The Chocolate War is a very interesting book for many reasons. There are many things going on at once, and the author does a good job of telling the story without getting things confused. Instead of focusing on one main character, or one main topic, Cormier sets up the story so that many situations are going on at once. The author also lacks to define a clear protagonist. There is a specific group of people that remains the focus of the book, but not one individual.
The story depicts a normal school scene, many subgroups and organizations, such as the underground club, The Vigils. They say that this subgroup is responsible for keep the order in the school All they basically do is cause mischief in the school by pulling various pranks. The football team is very important. That seems to be the group that the author has chosen to follow, the football team.
There is a certain conflict here that arises between the students and their superiors, their teachers. The homeroom teacher of many of students is holding a fund raiser, and asks that the boys (it’s an all boys school) sell candy; 50 boxes each. The teacher has been known in the past to get on many people’s cases, so most are very passive when telling him that they’ll do it. But one character, Jerry, stands up to him by objecting to sell the boxes. Many of his classmates are very proud of him because of this. The book, in it’s first half is a little confusing because I can realize that something is all coming together, but I just haven’t reached this point yet. The author is still dealing with some abstract ideas, and is waiting to pull them altogether.
The story, as I see it now, is depicting school life in an all boy private school, I think the book will have something to do with overcoming those that oppress you, and standing up for yourself, But I think that even at the half point, it’s still too early to really tell.