The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
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Book Reviews of The Chocolate War
Book Review: A Dark Fable
Summary: 3 Stars
The enjoyment of fiction usually requires the suspension of disbelief. To enjoy this novel as portrayal of something that could happen in a 1970s parochial school requires that you do more than suspend your disbelief. Take your disbelief, bind it, gag it, blindfold it, stuff cotton into its ears and lock it in the trunk of your car. Then and only then can you read this novel as a slice of life.
However, you can accept a secret (not so secret) society (the Vigils) in a Catholic school having power out of proportion to their numbers; the teachers having full knowledge of their existence and activities; along with a headmaster want-to-be with the ambition of a third-world dictator, if you view this novel as a dark fable. One that would be more at home in a Brothers Grimm setting.
The influence of the powerful is then magnified and unquestioned as in the olden times, not the rebellious 70's.
Motivations become a little clearer when you realize the understory. Those with ambition that are in power wish to remain in power. Those with ambition that are out of power wish to gain power. Both will do anything, even work with each other, for that power and to destroy anyone who threatens that power.
Enter Jerry Renault, someone with no ambition caught between the striving factions. When he defies one, he defies the other and neither can tolerate his defiance. Working together they make his life miserable and then destroy it, almost costing him his life.
One review stated the moral was to "give up". Another, might be that "one person can begin to change the system, but one person alone cannot. If you choose to fight the established power structure, be prepared to lose. Not just the battle, but everything you hold dear".
A good read, but only three stars.
Book Review: The chocolate war
Summary: 3 Stars
The Chocolate War gets 3 out of 5 stars. The Chocolate War is a novel by author Robert Cormier, and there is a movie about this book made in 1988, but the movie wasn't as good as the book. The book takes place in the Trinity School and it is about the school having a chocolate sale and at the school is a group called the Vigils and they run the school. They get permission to do WHATEVER it takes to make sure everyone in school sells the chocolates. For example the Vigils do these things called Assignments, which are things to mess with peoples minds like Unscrew everything in a room, act like monkeys when a teacher says a certain word, and blackmail kids with embarrassing pictures. A boy named Jerry wants to join their Group and they said to be in the Vigils your first assignment is to say no to the chocolate sale. At first Jerry thought this was not a problem but he didn't know how serious this sale really was so he ends up getting threatened, beaten, and humiliated by the whole school just for not selling the chocolates. I liked the book because it was all about mind games with people and it was to see how someone can make someone else do something they don't want to. I would recommend this book to everyone because it is a very good book to learn about how life actually works and also it can connect with many people who read it. Such as in some point in your life someone made you do something you didn't want to do and ended up doing it.
Book Review: "Do I dare disturb the universe?"
Summary: 3 Stars
Jerry Renault is just your typical fourteen-year-old freshman (and football player) at a private Catholic high school minding his own business when, one day, a gang of student thugs called The Vigils task him with refusing to sell chocolates for the annual fundraiser. Brother Leon, a no-nonsense, obnoxious teacher doubles the usual candy order, then requires that the students take on the task of selling them (50 boxes each) willingly by requiring them to "accept" the chocolates during a daily roll call. Day after day, Jerry replies "No" to the question of whether he will accept his boxes and the task of selling, leaving Brother Leon livid. But after the order is rescinded Jerry continues his act of defiance. To save face, the Vigils go on a chocolate selling spree and start tormenting Jerry through prank calls and other mischief, including spreading a rumor that he is gay. It all comes to a head at an event involving an unusually-themed raffle. The message seems to be - bullying is bad. But I expected more from a book whose jacket's contention is that it's a "groundbreaking novel." Better: The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.Book Review: Not suitable for children under 14
Summary: 3 Stars
The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier, was supposedly written for high school students, and is not appropriate for middle school students. The sexual tones and the main character's thoughts and discussions on masturbation are not appropriate for kids in middle school. Although this book has a great plot, and is a good read for young adults, I would not recommend it for kids in middle school, especially girls. The main character Jerry Renault is a freshman at a Catholic high school,and repeatedly refers to girls' breasts and is very descriptive of female parts, which is something that middle school kids do not need to be copying.Book Review: a young adult classic. dated, but true
Summary: 3 Stars
Jerry Renault decides to "disturb the universe" by refusing to sell chocolates in his private school's annual fund-raiser. He angers the militant and ambitious Brother Leon, as well as the school's hazing-crazy secret society, the Vigils. Jerry is alienated and harassed for his revolutionary rebellion against the mob and its power-mad leader Archie. Excellent (though dated) story about adolescence and school culture and human nature. Disturbing and full of truth. Grade: B+