The Chocolate War: Post #3

Summary pgs.79-118

As the chocolate sale begins to go underway, Brother Leon starts to check off those who were participating.  Everyone in the school volunteered to help... that is, everyone except Jerry.  Ignoring Leon's attempts to coerce the Renault boy to comply, he still refuses to partake in the sale.  Archie is still making up plans on how exactly to sell his share of the chocolates, but he has some formidable competition.  First off is John Sulkey, the school's expert mini-salesman, who sold the most raffle tickets during a fundraiser at the school last year, and this time around he is determined to win.  Archie's second opponent, Tubs Casper, was desperately trying to sell some of his chocolates to get his oh-so wonderful girlfriend a gift, a bracelet, specifically (which cost roughly nineteen dollars and fifty cents, plus tax).  Later in the book, Jerry's reason for declining the chocolates was revealed to be his assignment for the Vigils: he had to decline the chocolates for ten days, and accept them on the next day, making Brother Leon more irate in the process.  Because of this, Leon began to develop a strong hatred for Jerry.  The eleventh day, the end of the assignment, finally came.  Surprisingly, when Leon asked Jerry again, he still refused those chocolates.  This event even surprises Jerry himself, since he does not even know why he said no.  He ponders this to the point that it haunts him in his sleep.  Why was he doing this?  Was Leon torturing him?  At that point, all he wanted was his life to be normal again, meaning no involvement with the Vigils.


Quotation Explanation
"Caroni watched the chalk in Brother Leon's hands, the way the teacher pressed it, rolled it, his fingers like the legs of pale spiders with a victim in their clutch" (Cormier 110).

My Reaction
The plot thickens.  As the chocolate sales start going at full speed, tension starts to rise drastically.  The characters seem to be getting at each others' throats as well, meaning conflicts rise as well.  I can say that this novel is starting to be more like events real people can have today in modern times.  As always, Cormier uses his literary techniques to make the text more lively, such as in the Quotation Explanation.  The liveliness of the text makes it easier for the reader to enjoy the book much more.  As I continue this Bildungs-Roman, I expect to enjoy more of Mr. Cormier's writing style.  To me, it is very interesting.