I just finished reading The Chocolate War and I have to say that the ending was not what I thought it would be. However, I do think that is suited the book. The Vigils to me seemed more like a cult than a "school group" but maybe that is what the author was going for. One of the major themes that I noticed in the novel was the focus on beauty. The word beautiful was used in almost every chapter, and there boys were always focusing on beautiful girls. To me it seems ironis, because of the lack of beauty that the novel contained. Again, maybe that was what the author intended. Anyone have ideas on what the focus of beauty was in the novel? Overall, I thought the book was interesting and a quick read.
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Yeah, it's interesting too because the character who uses the word "beauty" the most seems to be Archie. But Archie has a very bleak view of people in general saying they're both "cruel and greedy". I almost feel as though the word beauty is thrown around so much to demonstrate how little the boys really know about it.
ReplyDeleteI think the novel gave a good insight to the minds of those teenage boys, representative on some level, I'm sure, of teenage boys in our modern society. Archie found beauty in the artistic way in which he operated. It seems like he uses the word to express what is lovely to him, such as the "photo" of Emile in the restroom, Emile calling Jerry a "fairy," and the fight. These are the things that Archie finds beautiful because these are the things that give him power. To him, Beauty = Power.
ReplyDeleteYou know I really never noticed the point of beauty before. Is a real possibility that since Cormier was bring so much ugliness and violence he wanted to make sure that a positive side would come through or that people are both superficial and brutal?
ReplyDeleteIt seems that everyone doesn't like how the novel ended but sees that it actually worked. I liked how it ended because it was not something that I predicted. Obviously I thought that it would be a typical happy ending, which was definitely not the case. I wonder if he lived...
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