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Book report English The Chocolate War, ISBN: 9780141312514
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incredibly strong book report of the chocolate war written by robert cornier. I got a 9 for it
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The Chocolate war Robert CornierIn a nutshell
The chocolate war takes place at Trinity catholic high school In Canada. but this
school has something unparticular; if you follow the rules set by a group called the
vigils, led by Archie Costello, you will have the best high school time ever. However,
if you refuse to carry out your assignment, the Vigils will pull out all the stops to deal
as much psychological harm as possible. The strangest part about all of this, it is
totally accepted by the teachers themselves. Each year the students have to sell
boxes full of chocolate for charity. Jerry Renault, a freshman, is selected by Archie to
complete an assignment: during the first ten days of the chocolate sale, he has to
refuse his boxes, so he has less time to sell 50 boxes of chocolate. Days passes by
and the policy of the vigils, especially Archie’s, drives Jerry him crazy. The last day of
the assignment arrives, so Jerry has to start selling his boxes, but he refuses to do it.
The Vigils consider his refusal to sell his boxes a defiance of his assignment, he is
the first student ever to dare to turn his back to the Vigils. Archie wants to take
revenge on Jerry by letting him box against school thug Emile Janza. Trinity high
school is not what we are used to, and so does the boxing fight. Archie let student
write a boxing move. During the fight, Jerry and Janza are hitting each other as
directed by Archie. But suddenly everything went wrong for Jerry after a directed
punch in his groin. Jerry collapses, turns out to be a broken jaw and some other
injuries.
Point of view
The chocolate war is not written from the perspective of one single person, the book
is told in the third person. The way it effects the book is it gives us insights in
motivations for the actions and the thoughts of the students. The third person
narrator makes it difficult to bond with a character. however, by jumping from
character to character and seeing their motivations for their actions, it is easier to
have sympathy for them.
Time and location
The book is written in 1974, and the story is not really futuristic, in fact it is really
traditional. One of the best Beatles songs ever made is also mentioned in the book:
‘The ringing continued, mocking him the way Janza had mocked him. Let it be,
let it be, like the Beatles sang. Still ringing.’ (Page 96/97). ‘Let it be’ was
published in 1970, and the story was published in 1974 so I would say that the story
takes place in the early 1970’s. The chocolate boxes sale happens during the
school’s autumn semester. Most of the story takes place at Trinity catholic high
school. The setting effected in an interesting insight in how things were back in 1970
at a catholic high school. Nowadays we cannot even imagine how it would be if you
go to a school where you have to do assignments to be accepted.
, Characters
jerry Renault; a fourteen-year-old freshman at Trinity College. Recently he lost his
mom, he does not have any siblings, so it is just him and his dad. Unfortunately, his
dad personal life hit rock bottom after the loss of his wife. Jerry is a very quiet boy,
but his actions speak louder than his words. He takes what happens to him no matter
what.
‘He went into the kitchen, suddenly ravenous, and dumped some ice cream from the freezer
into a dish.
"My name is Jerry Renault and I'm not going to sell the chocolates," he said to the empty
apartment.
The words and his voice sounded strong and noble. ‘(chapter 26- page 79).
Jerry likes to be alone; he is not a man of many words. After he decides that he won’t
sell the chocolate boxes it feels for him as personal growth, because he is finally
fending up for himself.
Archie Costello: The leader of a group called ‘The Vigils’. Archie is sneaky, powerful
and he is really talented in manipulating people. Because he is in good conditions
with the headmaster of Trinity high school, Brother Leon, everything what he and the
Vigils commit is tolerated.
‘Archie disliked violence--- most of his assignments were exercises in the psychological
rather than the physical.
That's why he got away with so much. The Trinity brothers wanted peace at any price, quiet
on the campus, no broken bones.’ (chapter 1- page 6)
Every student at Trinity is scared of Archie and the Vigils, except Jerry. He does not
care about Archie’s assignments. Their relationship is on bad terms, Archie sees
Jerry as his enemy, and he pulls out all the stops to psychological hurt Jerry. For
example, during the boxing fight between Jerry and Janza, he let Jerry take a punch
below the belt, which was strictly forbidden.
Without any doubt I can say I don’t feel like I have anything in common with Archie,
the way he manipulates and harms people, I dislike it. However, I have something in
common with Jerry, just like Jerry I take what happen to me no matter what. One of
my favourite quotes ever ties in perfect with Jerry: ‘Everything happens for a reason;
the hard part is finding out what that reason is.’
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