Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2017

Capistrano bears striking resemblance to the revolt led by Manuel Castro on November 14, 1844

against Mexican authority. The conflict of the novel revolves around corrupt government officials

and the ramifications of their actions, with Zorro himself at the climax of the novel leading several

caballeros in revolt against the governor of the Los Angeles area. It is also valuable to consider the

time of writing of McCulley’s novel. In 1919, the world had only just suffered the Great War, and

resultantly the people required new hope and inspiration. Many heroes were born out of the

immense desire for optimism in this time period; however the cloaked caballero was among the first

to instil hope into the hearts of a devastated human race. Along with this, Zorro was also created by

McCulley to counteract the immense anti-Mexican sentiment evident in America in this time period.

In a world ruled by terror, Trinity High is run by the Vigils between the years of 1970-1974, during

the Cold War. Written and published in this time by Cormier, The Chocolate War ’s main theme is one

of secrecy and control through fear – much like the Cold War itself. The main conflict of the novel

surrounds Jerry Renault’s initial acceptance of an assignment from the Vigils, and the sudden

defiance of them after the task had run its course. As soon as Renault has done so, he is bombarded

with harassment and abuse not only from the Vigils, but also the rest of the school, teachers

included. This novel is a masterful projection of the Cold War onto a smaller scale by Robert

Cormier, with powers fighting through those with allegiances to them (the Vigils fighting through the

students of the school), providing a striking resemblance to the proxy wars fought between the US

and the USSR at this time, and taking violent countermeasures against those who dared to deviate

from the norm. The controversy of The Chocolate War lies in the fact that the vigilantes present are

not a representation of what the people want, nor are they characters with whom the general public

can relate. Instead, the Vigils represent the twisted portion of society, warping regulations to their

needs and manipulating others to complete their work so as not to get their own hands dirt. What

this implies is that at the time of its writing, The Chocolate War took the idea of vigilantism and

applied it in a way which was the opposite of classic vigilantism. Instead of being a symbol of hope

and justice for the people of the world, Cormier infamously utilised this stereotype of vigilantism and

its definition to tarnish the worldwide reputation vigilantes once had.

V for Vendetta , written in a time where government distrust was at an all-time high in 1988, is driven

by this concept. In fact, Fate , the supercomputer with constant active surveillance of effectively the

entirety of Britain is meant to be the manifestation of the Norsefire party’s fascism and showed that,

if the government were allowed to continue their increasingly invasive acts, privacy would

considered obsolete. The novel’s future setting serves to inculcate this idea into the mind of the

reader as a realistic possible issue they may face in their lifetime. In accordance with this, at its time

of writing, many people of Britain were suffering as a direct result of Thatcherism. As such, despite