Power

How the power presented in the novel The Chocolate War?

         

          In the world there are a free number of powers.  Governmental powers, economic powers, social powers, among others and these people could do well as also the evil.  But do we really know the meaning of power?  Power is the ability to influence others, whether persuasive or mandates to make a decision.  You have the power, I have the power everyone have the power, the point is how we practice it?  In the novel The Chocolate War, is reflected in various characters the meaning of the word power.  But how is power presented in the novel.   

          In the novel The Chocolate War, power is represented by knowledge.  The power of knowledge is when you nurture you skills and get you out of what you learn.  Obie, one of the characters in this novel worked as assistant to Archie and arguably Obie, with weather, study and analyze the dirty moves that to Archie for the purpose to reach the level of power, to eliminate the move has Archie.  An example of this is when said: “this agreement. Obie would emerge with the black box at the moment before the drawing and the fight began.  And that’s exactly what he has doing how, crossing to the center of the plat for as center went down to meet Archie”.  (Robert Cormier, 1974, The Chocolate War, Page 244)  Obie knew that was going to take by surprise has Archie, carrying his black box.  For this reason he did it to feel with power at least for a moment.  No just, Obie had the power of knowledge, Archie it had in the same way. 

          Archie was a young man, ready able to influence all to him around.  On one occasion his power of knowledge was above the power of Janza, which was another young man that everyone feared.  You can see this example when say: “Archie had merely taken advantage of a ridiculous situation”.   (Robert Cormier, 1974, The Chocolate War, Page 103-104)  Archie played with the mind of Janza, since what he saw this to in the bathroom and Janza so it discovered it before all, leave the power of knowledge of Archie to beat it.  However, the power of knowledge was not the only one there was also the power of the voice. 

          The power of the voice, is when a person has the ability to influence other has do something, whether it is by the way of talking or express themselves.  In the novel there is an example that says: “the crowd was getting bored someone called. Action, Action.  While this was happening. Janza was touting Jerry to hit him. Another was yelling “fix” at this moment Carter mentioned Obie to bring the box out.  They then a slip to murder action”.   (Robert Cormier, 1974, The Chocolate War, Page 249-250)  With the power of voice of people who said, to begin the fight, that was boring did give them the entertainment they expected. Here it was corroborated that the power of voice has influence on people and emotions of these. For this reason we can say that there is the power emotion. 

          The power emotion is an emotional state that we experience, there are healthy emotions and other destructive or self-destructive, what is to learn how to handle them.  In the novel, Jerry went to a tryout of football, there was where entered the power of emotions, since companions played with all their emotions to see if he was capable of resisting or went out to run.  This is when he says: “he had never felt so lonely in his life, abandoned”.  (Robert Cormier, 1974, The Chocolate War, Page 2)  People sometimes do not know the power of emotion and as they influence the lives of others and sometimes if they know that you reaction involve this power and wield it for the destruction of a person life.  This was what they did with Jerry played with their feeling and tried to destroy it.  On the other hands this novel is one that presents a number of powers which include the power of physical strength.   

          The power of physical strength with the passing of the years has been seen as a factor of beauty.  Is done to have the better physique more beautiful and the more muscle you have the more power you have.  The power of physical strength is when a person by having the same it is feared by all.  An example of this is when he says: “Carter was the president of the vigils because the president was always a football player”.  (Robert Cormier, 1974, The Chocolate War, Page 32)  Carter was a young which is presented in the novel as the president of the vigils having no power and physical strength to have the ability.  Making everyone fear him, for his great muscles and revealing the physical give you power.  When we all know that the power comes from the acts of the person and not the physical that is present.  However, there is another way to reflect the power and significance of this is seen in the economy. 

