The Chocolate War
By: Robert Cormier
Think & Write

"Do
I dare disturb the
universe?" Interpret this
question. What do they
think it means? Reflect on
how you might disturb your
own universe, and whether
it would be a good idea.
Robert Cormier
 Grew
up in Leominster, MA
 He attended Catholic school
 Wrote on the complexities
of growing up
 The idea for the book was
inspired by his son
Background Facts
 The
Chocolate War has been one of
the most frequently censored books
 The Chocolate War has also won
praise and awards
 The book involves rebelling against
conformity, overcoming guilt,
dealing with violent teenagers and
dealing with consequences of
actions
Chapters 1-13
QuickWrite



Pick one character from the story
Write the character’s name in your
notebook.
Write as many
characteristics/personality traits as you
can in two minutes.
 Who
is Jerry Renault?
Jerry Renault is:
–Main character and protagonist
–His mother has just died
–Best friend is Goober
–Jerry is a day dreamer, wondering
if he will make the football team or
not
–In the first chapter he struggles
with self-confidence (Will I make
the football team or not?)
Archie & Obie


Obie
– Hates Archie but admires his for his
cleverness, but is still his secretary
– What does this say about Archie?
Archie
– Psychologically controlling
– He gives out assignments for The
Vigils
– One minute be very nice and the next
be sinister
– What assignment is planned for
Jerry?
The Complexities of Jerry
Jerry looks at a Playboy in Chapter 3
 What is different or surprising about
Jerry’s thoughts, while he is looking
at the magazine?
– He wonders if he will ever find love
– This shows his sensitivity
– How does this show Jerry is
different from kids like Archie or
Obie?

Brother Leon

Brother Leon
–Teacher at the school
–Consumed with the idea of profit
–He is running the chocolate sale
and has asked Archie and the
Vigils for help
–Bro. Leon is acknowledging the
gang and giving Archie power

Identify
– Emile Janza
– The power of the Vigils
– Room 19
– Jerry’s assignment

Questions to be answered
– Who are the Vigils?
– Why do they have so much power?
– Why is Emile not a part of the Vigils?
Who really are The Vigils?
 They
work on intimidation
 Goober gets his assignment from
the Vigils; he does it because of
fear
 The Vigils want to gain control by
collapsing the world at the school
 Room 19 assignment is symbolic
of this collapse
Brother Leon & Archie
Brother Leon and Archie are very
similar in personality
 Leon plays psychological games in
his classroom
 Leon, like Archie, humiliates
students by intimidating innocent
victims
 Archie picks on Goober and Leon
picks on Bailey

Emile Janza
 Archie
has power over Janza
because of a picture
 Janza is the muscle
 Enemies or friends?
Room Nineteen
Goober loosens all the screws in the
classroom
 9 hours
 At first, the boys helping Goober
look helpful, but why are they really
helping him?

– Because it would make the Vigils look
bad if the job was not complete
Jerry’s mom and dad
 Jerry’s
mother was passionate
and full of life
 Jerry’s father, since her death,
shows no emotion – Life is “fine”
 Jerry does not want to be like his
dad
 Who is Jerry more like at this
point? Why?
The Chocolate Sale
Each boy has to sell 50 boxes
 Why would Leon be pushing the
sale so much?
 The Vigils question their
involvement in the sale
–Could this cause a problem later
on?
Archie vs. Vigils
Vigils vs. Bro. Leon

Jerry’s Assignment
Jerry succeeds at football practice –
Completes a touchdown to Goober,
but he also receives his letter from
the Vigils
 What does his assignment involve?

– Cannot sell the chocolates
– Archie now has control over Bro. Leon
and Jerry
Chapters 14-25
The Chocolate Sale
cont’d.
Tubs Casper and Paul Consalvo used
to show how the chocolate war is
effecting the rest of the school
(They are doing their own thing with
the chocolate sale)
 Everyday Bro. Leon calls Jerry’s
name during roll call and Jerry
refuses the chocolates every day

Archie vs. Brother Leon
Archie’s blackmail of Emile Janza is
leading to something big; the fact
Archie says Janza can have the
picture for free leads us to believe
something is going to happen (What
is the picture?)
 Bro. Leon blackmails Caroni, a
straight A student. Bro. Leon finds
out about Archie’s assignment for
Jerry

QuickWrite

Have you ever made a decision that
you were worried about the
consequences?
– How did you come to a decision?
– Did the reactions of others help with this
decision?
– What if there were no consequences to
your actions?
Jerry’s Decision
Jerry decides not to sell the
chocolates
 Jerry goes against everyone (the
Vigils and Bro. Leon)
 Jerry starts to worry and fear the
consequences of his actions
 At this point in the story, students
begin to admire Jerry

Do I dare disturb
the universe?
Who has control?


How do the Vigils have control at
Trinity?
How does Jerry have control at
Trinity?
The assignment and Bro.
Jacques
 “Environment”
 How
did Archie fool both Bro.
Jacques and the Vigils?
 What does this tell you about
Archie?
Jerry’s Decision
 At
this point, Jerry is a hero
 Students are beginning to look
up to Jerry
 Obie realizes this and lets Archie
know
 Jerry now is the enemy of both
Bro. Leon and Archie
Goober
Goober quits the football team and
track team
 He believes something is really
wrong with the school and wants to
get away from it
 This decision of Goobers leaves
Jerry alone

Brother Leon’s reason

Why is Brother Leon so interested in
the chocolate sale?
– He spent $20,000 of the school’s
money
– He will need to pay this debt
– Leon talks to Archie and tells him this
and again asks for his help
– Once again, Archie has a lot of power,
which allows him to get even with
Jerry without consequences
Chapters 25-36
Jerry vs. Jerry
 Pervert
- Someone who doesn’t do
what’s normal
–What is right and what’s not
right?
Jerry vs. the Vigils



Students rise up and go against the
Vigils
Carter challenges Archie to make things
right and questions his decision to help
with the sale
The Vigils begin to get back at Jerry
– Hit him at football
– Call him day and night
– Trash his locker
– Take his homework assignments
Brian Cochran
Brian is Jerry’s foil
 Leon’s helper
 When the Vigils start selling candy
for students he ignores it
 The Vigils and Brian are making
Jerry the outcast more then ever
 Brian here takes the easy way out,
going along with the crowd

Jerry vs. Emile
Archie has Emile attack Jerry
mentally, calling him a queer
–Why would this bug Jerry so
much?
–It takes one’s confidence
 Emile takes things in to his own
hands and has the neighborhood
kids beat up Jerry

Jerry vs. the school
 The
Vigils get the entire school
to ignore Jerry
 Another type of mental torture
 Event Goober is not in school, so
there is no one that recognizes
Jerry
The Showdown
A boxing ring at the stadium
 Jerry vs. Janza
 How does the raffle work?

– Students paid to write down what
types of punches should be thrown
– The thing that Goober didn’t like
about the school is now apparent

The black box
The End
Jerry gets beaten badly
 Jerry decides he should have never
disturbed the universe– it was not
worth it
 Brother Leon and Archie get away
with everything

 Do
you believe it is worth
disturbing the universe?