Cormier, Robert. (1974). The chocolate war. New York, NY: Random House Children's Books.
The Chocolate War takes place at a Catholic high school in 1974. It deals with bullying, physical and psychological, by a character who is a master of intimidation and has the entire student body and the faculty under his thumb. Archie gets what Archie wants, from the other students and from the teachers, and he selects his victims by pretending to be their friends. The "chocolate war" comes about because Archie loves chocolate, the school fundraiser involves selling chocolate, and the corrupt interim headmaster is willing to use Archie and his gang to achieve his means. And sadly enough, Archie is not defeated; the ultimate lesson becomes, "Give Archie what he wants, because fighting Archie carries too heavy a price."
Students who are bullied and feel they have no recourse, may find that this book reflects their experience. They will probably be able to relate to Jerry, the protagonist and victim, especially if they have attempted to stand up to a bully and found that doing so was useless. It is very well-written; the intimidation and manipulation inflicted by Archie is bone-chilling, enough so that the book is very hard to read. I personally prefer happy endings in which good triumphs over evil; this book does not have such an ending. But for those who want a read that is dark, edgy, and reflects the reality that some problems are not easily solved (or not solved at all), Cormier does a great job with this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment