The book is relatively short but packs a punch. This book was first published in 1974 and has spent most of it's time since on the 'top 10 banned books list' in American schools because of it's content, in part sexual (masturbation), in part religious (it is a Catholic school and some of the teachers are good and some are bad) but mainly because it features bullying. Initially he does so for ten days at the command of a secretive student group the 'Vigils' but once those ten days up he decides unilaterally to continue with his stance. But this year is different, because new boy Jerry Renault has refused to take part. Each boy 'volunteers' to sell a quota of boxes in a fund-raising effort that is also a display of 'school spirit'. The Chocolate War simply failed to draw me in.'They don't actually want you to do your thing, not unless it's their thing too.'Įvery year Trinity Boy's School runs a chocolate sale.

I had no connection to the characters, and I was not particularly moved by the events of the novel even when the protagonist was in danger. The disjointed writing at first built suspense, but it quickly caused me to lose interest, and I felt like the book had parts missing. The Chocolate War has simplistic prose which makes it digestible for almost any reader, but it made a relatively short read unbearably tedious. However, that isn’t the only grievance I have with the book. It honestly would be much better if women didn’t appear in the novel at all. Women in this novel are only seen as sexual conquests and serve no real purpose in the novel. There were gratuitous descriptions of young girls’ bodies that were disturbing. Nevertheless, The Chocolate War submits to the “women are objects” rhetoric that many other novels written by men also do. I understand that since I, a teenage girl, was not the target audience for the novel, I may not recognize the appeal. While I don’t necessarily believe in banning books, I will argue that this book was not an enjoyable read. The book was banned because of its excessive violence, sexual content, and profanity. The novel has underlying themes of nonconformity and rebellion. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier is a novel about a teenage boy, Jerry Renault, who defies the authority of his school by not engaging in a chocolate sale.

The chocolate war book