Visual Essay
The books, The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, The Catcher in the Rye by
J.D. Salinger, and Inventing Elliot, by Graham Gardner are all very compelling books
about how everyone has two sides to them. One side is the shadowy side of
deception and corruption, and the other is the lighter side they show the world.
The Chocolate War is about a boy named Jerry who goes to an all boys’
Catholic school called Trinity. The Vigils, is a group that corrupts the school with
their meticulous system manipulating the weaker kids into doing bad things for the
group’s amusement. When Jerry tries to disregard this system he winds up with the
wrong people at the wrong time. Jerry tries letting the bright side of himself show
more than the shadow, but the boys in the school let the shadow take over, leaving
Jerry in the dust. Archie the leader of the Vigils shows his two sides throughout the
book. When Archie talks he tries to make people believe that he is just a victim, but
his action shows how he likes to create chaos. The moon’s shadow takes up most of
the moon, but it’s the bright side everyone looks at, the shining beam everyone
wants to see in people. Although it’s hardly there, it’s all anyone ever sees. For
example, when Obie, Archie’s side kick, swears in the book, Archie says, “Don’t
swear Obie… You’ll have to tell it confession… ‘I don’t know how you had the nerve
to receive communion at chapel this morning’ Obie said. It doesn’t take nerve Obie.
When you march down to the rail, you’re receiving The Body, man. I’m just chewing
the wafer they buy by the pound…And when you say ‘Jesus’ you’re talking about a
leader. I’m talking about a guy who walked the earth for thirty-three years like any
other guy but caught the imagination…” (11-12)
The book Inventing Elliot is very much like The Chocolate War. In Inventing
Elliot, a boy named Elliot goes through the same kind of process as Jerry, facing
bullies and losing his identity on his journey. When Elliot moves and goes to a new
school, he is happily surprised that he is not being picked on as he was in his last
school. He tries very hard to just fit in, but when Elliot is asked to join the Guardians
he is forced to split his personality in two. When Elliot is with the Guardians he
changes, becoming a person he hardly recognized. When he is with the Guardians
his shadow takes over, his bright side enveloped in the shadow. Throughout the
entire book Elliot has inner conversations between his light side and his dark side,
“My god, Elliot, look at you… You’re going to rule this place…I just want to survive.
The point of control is to control. The point of having power is to have power. The
point of using terror is to use terror. I don’t want to. I can’t. I’m not like that. You’ll
get used to it.”(85) You can see very clearly from this quote that halfway through the
book Elliot has tapped into his dark side, and you can also tell that both sides are
making him distraught about how he really wants to live his life. He has to choose if
he wants to live with the people who love and care about him, or with the people
who believe that he had the potential to rule the school.
The Catcher in the Rye tells the story of Holden Caulfield, his problems, and
the thoughts that run through his head every second of the day. This picture, also
tells the story of Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield is a little different from Jerry or
Elliot. In the beginning of the book, Holden seems mostly carefree; he seems more or
less like a normal 15 year old. As the story goes on, and Holden tells you more and
more about his life, you realize he has hidden his true self from the world. He is
actually a very sensitive boy on the verge of mental illness who is having a nervous
breakdown because he just flunked out of his fourth boarding school. One day after
he’s been told he’s being kicked out of school, he goes to visit his old history teacher.
He and his teacher are having a conversation, and he says “Life is a game. Life is a
game that one plays according to the rules.” Holden thinks to himself, “If you get on
the side where all the hotshots are, then it’s a game… But if you get on the other side,
where there aren’t any hotshots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No
game.”(12) This quote shows Holden’s insecurities. He lets himself think everyone
around him is phony, that he’s the only real person, yet he still wants to be like
everyone else. This is where Holden’s dark side comes into play. When Holden
wants to be like everyone else he does things he wouldn’t have done before For
example, he dances with 30 year old women, and drinks alcohol. He is so engrossed
in his dark side he starts hurting the people around him, as well as himself. The light
part of the moon inside him slowly starts to fade.
The moon and its two sides is not only a reflection of the books it’s also a
reflection of our world. There are days when you can see the dark side, and days
when the dark side is completely hidden. On the days when the dark side is hidden,
we don’t see how cruel the world can really be.