The Chocolate War

Using a critical lens, examine the representation of women and girls in the novel. Consider how the social constructs of patriarchy, matriarchy, or gender and sexuality influence your analysis.

A third-person omniscient narrator tells the story and shifts between various characters’ internal thoughts. How does this narrative technique help develop the theme of The Turmoil of Adolescence? How might the novel and its representation of adolescence be different if it were narrated from one character’s first-person point of view?

Discuss Cormier’s use of brief and abrupt phrases to open each chapter of the novel. How does this affect the pacing and tension of the novel? Use the first lines of at least four specific chapters to explain.

Explore how the novel develops The Moral Complexities of Resistance and Conformity. How do questions about motivation, purpose, and consequences inform people’s decisions about whether to resist or conform to authority? In what ways do these concerns influence your views of the morality of resistance or conformity?

Analyze the themes, motifs, setting, and allusions in The Chocolate War and “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Compare and contrast how each work addresses ideas about conformity, individuality, tradition, and mortality; explain why Cormier chose to make a line from this poem the motivating factor behind Jerry’s actions.

When Emile beats Jerry, both in and out of the ring, he descends into darkness, and the boxing match ends when Brother Jacques turns out the lights. How does darkness become a metaphor for other ideas about human nature and experience in the novel? Use these and other references to darkness to explain.

In the chaos of the fight, the remaining chocolates are stolen, and Obie tells Archie there are no more chocolates for him to eat. Might this represent an end to Archie’s string of good luck? Based on the events and symbols in the novel, predict whether “the law of averages” will ever catch up to Archie.

On the back cover of this edition of the novel, there is a quotation from Kirkus Reviews that says “Readers will respect the uncompromising ending” (“The Chocolate War.” Kirkus Reviews). What makes the end of the novel “uncompromising” and deserving of readers’ respect? How does the ending set the novel apart from traditional YA literature? Support your claim with evidence from this and any other young adult novels you have read.