The Chocolate War is an odd little story. The main thing that makes it so strange to me is the idea that a group of teenage boys are able to form and maintain a secret society. Not because I think the school would shut it down or anything, I know plenty of schools don't crack down on bullying, but because it requires so much planning, attention, and cooperation. These boys have to stay at school longer to meet, have to get the same group of kids get together for meetings, have to get them to swear to some level of secrecy, have to assign roles, have to vet other students for possible new members, have to keep track of all the boys in their school and not even just their names but their birth dates and their families too and then come up with assignments for them to do. I find it so odd but compelling that teenage boys, still just kids, are able to keep up with such a complex society. How did this start? Were the Vigils there since the founding of the school? Who was the first boy to bring up the idea? How do they find the time and energy to be so devoted to it? If this was a boarding school where all the kids were forced together in makeshift homes it might make a little more sense but they simply attend a Catholic school and go home to their own families every night. All the boys involved in the Vigils seem downright miserable to be a part of it. The narration describes Archie as being worn out, neglecting all other responsibilities and having no time for fun activities. Carter, the president, seems tired of the Vigils' antics. Obie, the errand boy, downright dislikes his role in the club. None of these three boys truly like each other, in fact Carter and Obie hold absolute disdain for Archie. So why do they keep this tradition up? I suppose it's not entirely illogical. If the Vigils were there for a long time before these students joined then it's not so easy to dismantle it. The Vigils seem like some sort of mass hysteria that can't be broken. And to explain the miserable feelings of the members we can quote Mean Girls: "She knew it was better to be in the Plastics, hating life, than to not be in at all". There would most likely be repercussions for anybody that dares leave and if one is kicked out than that would leave them vulnerable to the wolves of the regular student population possibly seeking revenge or just wanting to exert control over someone who seemed once untouchable. The Vigils are all miserable boys that only find joy in making the other students as miserable as they are.
The story is often recounted as the story of one student, Jerry Renault, acting as our hero and leading a rebellion against the Vigils by refusing to sell chocolates for the school and ultimately failing. Even though Jerry is usually considered the main character, the narration tends to follow Archie Costello much more often. This has lead me to believe that it is really Archie that is the hero of this story. Now, I don't mean hero in the modern sense of some great person devoted to fighting for goodness (Archie is downright sociopathic), but rather in the ancient sense of simply a person with superhuman qualities that the narration follows. Of course, Archie is not of divine origin, he is just a regular teen boy, but I would argue that he does possess a rather superhuman capacity for intelligence and manipulation not normally found in schoolboys. I'm not saying that teen boys can't be intelligent or manipulative, but they often have bigger things to worry about than keeping every single person under their thumb. Most teen boys are concerned with friendships, girls (or boys), smoking pot, listening to music and getting cars. Their bullying is rarely as in depth as Archie's plots that require planning and coordination. Why force a boy to unscrew every item of furniture in a classroom, send someone to ensure he does so in the middle of the night, all with the threat of making his life hell when you could just shove him into a locker? Archie is not like other boys, he is set apart in his desire for power and absolute control. This power hungry sadism is what makes him such an interesting character to follow and a worthy main character that could never be accused of being boring. Of course, Jerry is also a fellow set apart in his headstrong bravery and rebellion. He too is worthy of the title of hero, in both the ancient and modern sense, but overall seems to act as deuteragonist to Archie. The story begins with Jerry on the football field but quickly switches to introducing the audience to Archie. We get a sense of Archie's worldview, how his mind works, the confident face he puts on for others and the disturbed soul within. More telling, the story ends with Archie as well. We follow his journey more than we do Jerry's.
From an outsider's perspective, it may seem that the whole story has no meaning as nothing is accomplished and nothing changes. Jerry tries and fails to rebel against the Vigils, Archie remains in power. There seems to be no payoff. However, this lack of accomplishment is only apparent when you view Jerry as the protagonist and Archie as the antagonist. Take a look at Joseph Campbell's hero's journey and think of the story from Archie's point of view: Archie begins in his ordinary world, then the call to adventure comes when brother Leon asks for his help in the chocolate sale. He at first is ambivalent towards the call, working against the school before throwing his full weight behind it. He fights the challenges that Jerry presents and tears him down. He takes the Vigils from being a secret bullying ring to having official recognition and backing from the headmaster. He ends the story victorious but a changed man. He learned that Carter and Obie, his supposed allies and fellow club members, are actually his enemies waiting hungrily for his downfall. The last few paragraphs of the book follows a short conversation between Archie and Obie. "Maybe the black box will work the next time, Archie," Obie said. "Or maybe another kid like Renault will come along." With these ominous words, Archie doesn't bother with them but he is still made aware that his power is a fragile thing and he has enemies all around. He asks Obie for a Hershey and Obie simply says "no". At the beginning of the novel, Obie always kept chocolate on him to please Archie but here the mask is off and he no longer cares to keep Archie's favor. Even though Archie has maintained his position and made the Vigils more powerful, the tides can turn against him at any moment. He is only an individual, though a clever one, and powerless without the Vigil's backing him. Of course, the Vigils too would lose a considerable amount of power without Archie, who acts as the mastermind of their club and has the loyalty of brother Leon. Things are not the same as they were in the beginning. Jerry's rebellion was not in vain. Though he failed to bring down the Vigils entirely, he messed up the structure of their society. I know that there is a sequel, but I haven't read it yet but when I do I hope that I can elaborate further on the new makeup of the Vigils. For now, looking at The Chocolate War as a stand alone work the story that I gathered was one of Archie fighting against a rebellion, succeeding, and coming out a changed man.
The 1988 movie offers a different ending however. In the movie, Archie pulls out a black marble from the box and has to fight Jerry himself, ultimately losing. Jerry realizes that in his victory he still lost by playing into the Vigils' hands. One criticism that I have read of the changed ending is that it gives it a Hollywood happy ending, but to me this ending seems bleaker than the book's. The Vigils still become more powerful due to the success of the chocolate sale, receive official recognition, and knock Archie down a peg. For Archie as an individual he is taken down, but the entire structure that allowed him to rise to power in the first place is even stronger now. Jerry's 'failure' in the book created a precarious power structure within the Vigils that could fall apart at any moment, but here the Vigils are stable and free to torment the other students. Though Obie becomes the new assigner and his plans aren't quite so cruel psychologically disturbing as Archie's, it's still bullying that makes everyone's high school experience worse. Though it is satisfying to see Archie brought down, it won't be long until a new Archie appears and seizes control. To quote Audre Lorde: "the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house". By playing along with the Vigils, Jerry has only brought down their scapegoat and left them their power.
Overall, I prefer the book's ending but I don't think that the movie's ending deserves all the criticism it received. Books and movies are two entirely different beasts and the subtlety of the book's ending might have gotten lost in translation for the movie and seemed far less satisfying or meaningful. But that's just my thoughts, I am certainly no film scholar or anything. I think in another post I will discuss the movie more in depth though, share some screenshots I like and such.
:)
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