Essay Questions

How is manipulation brought out in Brandon Mull’s The Candy Shop War?

The relationship between the four protagonists of the story Nate, Paul, Summer, and Trevor, and the candy shop owner, Belinda White is basically centered on manipulation and exploitation where White uses the teenagers to facilitate her evil schemes. While at first, the relationship sets off as mutually beneficial where the teens have to work for candy, a twist occurs when Belinda shares her quest of finding hidden treasure and manipulates the boys so they can poison and kill Sebastian Stott using the promise of some magical candy which she would offer the boys as ‘payment.’

How does Brandon Mull portray the character of Belinda White in The Candy Shop War?

Belinda White is an opportunistic woman. When the boys become all too willing and eager to work in return for candy in her shop, she sees this as an opportunity to use them to foster her evil scheme of murdering Sebastian Stott. Belinda is also corrupt and morally retarded. Belinda’s corrupt nature is brought out when she manipulates these boys so as to have them commit a crime for her, a crime for which they would be paid in terms of magical candy. Instead of fostering good morals in these teenage protagonists, she seeks to lead them astray by having them commit this abominable act. Belinda White is brought out as quite malicious, a character.

The protagonists of this story, Nate, Summer, Paul, and Trevor are of impeccable morals. Is this assertion correct? Explain.

As children, working in return for candy is commendable. While this part of the characters alludes to their moral wellness, the impeccability of their morals is brought out later in the work. When Belinda White seeks to use the teenagers to her benefit, having them murder her sole competitor in the search for ‘The Fountain of Youth’, the youngsters exhibit a great deal of maturity when they fail to see the deal go through. Instead, they alert the person whom they are supposed to murder on the evil scheme being brewed by Belinda White. Impeccable morals become central to the youngsters' decision to not see the evil scheme through, despite the tempting nature of the promise of magic candy. The assertion thus holds based on this argument.