Overview:
Published in the year 1974 and adopted into a film 14 years later, “The Chocolate War” is a novel penned down by Robert Cormier. It is novel which falls under the ‘young adult’ genre and numerous experts have said that it is one of the best ever. It touches and speaks about a controversial topic and is based in Trinity High School, a fictional school mentioned in the story.
The lead character, Jerry Renault, openly challenges the mob rule in his school which he says, is brutal and ugly. It has been under the constant scrutiny of censors and makes an appearance in the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books in the 21st century.
Summary of the Plot:
This novel is written in ‘third person omniscient’ viewpoint and the fictitious narrator’s focus varies from characters like The Goober, Jerry, Emile, Obie and others. Jerry Renault is a very self-determined and lonely freshman at Trinity, which is a catholic preparatory school. All through the story, Jerry faces a lot of sexual frustration and ponders on many existential queries. Both are signified by the quote “Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?” which is pasted in Jerry’s locker. A secret student association by the name of “Trinity the Vigils” assumes the task of keeping unified control over all other students. In order to achieve this, the association gives ridiculous ‘assignments’ to the students. The rest of the story speaks about how Jerry tries to resist the control of The Vigils and how he ends up beaten up by the school bully in the end. This defiance of Jerry’s is portrayed in his own strong words, “Cities fell. The Earth opened. Planets tilted. Stars plummeted. And the awful silence.”
Controversies and Reception:
When it was released, “The Chocolate War” received both good and bad reviews from critics. It was considered highly controversial because of the topic it touched, the abusive language that appears in some parts of the book and the sexual queries asked by the book’s protagonist, Jerry Renault, to himself.
