Book Analysis: Chocolat

Chocolat Essay

Chocolat by Joanne Harris is about a mother and daughter who move to the church and God ruled town called Lansquenet and change that town into a free and vibrant community through their chocolate shop. Harris explores the conflicting themes of freedom and repression using techniques such as imagery, symbols and characters.
The Black Man and Reynaud were two figures that imposed a great deal of repression amongst the villages in Lansquenet and Vianne. The Black Man is a man that Vianne constantly refers to while talking about her mother and running away from town to town. “For years we ran from the priest, the Black Man, and when his face returned time and again in the cards it would be time to run once more”, demonstrating to the reader that Reynaud has something to do with the Black Man or in fact could be him. Later in Chocolat Armande states that, “He’s the Black Man”, referring to Reynaud. As the dark figure that he is, the reader gets the idea that Reynaud is associated with repression. As Reynaud is the leader of
They wore bright red jackets and stood out from the town, which was described as, “dun-coloured half-timbered houses leaning secretively together”. The fact that they have colour and the rest of the town does not shows that Vianne and Anouk are the only people who are free within the town. Another example of this is Vianne’s shop with “red leather seats and chrome stems, cheerily kitsch. The walls are bright daffodil colour. Poitou’s old orange armchair lolls cheerily in one corner. A menu stands to the left, hand written and coloured by Anouk in shades of orange and red”. The strong use of colour imagery with Vianne and what she owns shows the reader that she is different from the rest of the town and is free. Harris shows freedom within the characters through colour imagery and the symbolism of