The Chocolate Touch - Summary

Summary

John Midas is a very greedy young boy who only loves to eat candy, especially chocolate. His parents keep trying to get him to eat healthy meals, but all he wants to eat is chocolate, to the point where he must take nightly doses of a vitamin tonic to keep nourished. John's doctor, Dr. Cranium, orders that John may not eat any more chocolate, which is enforced by his parents, much to John's chagrin. John has to find a way to continue eating chocolate without being noticed. One day, John happens across an unusual coin lying on the sidewalk, about the size of a quarter. One face depicts a fat boy, and the other is inscribed with his initials, "J.M." Shortly thereafter, he encounters a candy store he has never seen before, which is further mysterious considering the owner knows John's name immediately and claims that the strange coin is the only kind of money he accepts. John uses the coin to purchase a large box of chocolates. That night, in bed, John opens the box to dejectedly discover that it contains only one small chocolate ball, with an exquisite flavor. The next morning, John discovers that anything that touches his mouth transforms into chocolate.

What starts out as a dream come true quickly becomes uncomfortable, as John becomes thirstier and thirstier, sicker and sicker, and begins longing for the good, wholesome foods his parents always wanted him to eat. John complains of the condition to his father, who take him to the family doctor, where his condition is revealed, although the doctor thinks it is some rare disease. Discomfort turns to nightmare, as John tries to console his weeping mother with a kiss, only to turn her into a chocolate statue. Finally considering someone else's good above his own, John tracks down the storekeeper of the candy shop, and selflessly tries to set things right. The store owner reveals that the coin John used can only be seen by greedy men, and if John is truly repentant of his greed and gluttony then everything he transformed into chocolate will revert to their original forms, and nobody will have any memory of John's chocolate transforming ability, which will also be reversed. The mystery of the shop is unexplained that in the ending, when John as part of his reformed self, feels he should be grateful to the store owner for undoing all of John's damage, runs back to the candy shop only to find an empty lot where the store once stood, though it is highly possible that he cannot see it due to him overcoming his greediness.