The Chocolate War Lesson Plan

Why do you think Jerry changes his mind about wanting revenge on Janza?

Near the end of the fight, Jerry sees an opening to hit Janza, and he does, causing Janza to fall back. At first, he feels triumphant for hitting Janza in a meaningful way. However, he quickly realizes he’s being booed and begins to wonder why he was trying to impress all of these kids he had set out to rebel against in the first place. He realizes Archie had manipulated him after all, turned him into an animal, a beast, no different from Janza. All of his effort in going his own way and doing his own thing ended up with him going along with what the rest of them wanted anyway once he got caught up...