On The Tragic Nature Of The Chocolate War And Its Significance

The Chocolate War is a masterpiece of Robert Cormier, one famous writer in American Young Adult Literature, and it is also a milestone in American new realistic YA works. Traditionally, sensitive issues such as violence on campus, sexual confusion of adolescents and corruption in school are often avoided or indirectly dealt with in literary works, however, The Chocolate War reveals the dark inside story and the corrupt culture on campus and exposes the cruel fact that justice can be defeated and free will can be lost. The Chocolate War is profounder and more complex than many conventional young adult novels concerning its theme, plot and character, however, it is also a very controversial work and banned for many times because of its direct exposure of the cruel reality and the weakness and ugliness of human nature.The plot, characters and themes of this novel all take a kind of tragic color, and the novel arouses both sympathy and fear in readers. After reading it, “Do you dare to disturb the universe” will be a question that pounds in everyone’s mind. The Chocolate War is a tragic novel, and it is not only to reveal the reality, it also aims at arousing people to think and providing people with warnings and courage. Most study abroad and at home concentrates on the fictional elements of this novel, and controversy mainly lies in the plot design and tragic ending. However, the tragic nature and the revealing and guiding significance of this work have not received enough discussion. Therefore, this thesis is going to take The Chocolate War as a tragic novel and analyze its tragic nature mainly from three perspectives: conflicts in plot, characters and themes, and then study its significance as a tragic work.The thesis is divided into three parts: introduction, body part and conclusion. Introduction includes a brief introduction to the author and the novel, literature review and a brief introduction to the development and characteristics of tragedy and tragic novel. Body part analyzes how the tragic nature is reflected in conflicts, characters and themes. Tragic conflicts are divided into two categories: the conflicts between individuals and authority and the conflicts between individuals and society. Tragic characters in this novel are divided into three kinds: the ruined protagonist, some injured small characters and the manipulated public. Tragic themes are analyzed from three perspectives: the defeat of justice, the loss of free will and the distortion of humanity. Then the thesis talks about the significance and functions of this novel as a tragic work mainly from three perspectives: the function of arousing and purifying emotions, the function of educating and warning and the function of encouraging and motivating. Conclusion illustrates that The Chocolate War is a tragic work and its tragic nature is shown in the plot, character and theme. As a profound novel, it reveals the cruel reality for readers, especially young adults, and it warns readers about the dark side in society and human nature and at the same time it motivates people to fight against the evil and cherish the beauty in life.