be closed completely if an event like the final showdown was allowed to take place on school property. Students and parents are savvier, and authority figures are questioned today when a situation like the one in the book occurs. Cell phones, Facebook, and You Tube make it impossible for any event to occur without some documentation of it. Students today don’t understand that Jerry couldn’t text his dad from class and tell him what was happening. Parents didn’t fix every problem their children encountered, like they do today.

CONNECTIONS:
This story has several teachable moments. Students can learn that a few decades ago, authority figures, especially educators were not questioned about their decisions. Bullying and harassment was more accepted because students didn’t tell their parents everything and parents weren’t as involved as they are today. I think the book has many qualities that students today should learn about. I think that students would be shocked at the cruelty exhibited by the whole school over a chocolate sale. The whole situation is really about power and has nothing to do with chocolate, but it is still shocking. Students can also discuss how they could “Disturb the universe,” today.

REVIEWS:
School Library Journal-Starred Review:
"The characterizations of all the boys are superb... This novel [is] unique in its uncompromising portrait of human cruelty and conformity."

The New York Times Book Review:
"The Chocolate War is masterfully structured and rich in theme; the action is well crafted, well timed, suspenseful; complex ideas develop and unfold with clarity."

RESOURCES:
Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War. New York: Random House Children’s Books. 1974.

Fantastic Fiction website/Robert Cormier.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/robert-cormier/

Teen Reads website/Robert Cormier.
http://teenreads.com/authors/au-cormier-robert.asp

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