The Chocolate War

Before I read and analyzed the first two chapters of Disturbing the Universe, I found numerous comparisons between the characters in The Chocolate War and the idea of absolute power. The characters were vying for power and there was a constant power struggle between the boys at Trinity. The battle for power existed between the Vigils and the school, the Vigils and other students, and even between the members of the not-so-secret society as they struggled to be the most worthy of the group. In The Chocolate War, the obvious metaphor was between chocolate and power. The “chocolate war” was really a “power war” between all of the disputing groups involved.

I found the names in this novel particularly interesting. The Vigils, for example, were allowed to coexist because they kept the boys at Trinity from rebelling against authority. They worked much as a vigilante group would, by enforcing their own system without recognizing a legitimate government system. Archie derives from “arch,” meaning principal, leader, or primary, which is exactly his role within the group.

What the story left me with was a feeling of desire to stand up for what is right, much as Jerry did. Although he doesn’t win the battle in the end, his principles are correct and clearly established with the reader. There is value in independent thought and power in thinking against the norms of society. In the end, Jerry demonstrated his power to control his own universe, even while “disturbing” those around him. Trites points out that The Chocolate War “is an investigation of social organization and how individuals interact with that organization” (24). So who really has the power? Is it the organization or those who help shape it? Trites claims that the Young Adolescent novel, “teaches adolescents how to exist within the institutions that necessarily define teenagers’ existence” (19). Do adolescents merely exist within the institutions or are they running the entire establishment?