The Chocolate Touch

John’s ability continues to affect him and others in negative ways. John is nervous and excited about his solo in orchestra, but his ability turns his trumpet to chocolate, making it impossible for him to play. Ironically, chocolate, something John loves, takes away something else he enjoys—playing in the orchestra. At Susan’s party, John gets chocolate all over her special outfit, ruining it. These incidents show how an event can affect things that seem unrelated. John’s ability relates to eating, but it impacts orchestra practice because John plays a brass instrument, which requires contact with the mouth. Until now, John didn’t consider how his ability could affect anything but eating, but here, he sees how it can ruin things that are important to him. Similarly, it destroys things that are important to Susan, which John feels bad about.

In Chapter 10, the candy store is missing when his father takes him back to where it was. This raises the question of whether the store will only appear to John when he’s alone and thus remains hidden because his father is with him. Alternatively, John may not be ready to learn his lesson yet, and the store will appear only when he is. Dr. Cranium’s reaction to John’s reveals the doctor’s opportunistic personality: He doesn’t care about the impact of the ability on John’s life; he only cares about how he can capitalize on John’s ability and use it to further his own interests.