The decade of the 1970s was a period of significant social and political upheaval in the United States. The Chocolate War raises questions about authority, rebellion, and the individual’s role in society, which are reflective of 1970s thought. The inciting incidents for such questions occurred in the 1960s and grew during the next decade: the Vietnam War, the Pentagon Papers, and the Watergate scandal tarnished many Americans’ trust in their government. Activists embraced social justice, sexual freedom, and workplace equality causes. The concept of counterculture prompted young people to reconsider their roles and responsibilities to society. Personal liberation and rebellion against authority—including government, religion, and other cultural institutions—were key themes of the 1970s as young Americans rejected the values of previous generations and sought to redefine themselves.

This search for a new national identity is symbolized by the teens in the novel, especially Jerry Renault. Jerry and the other boys are in turmoil as they attempt to define their own identities amid conflicting expectations of parents, teachers, and peers in a changing cultural landscape. Cormier makes the tension between generational traditions and 1970s counterculture explicit in a brief interaction between Jerry and a young “hippie” at the bus stop when Jerry feels jealous of the youth’s carefree sloppiness in contrast with his own Trinity-dress-code shirt and tie.