Robert Cormier's novel The Chocolate War surrounds the main protagonist Jerry Renault and shares his experience in attempting to "disturb the universe" that is Trinity High School. At Trinity it is quickly noted that there isn't much difference between teachers and students. Brother Leon, a teacher at Trinity, holds power over the students but Archie Costello, a fellow student at Trinity, holds power over the students as well. These two characters, plus a not-so-secret group of students known as The Vigils make it very hard to realise who holds the power around Trinity. Brother Leon, as well as being a teacher is also the acting principal of Trinity High School. Due to this fact Leon has full control over all the students and staff of the school. Although Leon has this power over everyone he doesn't always do the right thing. An example of Leon's misuse of power is when he successfully …show more content…
manipulates Archie into agreeing that The Vigils will help with the chocolate sale. By Brother Leon willingly saying "I need your help Archie" is him allowing himself to show weakness in order to appeal to Archie's sense of sympathy. Without Archie even realising he was manipulated, he agreed for The Vigils to help in the sale. Brother Leon is selfish, cunning, cruel and manipulative. There is no limit to what he would do "for the school" and how much he will misuse his power over everyone. Archie Costello is the leader of The Vigils and is bye far the most influential student in Trinity High School.
Archie is known for his ways of manipulating not only his fellow peers but his teachers too. Among The Vigils, Archie is the assigner. This means that Archie and The Vigils hand pick students to give them assignments. This is a major show of Archie's power. One of Archie's first victims in the novel is Goober. Archie assigns Goober to go to Room Nineteen and disassemble it. Archie explained "Everything in Brother Eugene's room is held together by screws. The chairs, the desks, the blackboards. Now, with your little screwdriver - maybe you'd better bring along various and assorted sizes, just in case - you start to loosen." Archie is cunning and controlling and the assignments were his way to get anyone he wanted to do anything he wanted, purely for his own satisfaction. Yes, it is agreed that this is wrong and selfish, but Archie does not care. It is made quite obvious that even though Archie plays a big part in The Vigils; he is really only in business for
himself. Archie Costello is only one person. Brother Leon is only one person. But the Vigils? The Vigils are a large group of students that are able to control who they want. Maybe not everyone that is a part of The Vigils is as cunning as Archie Costello, but they wouldn't be a part of the group if they didn't have just a little evil in them. When The Vigils do something, it is on a large sale. An example of this is when The Vigils were able to successfully persuade the whole school to sell their chocolates for the sale by simply "make[ing] selling chocolates popular." I guess for a group as large as The Vigils what they do is simply what others copy. But that is exactly how they influence people. All The Vigils need to do is to act a certain way or do a certain thing and the whole school will follow suite. Simply put, The Vigils do something and Trinity copies. The Vigils don't need to harshly manipulate people physically or psychologically, they have power in numbers. So saying that there is little difference between students and teacher at Trinity High School is the wrong thing to say. There is no difference between students and teachers at Trinity High School because no teacher cares enough to stop anything. Leon has the power to put Archie and The Vigils in their place but he doesn't. Maybe because he feels that he can't handle the weight of the school without a little help, or maybe because he truly doesn't care. Reasoning aside, yes, it is a fact that Brother Leon does have more power than the students of Trinity, but he allows Archie and The Vigils to rise up to his level. So no, there is no difference between students and teachers at Trinity High School.
Mr Karl is the main antagonist and main evil within this novel. He is the Deputy Principal of Three North in Cheshunt, giving him some control and power over people and students. Un...
The Milagro Beanfield War, written by John Nichols, demonstrates several themes on life. They range from the interactions of the rich and the poor to the hot arid farming climate in New Mexico. All of which have significant importances in this famous novel. Perhaps the most important theme that is represented in this novel is the idea that people should do what is wright no matter the consequences. People are constantly faced with the choice of right and wrong. What they choose not only effects themselves, but everyone else involved. That is why being true to yourself is being true to everyone. "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? Yet if I am for myself only, what am I?"(p. 1). This theme carries the plot throughout the book.
As a result of Jerry not selling any chocolates, the other students’ sales began to plummet during the falling action of the story. Brother Leon began to feel nervous and had to go to Archie and the Vigils for help. Incredibly, the Vigils turned the whole school against Jerry and made selling chocolates the "cool" thing. Students began to look down upon Jerry for not conforming to the chocolate sale tradition. Someone even vandalized Jerry’s locker and cut up his gym sneakers. A group of boys, including Emile Janza, one of the biggest bullies at Trinity, jumped Jerry after football practice and abused Jerry’s body with their fists and football cleats.
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier was a book that we read in class, it was about good and evil. It is about how the to forces battle for superiority over one another. The book tells how one of the sides over powers the other to claim its spot on top. The people are like pawns to two of the characters, Archie and Brother Leon because they use the people to get what they want from them, and will stop at nothing to get it. Both of characters will stop at nothing to have what they want, which is to have the power over the school.
