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Jerry Renault In The Chocolate War

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A person's individuality makes life more fascinating. Jerry Renault, in the novel The Chocolate War, is a high school freshman trying to fit in Holy trinity high school that has an annual chocolate sale that everyone participates in. Jerry decides to not sell the chocolates which allows for him to express his individuality because he is breaking a tradition of every student in Holy Trinity. His decision is influenced by the bullying and abuse of the Vigils and the monotonous routine of his father. However, his decision is mainly influenced by a random encounter with a hippie on the street.
Jerry decides not to sell the chocolates because of the harass and abuse from the Vigils. For instance, The Goober, a close friend of Jerry’s is forced to …show more content…

Throughout the novel, there is a repetition of the fact that everyone is following a fixed and perpetual schedule. For example, Jerry asks his father about his day in the beginning of the novel, only to get a reply saying that everyday of his father’s life was the same and monotonous. Jerry then thinks that “he hated to think of his own life...that way, a long succession of days and nights that were fine, fine-not good, not bad, not great, not lousy, not exciting, not anything.” This demonstrates that Jerry wants change because he is concerned and fears that his life is going to follow the same daily routine. Another example of Jerry wanting change in his life is his locker poster that reads “Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?” The more Jerry looks at the poster, the more he understands the meaning, he claims “Yes, I do, I do” to the question. Jerry understands the meaning behind the man on the beach alone and not afraid, making himself known in the universe. This shows that Jerry himself also wants to disturb the universe by standing alone and being different, and making himself known in the school by refusing to sell the chocolates. Therefore, Jerry does not sell the chocolates because he wants a change from the daily monotonous schedule that he follows every single

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More precisely, he disturbs the universe of Trinity. “No. I'm not going to sell the chocolates.” (Cormier, pg. 00) This part of the book is followed to the letter in the film adaptation mainly because the entirety of the plot is based on Jerry refusing the chocolate sale.

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Archie assigns Jerry to not sell the chocolates in which the school does every year. This is where Archie's mind games begin. This assignment confuses every student in the school. It was completely out of the normal to refuse the selling of the chocolates. Jerry gets harassed by other students and Archie didn't even have to touch him.

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Throughout the course of the year, as a class, we have discussed countless works from a variety of authors, artists, directors and speakers. One overarching theme from these works is the ability that a character can have to redefine social standards and have the courage to break societal norms. In society, it is incredibly hard to take a different stance than your peers and choose an alternative to the ordinary. The contrasting forces between good and evil in the world is the cause for exceptional people who are able to break social norms, however, not always in a positive manner. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the film Schindler’s List directed by Steven Spielberg, and the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut,

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Later in the book Archie was told by Brother Leon to get the schoolmate sales back up for the school. Archie didn’t want to help because he believed he had nothing to do with it when he was the one that had assigned Jerry to not sell the chocolates for 10 days. Archie made his so-called friends lie about how many chocolates kids had sold to people and would hopefully stop selling more. He let everyone else do his work besides

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No candy bars wait in the checkout lane, ready to spark a parent-child battle of wills” (Steingraber). Readers, mainly parents, will begin to reminisce about their child begging for the candy bar in the checkout line. Steingraber allows her readers to be in her position, and this will have them to understand and accept her argument much more efficiently. Sarcasm can be seen throughout Steingraber’s essay that appeals the reader’s emotion. She continues to share relatable stories to the reader by applying sarcasm and humor as she says, “Well, this is a watershed moment in parenting, I thought, as I handed each of my hungry children a little red and yellow sack, warm with food” (Steingraber).

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The Chocolate War follows the events that Jerry Renault must face the consequences of his actions after he ponders the question “do I dare disturb the universe?”. Jerry’s school is governed by a corrupt principal and who seeks helps of the violent gang who carries out the arrangements of the principal. When the gang assigns Jerry to sell the candy that was bought with stolen school money by the corrupt principal, he stares at a poster that reads “do I dare disturb the universe?” and he decides that he is going to. Standing up against the bullies and refusing to sell the candy, he suffers severe consequences.

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For example, daily medications given by Nurse Ratched or “You eat when we say you eat, you shit when we say you shit, and you piss when we say you piss. ”[Hadley, The Shawshank Redemption]. The protagonists seek to change this life and inspire those around them to do the same. For example, in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” McMurphy is shocked by most of his fellow inmates not wanting to leave after they’ve been conditioned to believe they are not fit to be a part of society “...you bitch for weeks on end about how you can’t stand this place, can’t stand the nurse or anything about her... you’re not exactly the everyday man on the street, but you’re not nuts.”

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Usually, it is the protagonist that triumphs while the antagonist suffers, in other words, the good guy thrives at the end. Jerry’s decision to fight Emile Janza leaves him dangerously injured and in need of an ambulance at the end. Emile Janza has no mercy and viciously attacks Jerry hitting him with all the power that he has. Jerry tells The Goober, a main friend that Jerry speaks most with, that it is not worth fighting back with The Vigils and that it is best for him to do whatever they tell him to do. Jerry passes out on the floor mat from all of the horrific shots by Emile.

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