Chap­ter 35 of The Choco­late War por­trays a charged atmos­phere as Archie takes con­trol of a con­tro­ver­sial event at Trin­i­ty. The event, dis­guised as a foot­ball ral­ly, quick­ly turns into a spec­ta­cle with a raf­fle that draws large crowds to the ath­let­ic field. The stu­dents eager­ly par­tic­i­pate in the raf­fle, buy­ing tick­ets and fuel­ing the excite­ment sur­round­ing the event. Archie, over­see­ing the set­up, ensures that every stu­dent has a clear view of the box­ing ring, mak­ing sure the spec­ta­cle will cap­ti­vate them. Renault and Jan­za, the fight­ers, stand ner­vous­ly in the ring, unaware of the full extent of what they’re about to face. The entire sit­u­a­tion is expert­ly manip­u­lat­ed by Archie to cre­ate an intense, high-stakes atmos­phere, all to enter­tain the crowd while assert­ing his own con­trol.

Archie’s manip­u­la­tion is evi­dent as he sub­tly con­vinces Renault to fight Jan­za under the false pre­tens­es of seek­ing revenge. Renault’s desire for jus­tice and his injured pride are eas­i­ly exploit­ed by Archie, who plays on his emo­tions and manip­u­lates his desire to con­front his bul­ly. How­ev­er, Archie is ful­ly aware that Renault is out­matched, hav­ing already set Jan­za up for vic­to­ry by taunt­ing him in a way that ensures his involve­ment in the fight. The chal­lenge, framed as a fair oppor­tu­ni­ty for ret­ri­bu­tion, is actu­al­ly a trap designed by Archie to humil­i­ate Renault and fur­ther estab­lish his dom­i­nance. This cun­ning manip­u­la­tion high­lights Archie’s abil­i­ty to con­trol the sit­u­a­tion, using oth­ers’ weak­ness­es to serve his own agen­da. His con­trol over both fight­ers, Renault and Jan­za, demon­strates his dom­i­nance and how he cap­i­tal­izes on the emo­tions and moti­va­tions of those around him to cre­ate a sit­u­a­tion that ben­e­fits him.

As Renault faces Jan­za in the ring, his emo­tions are a mix of ner­vous­ness and deter­mi­na­tion. He reflects on his ear­li­er desire to not only con­front Jan­za but also chal­lenge the tox­ic envi­ron­ment of the school, which Archie sym­bol­izes. How­ev­er, as he stands exposed and vul­ner­a­ble before the crowd, the harsh real­i­ty of the sit­u­a­tion sinks in. The pres­sure from the spec­ta­tors and the grow­ing ten­sion of the fight weigh heav­i­ly on him. His body is tense, not only with fear but also with a sense of pride, as he faces the chal­lenge head-on. This moment rep­re­sents a turn­ing point for Renault, as he real­izes the fight is not just with Jan­za but with the larg­er sys­tem at play, a sys­tem that Archie manip­u­lates to his advan­tage.

As the fight draws near­er, the raf­fle tick­ets con­tin­ue to sell out, demon­strat­ing Archie’s skill in stok­ing the excite­ment of the crowd. He has cre­at­ed a fren­zy around the event, offer­ing the promise of thrill and enter­tain­ment, and the stu­dents eager­ly com­ply. Bri­an Cochran, who is respon­si­ble for over­see­ing the raf­fle, finds him­self filled with anx­i­ety as the pres­sure builds. Despite his dis­com­fort, he ulti­mate­ly sub­mits to Archie’s influ­ence, rec­og­niz­ing that resist­ing him would have seri­ous con­se­quences. Cochran’s inter­nal strug­gle mir­rors the larg­er theme of pow­er and con­trol that runs through­out the chap­ter. Archie’s abil­i­ty to manip­u­late his peers is stark­ly dis­played here, show­ing how he can make oth­ers con­form to his will, even when they are unsure or uneasy about their par­tic­i­pa­tion.

In con­trast, Janza’s own inter­nal con­flict is also explored. Des­per­ate to prove him­self and avoid being seen as weak, he pre­pares for the fight, eager to gain val­i­da­tion through phys­i­cal dom­i­na­tion. How­ev­er, he’s also aware of the manip­u­la­tion at play and ques­tions whether Archie is tru­ly look­ing out for him or sim­ply using him as part of his larg­er scheme. This moment of self-doubt mir­rors Renault’s own ques­tion­ing of the events unfold­ing around him. Both char­ac­ters are caught in a web of manip­u­la­tion, strug­gling to deter­mine their roles in a sit­u­a­tion that is large­ly out of their con­trol. This par­al­lel strug­gle adds depth to the chap­ter, illus­trat­ing how both Renault and Jan­za are prod­ucts of the tox­ic sys­tem that Archie has cre­at­ed.

Chap­ter 35 deft­ly explores the psy­cho­log­i­cal and emo­tion­al com­plex­i­ties of peer pres­sure, manip­u­la­tion, and pow­er dynam­ics. Through the expe­ri­ences of Renault and Jan­za, the chap­ter delves into how eas­i­ly indi­vid­u­als can be con­trolled and exploit­ed by those in posi­tions of pow­er. Archie’s abil­i­ty to manip­u­late the sit­u­a­tion, play­ing on the desires and inse­cu­ri­ties of oth­ers, is cen­tral to the chapter’s devel­op­ment. As the fight looms and the ten­sion builds, read­ers are remind­ed of the dan­gers of unchecked author­i­ty and the pro­found effects it has on those involved. The chap­ter serves as a pow­er­ful com­men­tary on the manip­u­la­tion of indi­vid­u­als with­in a larg­er soci­etal frame­work, high­light­ing the strug­gles of the char­ac­ters as they nav­i­gate a web of con­trol and moral ambi­gu­i­ty. It sets the stage for the inevitable con­flict that will arise, leav­ing read­ers with a sense of fore­bod­ing and antic­i­pa­tion.