Throughout the book The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier there are many different themes that happen during the story to progress the plot. But there are three main themes : manipulation, power, and choices. All of which are seen by a lot of the main characters.
Why would a person decide to betray the beliefs they had fought so hard for? In Robert Cormiers novel The Chocolate War, the character of Jerry Renault changes drastically from a rebel to a follower in the end. The school gang known as the vigils and his moral beliefs motivates Jerry’s actions. He feels he must take a stand against evil. Jerry can be considered a hero because of his beliefs. In the end however he gives in to the things he fought against and becomes a follower.
Tim O’Brien states in his novel The Things They Carried, “The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can’t help but gape at the awful majesty of combat” (77). This profound statement captures not only his perspective of war from his experience in Vietnam but a collective truth about war across the ages. It is not called the art of combat without reason: this truth transcends time and can be found in the art produced and poetry written during the years of World War I. George Trakl creates beautiful images of the war in his poem “Grodek” but juxtaposes them with the harsh realities of war. Paul Nash, a World War I artist, invokes similar images in his paintings We are Making a New World and The Ypres Salient at Night. Guilaume Apollinaire’s writes about the beautiful atrocity that is war in his poem “Gala.”
Paul’s is their insider knowledge of the workings of the school. Students with seniority possess the best/most information available on subjects such as who are the best teachers, which characteristics are prescribed to each dorm, what boys (and girls) to stay away from, and how to behave in given environments. Students who come into the school with a preconceived notion of the workings of the school are shunned and rejected. New students do not possess the experience required to make assumptions and proclamations of the inner workings of the school and its residents. For example, Evan Williams, a ninth grader discussed in the book was chastised and cursed at for acting as though he knew about the school’s inner workings when he had no prior experience at/of the school except for what he learned from his family
War powers refers to the powers exercised by Congress or the president during times of war or other crises affecting national security. Article 2, Section 2 of the US Constitution declares that the president is the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. He may direct the military after an official declaration of war from Congress. There is a lot of disagreement and confusion about what exactly the president has the power to do under the Constitution. The purpose of this paper is to determine what war powers the constitution and Congress give the president, domestically and abroad during times of war, and what the scope of those powers is.
He soon becomes very involved with the public school as well and creates a huge play at the end of the
Famous politician and activist, Eleanor Roosevelt, once said, “All wars eventually act as boomerangs and the victor suffers as much as the vanquished”. This criticism can easily align with Voltaire’s own anti-war sentiment as illustrated in his famous novel, Candide. Voltaire took advantage of his literary capabilities in order to present to the world a novel that attempts to not only dismantle social norms, but also subvert humanity’s common - and corrupt - way of thinking about war. More specifically, being personally influenced by the 18th century Seven Year’s War, Voltaire turned away from any positive opinions on war and instead, developed intense opposition toward the armed conflict so prevalent within our society. With this anti-war
In the beginning, Hundert has a job he is passionate about, a happy and uneventful life, and a moralistic view of himself. Hundert loves St. Benedict’s. “That school was my life,” (Canin, pg. 155) he says. He believes that his job at the school is of utmost importance. However, a boy walks into his classroom one day that does not fit his ideal picture, Sedgewick
Rafe got kicked out school where he wasn't learning or making any friends, and even got bullied by Miller. Most people would be upset that they were expelled from school, but Rafe sees this as an opportunity for change. One of his teacher’s thinks that Rafe would be better suited for an art school named Airbrook, “‘Airbrook could be a perfect environment for Rafe…. The school is a combination of visual arts and academics”’ (267). Rafe’s Mom is also able to find a silver lining when she realizes that Bear, who is her abusive boyfriend, is not a good person to be living with and is not the best influence in her life. She couldn't really see it because she works all the time she had to work harder because Bear didn't do anything so it was just an extra mouth to feed “‘Bear is not going to be living with us anymore, and hopefully that means I can afford to stop working double shifts at the diner
This movie follows the relationship of the two main characters from the time Léon saves Mathilda's life against his better judgment. This event causes both of their lives to take a detour that ends up giving meaning to both of their existences. She is trapped living in a dysfunctional family environment with an abusive father and step-mother, a hateful step-sister and her quite little brother with only a dismal outlook on her future. She is a precocious young girl who's life seems to have several parallels with the Cinderella story. Léon is a stoic, uneducated and an unremorseful killer that is totally unemotional and unattached to the world around him. He becomes the prince that saves her.
Segregation of schools had begun thus the sensitive topic of the new “colored’ student, Donald Miller, enrolled in the church’s school. The nuns running the school were worried about others bullying Donald however that was not the case. Donald’s character though a big part in the movie’s plot does not have a large presence