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The Chocolate War

Characters

Archie – manipulative, has a lot of power, senior, he’s supporting a good cause but his intentions are evil, an “expert” in terrorizing other kids

Jerry – freshman at a new school trying to start a new life because his mother died and his dad works a lot, he’s kind of on his own, he wants to fit in but he stands up for what is right, he comes to realize that standing up for yourself is a good thing, he experiences a difficult bullying situation but learns to be strong

Brother Leon – his intentions are good but the way he goes about doing things is not very good, Archie has power over him, he doesn’t seem to care about the kids at the school, Jerry thinks he’s a demon inside

 Gooper – he’s a good person who chose the wrong path, he stops going to school, Archie has control over him for much of the book, he and Jerry become friends and he stands up for Jerry, he stands up for Jerry but gets badly hurt, he also tries to stand up for all the kids who are being bullied by Archie

Setting

a Catholic school in a small town

 Conflict

The main conflict is that the school doesn’t have money so they are selling chocolates to raise money. A group of kids are bullying the rest of the kids to sell the chocolates.

Jerry’s mother has died leaving him confused and lonely. Jerry is one of the main targets for bullying because he refuses to sell the chocolates. He likes a girl and tries to reach out to her but she’s not interested.

 Themes/Symbolism

Manipulation and abuse of power

Some people appear good but are evil and some people appear evil but are good.

 The scene where Jerry gets beaten up represents the whole book because he’s fighting again something more powerful than him but he stands his ground.

I read Insurgent  the second book in the Divergent series.  It was so good, I read the final 250 Pages in one day!