The Chocolate War? By Robert Cromier Essay, Research Paper

“Friends or Foes”

No matter where you go, you are always going to find those who do not get along. You will also find those who do. In “The Chocolate War,” written by Robert Cromier, many instances are illustrated where there is much tension between the two characters. The students attend an all-male school and are constantly trying to prove their power over each other. This constant power struggle puts a few pairs of characters into conflict. The relationships between Carter and Archie, Goober and Jerry, and Emile and Archie each demonstrate their own arguments of whether or not they in conflict or whether they are friends.

Archie and Carter were both seniors at Trinity High School. Archie was one who would exert any type of physical energy or cause his body to do any work. He was a thinker. He used his mind to achieve the power status he wanted. He was the legendary assignor of the Vigils. “…those Vigil assignments that had made him practically a legend at Trinity…” (p 9) Carter was also a senior but he was not like Archie in any of these ways. He played football and was on the boxing team. He was very muscular and used his strength to become the president of the Vigils. Although there was hostile blood between them, they needed each other. “ Nobody fooled around with Carter. Carter was the president of the Vigils because the president was always a football player- the muscle someone like Archie needed. But everyone knew that the head of the Vigils was The Assignor, Archie Costello, who was always one step ahead of them all.” (p 32)

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Even though they couldn’t exist without each other, they still did not like each other. They were in conflict. Archie and Carter had a disagreement on a subject and they did not feel the same way and Carter let everyone know. He talked to Archie in such a manner that no one had ever done before and Archie was humiliated. “The final humiliation. Probation.”(p 187) At the end of the novel, Carter decides to bring out the black box to sabotage Archie even though there was no guarantee. That just illustrates the ongoing animosity between these two. Even with such hate, some people do find others the can befriend and trust.

Goober and Jerry were one of the few cases were two members of Trinity High School got along. They were both freshman and both on the football team. They were always together and stuck behind each other. They each faced their own problems throughout the novel. Goober hated they school. “‘There’s something rotten in that school…It’s what they do to us…’” (p 159) He eventually quit football. Jerry became an outcast because he refused to sell chocolates, which raised money for the school and was an annual fund-raiser. Goober, being a good friend, decides to stop selling chocolates to support his good friend. This brought him a lot of trouble and almost cost him his life. Because he refuses, he gets jumped by almost 10 kids at once. He is eventually forced to quit the football team. The true love between these two is shown after Jerry is forced to participate in a fight and is brutally assaulted. Jerry lies almost unconscious in Goobers arms. “‘Take it easy, Jerry, take it easy.’ The goober was saying, cradling Jerry in his arms.”(p 257) Despite the good relationship between those two, there was still more bad blood at Trinity.

Another conflict was staged between Emile and Archie. The only thing that kept these two from seriously fighting, was a picture that Archie supposedly had of Emile. That at least

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gave them some respect for each other. “‘Oh, that picture. Yes, Emile I still have it.’”(p 102) Emile strongly showed his dislike for Archie. “But after he’d hung up, Emile thought: Archie, that bastard.”(p 222) Although they never really fought, they were not the worst of enemies. They both had respect for each other which was enough to get along with. They picture Emile thought Archie had really kept them peaceful.

The constant rivalries kept most people in conflict. Some were able to form good friendships. Some pairs were in conflict even though they had to coincide with each other. They needed each other to keep the school and Vigils running. If everyone absolutely hated everyone and couldn’t get along at all, the school would not have been able to run. In today’s world, if you know somebody has something against you that could hurt you, you do you best to get along with them. You must do all you can, even if it means getting along with your adversary, to keep yourself from disturbing the universe.