Theme

1. Theme Sometimes in life, we are put into difficult situations. These situations can only lead to one thing, a choice. We have to make a choice between what we think is right, and what we think is wrong. No matter which way we decide to go, there will be consequences. Either way, it won’t necessarily be easy. In The Chocolate War, Jerry makes a decision, and that decision is he does simply not want to sell chocolates in his school fundraiser. He believes that this is the right choice, because he wants to do his own thing and be an individual, not go along with the rest of the crowd. “ ‘My name is Jerry Renault and I’m not going to sell the chocolates,’ he said to the empty apartment. The words and his voice sounded strong and noble.” (177) His decision leads to some harsh consequences. He gets threatened, prank phone calls, a trashed locker, and he gets jumped. Finally, he gets brutally beaten up in a boxing match, all because he did what he thought was right. To be different. “‘What do you say, Renault? Do you accept the rules?’ What could he say? After the phone calls and the beating. After the desecration of his locker. The silent treatment. Pushed downstairs… Jerry tightened his body in determination. At least this was his chance to strike back, to hit out… ‘Okay,’ Jerry had said.” (236) The theme of The Chocolate War isn’t a very optimistic one, but it is realistic. Every day we face choices like Jerry, to either follow the crowd or stand up and do our own thing, or what we think is right. When you want to stand up and be different, we have to keep in mind that it won’t be easy, and there might be obstacles. With both of those decisions come advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately we have the power to choose the path we take.