File:Symposium -7 – The Chocolate War.doc

The Chocolate War Symposium #7 --Plaz 19:02, 1 May 2006 (EDT)

Archie, Brother Leon, and Emile Janza all attempt to control each other in Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War.

Brother Leon - Brother Leon attempts to control Archie and students in his class. Students are noticeably scared of Brother Leon in class. Brian Cochran, the accountant for the chocolate sale, is constantly scared of Brother Leon. Also, towards the beginning of the novel, the students are really scared of Brother Leon. When students are scared of Brother Leon, he makes them do whatever he wants them do. This fear causes Brian to become the accountant and make Caroni give Brother Leon information. Leon also blackmails Caroni to get information about Jerry. Brother Leon also forces Archie to help the chocolate sale. In the meeting in the beginning of the book, Leon tells Archie that the Vigils must help him have the chocolate sale run smoothly. His effort is successful throughout the book.

Archie – Archie also attempts and succeeds to control people in The Chocolate War. At every Vigil meeting, he always has the room in fear and anticipation of what he is going to say next. He uses psychology to control people. He even says so himself. He uses the photo to tempt Janza into beating up Jerry. He tells Jerry to come to the boxing ring, so he can get revenge on Janza. He and the Vigils use their reputation to scare students into doing their assignments. He uses revenge when people don’t follow his wishes. Archie also does more then just these things. A minute does not go by without him trying to control others.

Emile Janza – Emile Janza uses action and fists unlike Archie and Brother Leon who use psychology to control others. Janza does not like using psychology, he would much rather just use actions. He says this to Archie towards the end; that he did not like calling Jerry a fairy. He would have just liked to beat him up. However, he does not know it, but he uses psychology when he tells freshmen to buy him cigarettes. The freshman knows that Janza will hunt him down if he does not do what Janza tells him to.

All of these characters in The Chocolate War control other people. Archie and Brother Leon use more of psychology then Janza, who uses actions. However, Archie’s method of enforcement for assignments is the Vigils. They are not afraid to take physical action. However, when Archie acts against a member of the Vigils, he uses blackmail and psychology to make sure the deed gets done. Brother Leon’s recourse is to give a student a bad grade or publicly embarrass him in class, which he is quite good at.