Gimme That Ol' Time Religion!

                     The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier

   

   Cormier, R. (1974). The chocolate war. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf.

        I need to write this blog as quickly as possible, because I know that, at any minute now, I am going to be sent hurtling into the fiery pits of Hell.  You see, I just read The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier.  When I was growing up in a VERY conservative Catholic household, my parents would take me to church where, every year, we would stand up with the rest of the congregation, raise our right hands, and take “The Pledge” – a promise not to read any books that the Church felt were “inappropriate” (the religious term for “tisk-tisk, naughty-naughty”).   Since I am sure that The Chocolate War must be on The List, I need to write this critique as quickly as possible before I am turned into a charcoal briquette.

         I felt the author did an admirable job of depicting the atmosphere of a religious school where irresistible forces (the religious domination from authorities like Brother Leon and the peer group pressures from other students) meet immovable objects (the resistance of students like Jerry who are experiencing the defiance of youth mixed with the sexual tensions of budding adolescence).  These personalities and experiences were so familiar to me that I found them most appealing; but I’m sure they are so universal that they would be likewise understandable to people who did not share my childhood upbringing in “an old time religion.”

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