          The power of the economy is one that is used for good or evil.  In the world economy gradually went into decline countries are beings declaring “junk status” and all because the power of the economy has not been able to use for good and improve it.  Robert Cormier the author in the novel The Chocolate War has the power of the economy in various ways but one of them is when said: “Kevin Chartier had gone to 7 houses after school and hadn’t sold a box” (Robert Cormier, 1974, The Chocolate War, Page 137) This young man went after the school to sell chocolate box to earn money.  With this you could say that I was contributing to the improvement of his country’s economy.  A problem that all affects us and we see that with simplicity we bring to above carries the burden of the country.

       Sometimes, we as thinking people don’t think about the consequences of our action.  We do not think that the powers of a person are acts that do and that these could help, but also worsen or destroy something or become.  Archie, Obie, Carter, Kevin, they are some of the Characters who knowledge, of economy, of physical strength or voice and did evil to someone.  Which leave us to conclude, yes, we know the meaning of the word, but do not know it is exercised.  We must learn to lead us well with our peers and learn how to use our powers for good and not for our same self-destruct.   

J.M.I.E      
                  
                                          Power in The Chocolate War

          Power is a type of control over something. Humans acquire power through the years of their life, beginning with a small amount of power as a baby up until they grow older and acquire more power. Power has many ways to present itself, such as knowledge, emotional power, voice, physical strength and economical power. Usually every human being centers themselves into achieving a specific kind of power throughout their life. Power is a concept that can be presented in literature in any of its ways, for example, in the novel The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier.

            In the novel, The Chocolate War the power of knowledge is presented in numerous ways. For example, when Obie says “Here it is, Renault, Jerome E. son of James R. Pharmacist at Blake’s. The kid’s a freshmen, birthday-let’s see, he just turned fourteen. Oh his mother died last Spring. Cancer.” (page 14, chapter 2) It is shown that Obie has knowledge power because he knows more personal information about all of the students at Trinity school, he knows more information than the school’s files. Just as knowledge power there are other kinds of powers presented such as emotional power.

            Emotional power can be represented in many ways, such as someone’s emotions controlling someone else’s emotions, because emotion can be considered contagious. Another way emotional power can be represented as taking control over the person feeling the emotions. In the novel, the emotions take over Obie, making him frustrated and mad because of Archie’s actions and this is presented when he says “Alright, alright. Let’s finish the damn assignments. One more name.” (page 13, chapter 2) Archie wasn’t cooperating and that’s why Obie’s emotions took over him and made him mad. Another type of power presented in the novel is voice.

            Voice is a type of power that can be presented when someone stands up for what they believe in. In the novel, the power of voice is presented when Jerry says “No. I’m not going to sell the chocolates.” (page 49, chapter 17) Jerry stood up for what he belived in, which was not selling the chocolates. Just as the power of voice, another power that is presented in the novel is physical strength.

            Physical strength is a power that is directly related to the state of the human body. In the novel, when Carter tells Janza “Janza, right to the stomach.” (page 250, chapter 32) Janza misses, but hits Jerry’s chest. Jerry was left without breath. This shows the physical strength of Janza as a power he has over Jerry. Another kind of power presented in the novel is the economical power.

             Economical power can be seen for the amount of money or things a person has. In the novel, the economical power is presented when the narrator says “he had already sold three boxes- six dollars- but that wasn’t enough, of course.” (page 92, chapter 17) In this part of the novel the author is talking about Tubs, a student from Trinity school who became obsessed with money as soon as he began selling chocolates. Tubs thrived money because in a way, he felt powerful with having so much money. There is a relation between every character in this novel and that is the concept of power.

            Throughout the novel we can see that the characters have a type of power they have obtained. Each and every one of them is known for a certain power they have achieved more than any other. Some examples of the kind of power some characters have are Janza, who has physical power, Obie, who has the power of knowledge, Jerry who has the power of voice among others. In a way every character is connected in a development of their desired power.

            The novel is a work which presents some of the different types of power and they react in the presence of another type of power. The types of powers presented in the novel are acquired by the characters depending on their background story. The main powers presented in the novel were voice, knowledge, emotional, economical and physical power. The novel presents the collision between powers and the character’s reactions towards that, this helps us understand the novel more.

I.M.A.B.