"The World Said Nothing"
18"x24"
acrylic on canvas

Complaints against Robert Cormier's "The Chocolate War" were primarily the 200+ swear words and scenes that depicted violence and masturbation.  It's the story of a boy in Catholic school who stands up against the cruel mob of bullies and the school system itself.

Dana Ellyn's painting, "The World Said Nothing" was inspired by one particular scene in the book where Brother Leon (a teacher) brings a boy in front of the class and accuses him of cheating.  When the class fails to defend their fellow student, Leon says "You turned this classroom into Nazi Germany for a few moments".  The image in Dana's painting was inspired by an infamous photo taken in 1943 of a Jewish boy in the Warsaw ghetto being threatened at gunpoint by a Nazi officer.