The Chocolate Touch

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1952

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-7

Chapters 8-10

Chapters 11-12

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 4-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 4 Summary

John has a habit of chewing on things when he’s thinking. While thinking about why all his food turned to chocolate, he puts the thumb of his glove in his mouth, and it turns to chocolate. John eats his glove until he comes across Spider Wilson, a bully who’s one year ahead of John at school. John shows Spider how the gloves turn to chocolate, and Spider demands that John give him a piece of the glove. When John refuses, Spider snatches what’s left of one glove and shoves it in his mouth. The glove doesn’t turn to chocolate, and John hurries on to school, leaving Wilson “spitting the soggy remains of the glove into the gutter” (52).

Susan Buttercup, one of John’s friends, shows him a silver dollar she got as a present. John wonders if it’s real silver, and Susan tells him to bite it to find out. John hesitates, but Susan insists. He bites the coin, and the half in his mouth turns to chocolate. He gives her back the other half. Susan looks at it, starts to cry, and tells John she hates him before running off.

Chapter 5 Summary

In class, John’s teacher gives a test. Tests make John nervous, and his anxiety—coupled with the taste of chocolate in his mouth—makes him very thirsty. The teacher lets him get a drink at the water fountain, but as soon as the water passes his lips, it turns to chocolate. Discouraged, he returns to class and starts on his test, unable to concentrate. He puts the end of his pencil in his mouth. It turns to chocolate, but when he removes it, the chocolate keeps working down the pencil, until the entire thing is chocolate. John tries to write the answer to the last problem but only manages to make “a chocolate smear where he should have written 72” (63).

Chapter 6 Summary

At recess, John finds Susan playing jump rope with two friends. He tries to apologize about her coin and explain again how it turned to chocolate, but she doesn’t believe him. Not knowing what else to do, John tells them, “[G]ive me that skipping rope and I’ll prove it” (68). Before the girls can decide what to do, the bell rings for them to go back inside.

Chapter 7 Summary

By lunchtime, John is hopeful but not optimistic that his food won’t turn to chocolate when he eats it. He loads up his tray with fruits and vegetables, all of which change to chocolate as soon as he puts them in his mouth. As he eats, he sees his glass and utensils turn to chocolate and concludes, “[T]he trouble was unquestionably growing worse” (80).

Chapters 4-7 Analysis

In these chapters, John has a change of heart about his ability. In Chapter 4, he realizes that anything—not just food—turns to chocolate when he puts it in his mouth. He happily eats his gloves, not caring that his hands might later be cold as long as he can eat more chocolate. The effect of his ability on his gloves foreshadows his pencil and utensils turning to chocolate, as well as other objects later in the story. By the end of Chapter 7, John no longer thinks of his ability in excited terms, instead referring to it as “trouble.” His inability to drink or eat anything but chocolate hearkens to how King Midas of Greek mythology turned his food to gold and nearly starved to death.

Different characters have different reactions to John’s ability. Susan refuses to believe John because his ability destroyed something important to her. She considers John her friend and doesn’t understand why he’d do something so hurtful. She isn’t interested in hearing his reasoning because she’s too upset to understand. Spider Wilson is a bully, and his only consideration is getting chocolate for himself. He doesn’t care how John’s ability works as long as it can benefit him.