Robert Cormier

I found Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War full of interesting topics and, up until the very end, I thought it had a great theme it was attempting to portray. The main character, Jerry, was very likable and admirable for his attempt to "disturb the universe" by not partaking in the annual chocolate sale. At first I thought that Jerry was simply refusing to sell chocolates, but as I read on I learned that by his refusal he was achieving so much more. By quietly saying 'no', Jerry was refusing to support the evil that was in the school. Jerry became a very appealing character due to his sincerity and genuineness. He was the heroic figure because he refused to buckle when everyone else did, and stood his ground when others ran.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the majority of the book, the last part was very hard for me to understand. Jerry had become such a preferable character that when he was abused in the end it almost ruined the entire book for me. It seemed as if everything Jerry stood for was crushed and the entire novel made no sense. In the beginning of the novel I thought that the books main point was that we should all stand for what we believe in, but by the end I didn't know what Cormier was attempting to portray at all. It was as if he was showing readers that standing your ground is not the right thing to do because in the end you will lose. I would have understood the book better if we had gotten to learn what happened to Jerry after the fight, but Cormier left readers wondering if he even turned out alright.I guess overall the ending really made me second guess the book in its entirety. I was disappointed with the ending and was left wondering what Cormier was trying to get across.