Isobel Hoskin Notre Dame High School
"I believe that being happy is the only important thing. Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or torturous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive."
Category: Book Review - Chocolat by Joanne Harris
Isobel Hoskin
Notre Dame High School
Chocolat is the story of Vianne Rocher, a tarot-reading, chocolate-making, "sinful" woman, who moves into the village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, where she opens her chocolate shop, La Celeste Praline, on the first day of Lent. The priest, Cure Reynaud, is a pious, self-denying man, and he represents the "Black Man" in Vianne's life, from whom she has been fleeing since a young age. In order to escape him, she must stop running and confront him. This clash represents the classic battle between good and evil, piety and indulgence, yet the lines of the two become blurred as Harris reveals the innermost thoughts of Reynaud and Rocher, showing the love that Vianne expresses for her friends and family, in contrast to the evil Reynaud has committed in the past. Throughout, Vianne tempts the villagers and reader, winning them over, her door "...slightly open, emits a hot scent of baking and sweetness..." whilst Reynaud desperately tries to regain his control over the village and his lust for chocolate, "The seed of discord is everywhere, mon pere. And it spreads. It spreads."
The intricacy of the feelings between the two and the reasons behind them, along with the flowing prose and witty dialogue culminates in a fabulous novel, which I didn't want to stop reading! The ending is very clever and shows how destructive temptation can be, whilst encouraging the reader to give in and "Try me... Test me... Taste me..."
I would have liked it if the story had ended without the Rocher family leaving Lansquenet-sous-Tannes after finding acceptance there, because they have waited so long and tried so hard to receive it. Despite this, the ending feels natural and uncontrived.
This is on one level an entertaining read about a woman winning over the hearts of an untrusting village, and on another, it is an analysis of human nature, confronting the complexities of "good" verses "bad"; how something bad - a "witch" can possess attributes of goodness, whilst something "good" - a priest can possess those of evil. The voices of both appeal to the reader, but the person who is arguably best at heart wins out in the end; and chocolate remains constant throughout.
