The Chocolate War

Unlike many of the top ten banned or challenged books as identified by the ALA, The Chocolate War is a book I had never heard of, and incorrectly assumed based on the title and categorization as young adult fiction was in line with How to Eat Fried Worms or something similar. I was shocked at how the story progressed and pleasantly disturbed by its climax and conclusion.

Published in 1974 by Robert Cormier, it was made into a movie in 1988 and despite a slow start, is now a highly regarded work of young adult fiction. For fun, I jotted down the images or content I assumed could result in the books challenges, including but not limited to parents death, parents malaise, lying or manipulative teachers, adolescent masturbation or sexual urges - including alternatively violent sexual urges and homosexuality, hazing, and, of course, smoking and bad language. I'm sure something on this list peeved of some parent, but I think something at the core of the book is much more challenging and keeps the book in the top five of banned books, going back to 1990.

If Holden Caulfield represents the young anti-hero that I thought I identified with and secretly emulated, Jerry Renault is the anti-hero of a much more sinister and bleak world-view. Whereas Holden questions his peers, his society, and his place from perspective of privilege, examining what is ultimately a personal crisis, Jerry is forced to ask these questions when faced with aggressive and malicious external forces. As the plot progresses Jerry routinely looks to a quote by T.S. Eliot "do I dare disturb the universe?" printed on a poster in his locker. It is the fundamental question of the book - who dares to upset the norm, the status quo? Early in the plot, Jerry is challenged by hippies and admonished for being "square." Yet he is the only character who continually, through self examination and introspection, makes his own decisions. Other characters, including those inside of the secret society charged with maintaining and manipulating the status quo of the student body, often internally rail against the character of Archie and the manipulative environment he has created, but do nothing. Their half-hearted attempts are brushed aside and the characters return to the security of power and fitting in.

This pressure to avoid upsetting others or the norm, "peace at all costs," is exploited by the villains of the story. Even the sympathetic characters, the Goober and Brother Jacques, fail to enact lasting protests against the pressures of the system, instead capitulating after brief moments of sympathetic action. And this I feel is the most sinister aspect of the book. Not only do the good characters fail to be good and are cowed into submission, the protagonist Jerry is broken by the end of the book. The villain's deeds go unpunished, the plot unresolved, characters continue to enact the rigid structure of behavior, and Jerry himself no longer sees the benefit of his individuality:

"They tell you to do your thing but they don't mean it. They don't want you to do your thing, not unless it happens to be their thing, too. It's a laugh, Goober, a fake. Don't disturb the universe, Goober, no matter what the posters say."

So the book ends with the hero literally broken by a bully and mob rule, mentally no longer daring to upset the universe, while Archie and his accomplice the acting headmaster of the school Brother Leon maintain their power. A pretty harsh ending, and I wonder if adults wouldn't rather hide the fact that this group think happens everyday and the villains (often the very adults one is taught to trust) thrive, while maintaining the myth of individuality. Holden has a mental breakdown, but he's still Holden. Jerry is the tragic oppression of our secret individual selves, the death by a thousand cuts, that happens to us all everyday.

There is a Japanese proverb "the nail that sticks up will be hammered down." Terrifying, but we should all admit it is ourselves who hold the hammer. That is why this book is challenged, say what you want about adolescent sexual frustrations. It is a reality often too painful to admit.

Up Next: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is one I vividly remember from my own youth. This book and its sequels, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones, were in every library and classroom, read and passed around by everyone, and was the first to go at those Scholastic free book days that came once a year (man I loved those). Before picking up all three at the Fletcher Free Library, I could still remember vague images of the illustrations and bits and pieces of particular stories.

Reading them again, I was surprised at how grisly and graphic some of the stories are. I guess books for kids were more raw in 1986 when the first book was published than now. Remember the controversy over that video game DOOM? These books and illustrations are way harsher. Maybe not surprising that the series topped the 100 most frequently challenged book list of 1990-2000 by the American Library Association and was #6 for the 2000-2007 list.

An important detail of the structure of the books I had forgotten or lodged itself somewhere in my lizard brain is the organization of the material. The introduction of each volume describes these stories as having their origins in urban legend and folklore, and the endnotes of each story describes their variations, origins, and antecedents. For me personally, this was something of a revelation; just like the childhood museum visit or field trip, often we have no idea what the affects of such exposure will have on our interests or even careers.

Beyond the surprising academic rigor behind the content of the books, there is also the stunning illustrations by Stephen Gammell. These things have had possibly more staying power than the text (everything seems to be oozing/dripping, distorted, or tied to an equally haunting environment by webs) and I'm sure contributed to the books prominent place on challenged book lists. Given the current trend in re-appropriating material from the 80's and 90's for pop culture, I'd say these are an overlooked gem for such exploitation.

It appears that a number of factors contributed to the book's frequent challenges. Its ubiquitousness in schools and libraries, its popularity - no doubt stemming from its "dangerous" and frightening content, the graphic and wonderfully creepy illustrations, and its intended young audience are all apparent. Most of the books frequently challenged in our contemporary society appear to be those either written for younger readers or typically assigned in classrooms. In a culture where the freedom of speech and press are (at least in hypotheticals) commonly accepted, only the rallying cry of "Protect our children!" convinces the public of the legitimacy to ban a book. If a cursory glance at the list of commonly challenged books is any indication, this back-door banning of books is aimed particularly at content some attempt to control in society at large, from sex and drugs to poverty and race relations. By attempting to control what material we expose our children to, for good or ill, they attempt to pray on the instinct to protect children while enforcing a larger agenda. The next selection of books all are found at the top of frequently challenged book lists and are either intended for young readers or are common in class curriculum.

Up next: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier