Cover of The Chocolate War
    Novel

    The Chocolate War

    by testsuphomeAdmin
    The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier follows Jerry Renault, a high school student who refuses to participate in his school's annual chocolate sale fundraiser. His act of defiance sparks a cruel campaign of bullying and manipulation, leading him to question authority, conformity, and the power of resistance.

    In Chap­ter Sev­en­teen of “The Choco­late War,” the ten­sion builds dur­ing a roll call in the class­room, where the stu­dents’ choco­late sales respons­es reveal the weight of an ongo­ing assign­ment. The Goober, impa­tient­ly await­ing Jer­ry Renault’s turn, is acute­ly aware of Jer­ry’s inter­nal strug­gle due to his refusal to sell choco­lates as part of a Vig­il assign­ment. This refusal has affect­ed Jerry’s life sig­nif­i­cant­ly, even his per­for­mance in foot­ball, prompt­ing con­cern from their coach. Despite their lim­it­ed com­mu­ni­ca­tion, the Goober knows that Jer­ry plans to end the assign­ment tomor­row.

    As Broth­er Leon, the teacher, con­ducts the roll call with an uplift­ing demeanor, the class­room reflects his moods. He checks off stu­dents’ choco­late sales, and a rhyth­mic chant echoes through the class­room. How­ev­er, as the roll pro­gress­es and ten­sion mounts, the atmos­phere shifts when Par­men­tier’s turn arrives. The weight of antic­i­pa­tion hangs heavy as Broth­er Leon calls for Renault. In a moment that feels sus­pend­ed in time, Jer­ry responds with a defin­i­tive “No!” when asked about sell­ing choco­lates.

    The Goober’s per­spec­tive empha­sizes the enor­mi­ty of Jerry’s deci­sion, por­tray­ing a sense of dis­be­lief and shock as the class­room col­lec­tive­ly process­es the moment. Broth­er Leon, equal­ly stunned, attempts to regain con­trol, but Jer­ry stands firm in his refusal. This piv­otal moment cre­ates an atmos­phere of pro­found silence, sig­ni­fy­ing a poten­tial turn­ing point not only in Jerry’s per­son­al strug­gle but also in the dynam­ics with­in the class­room, high­light­ing themes of rebel­lion and courage in the face of pres­sure. The chap­ter encap­su­lates the emo­tions of rebel­lion against con­for­mi­ty, under­scor­ing Jer­ry’s resolve to resist the expect­ed norms, thus alter­ing the land­scape of his rela­tion­ships with peers and author­i­ty fig­ures alike.

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