30 Dec / The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Talk about testosterone gone awry: The Chocolate War is a disturbing look at how boys – and the men from whom they are supposed to learn – mistreat, outmaneuver, and abuse one another.
Jerry Renault is a new freshman at Trinity, a parochial high school led by Brother Leon while the actual headmaster is on leave due to illness. Brother Leon is a megalomaniac who clearly should not be teaching impressive young men. He usually turns a blind eye to the school gang, The Vigils, led in effect by the manipulative Archie Costello, but enlists the gang’s cooperation when he decides circumstances so dictate, including the annual chocolate sales. This year’s chocolate sales – leftover Mother’s Day specials bought cheap to be sold with the ribbons removed – presumably serve again as a school fundraiser, but under Brother Leon’s dubious leadership, the truth is clearly something otherwise.
As a new-student initiation, The Vigils insist that Jerry must refuse to sell the chocolates for a certain period of time. He complies, quickly earning the growing ire of Brother Leon. When Jerry’s refusal goes beyond the mandated period and he continues to ignore his expected chocolate quota, his decision pits him against The Vigils, Brother Leon, and even the majority of the (lemming-like) student body. Even his one friend abandons him in fright. The initial consequences are intimidating – ostracision at school, crank phone calls home, obscene names thrown at him – but too quickly violence proves gruesomely inevitable.
Of course, the neverending question running through my own head is ‘where are the adults?’ Jerry’s father is too busy mourning the premature death of his wife to even take notice of Jerry’s growing injuries, while the other teachers cannot stand up to the evil that leads them.
That the late Robert Cormier’s writing can actually nauseate with its brutal machinations underscores its three decade-plus staying power. It’s a nightmarish reminder that unchallenged authority (think Nazis, think ethnic cleansing, think even media bullying) should never to be taken lightly.
Readers: Young Adult
Published: 1974