The Chocolate War

BOOK REPORT TITLE: The Chocolate War AUTHOR: Robert Cormier PUBLICATION DATE: 1974 PLACE SETTING: The story is set in New York. TIME SETTING: The story takes place in the modern day. POINT OF VIEW: The story is told in third person. THEME: The theme is fighting the establishment. Jerry is all by himself against the Vigils and, it seems, the faculty of the school, who blindly let the chocolates become their number one priority. All these …

…hold a raffle to sell Jerry's share of chocolates. The raffle doubles as a boxing match, one ticket entitling the holder to call one punch. Jerry ends up getting a severe beating. The episode severely undermines the Vigils' credibility, but does more damage to Jerry. EVALUATION: This is an odd, rather unlikely story of high school social status. The Vigils, and the power they hold, seem rather implausible, but it's still a rather good story.