Issues In The Chocolate War

The Chocolate War was written in an era of problem novels. The seventies and eighties were filled with books either warning or threatening adolescents against certain lifestyles or decisions. The textbook Young Adult Literature by Michael Cart gives a quote by Sheila Egoff explains the problem novel: "It was very strongly subject-orientated with the interest primarily residing in the topic rather than the telling"(32). In some ways, The Chocolate War has elements of the popular (at that time at least) problem novel while, at the same time, the novel goes beyond the stereotypical problem novels. Of course, Cormier's novel discusses key issues such as bullying. However, Cormier goes beyond this by adding the issue of corruption of authority (especially the

authority of educational institutions and teachers). The issue of bullying fits into the problem novel niche pretty perfectly but the application of it Cormier uses defies the norm. The bully has its own group of minors and the group basically runs the school.

The leader of the group, Archie, proves capable of manipulating the authority figures of the school into allowing him to continue doing whatever he wants. None of the students try to defy the group of bullies because that could mean not only being singled out by the other students but face violent attacks by the bullies (or other students the bullies give an "assignment" to other students to attack them). Basically, the teachers and school administration continue to allow this group to torment the student population. This leads into the issue of corruption in schools. Instead of teachers being oblivious to what was happening in their school, a few teachers seem to endorse the type of behavior. This goes beyond the problem novel because it touches on issues that other authors at the time were not willing to write about. In a way, Cormier wrote the problem novels of problem novels. He covered problems others were not willing to change while avoiding the cliché the other novels contained. In essence, by highlighting issues of authority, Cormier's novel becomes a problem novel in a different light; society views the novel as a problem

itself.
Of course, Cormier actually faced backlash for showing authority figures in a negative light. Not only was Cormier calling out schools but, by setting the story in a Catholic private school, he was also calling out the Catholic religion itself. This was not smiled upon and Cormier faced various problems in trying to publish The Chocolate War. Publishers were not only considered with how authority and the Catholic religion were shown but also were concerned with how the ending of the novel darkens the shadow Cormier's novel places them in. Cormier was not willing to belittle his intellectual thoughts and refused to change the ending or certain elements of the novel to appease publishers. Obviously, Cormier eventually got his novel published with little to no changes. However, despite getting his novel published, he still faced backlash with his novel. Parents and authority figures were outraged at the portrayal of authority figures, religion, and the mention of masturbation. The book has been banned for countless reasons throughout its existence.