Robert Cormier is no stranger to challenging themes. His books are typically works of creeping menace, with something truly awful and desultory always waiting to make an appearance, with characters whose very humanity predisposes them to choices and decisions that on a moral level feelsso dramatically wrong to the reader, but yet so utterly realistic at the same time. In previous work such as The Chocolate War, Cormier explores the deplorable way in which people behave when in a group context, the way in which terrible actions can be tacitly, and sometimes explicitly, condoned by the group and, perhaps worse, those in a position of power. Cormier often takes pains to highlight the beast-like nature lurking just below the surface of all of us, and how quickly it can be brought to the fore. Curiously, though, he also often positions himself to examine agency in these instances: to what degree are particular actions made consciously, and to what degree are they the result of particular extenuating circumstances? These notions are similarly explored in Cormiers fairly recent novel We All Fall Down.
Summary
On April Fools Day, Harry Flowers and his school-aged gang of would-be rebels and petty criminals trash the home of the Jerome family in an act of animal malice thats reminiscent of the most excessive exigencies of Burgesss classic A Clockwork Orange. Karen Jerome, however, returns home early, and witnesses the criminal act in question. The boys, their sense of humanity utterly suppressed by their vicious intent, brutally assault her, and Karen is left comatose. The novel then divides into three separate but intertwined narrative threads: that of Jane Jerome, Karen Jeromes older sister, whose isolation and violation as a result of the trashing becomes increasingly crippling; Buddy Walker, a shy young boy who increasingly uses alcohol as a crutch to deal with the aftermath of his parents divorce, and who happens to be one of the trashers; and the mysterious Avenger, a vigilante who has witnessed the event and who takes it upon himself to mete out punishment. So when Jane Jerome and Buddy Walker meet by (carefully engineered, as it turns out) happenstance, and begin dating, all under the watchful eye of the Avenger, who is biding his time before making his move, its inevitable that the tension of this already confused, twisted situation will step up a notch or two.
My thoughts
Although not on par with Cormiers best-known novels The Chocolate War and I am the Cheese (see our review), We All Fall Down deals with similar themes, and its frank, suspenseful, and paranoid air will be instantly familiar to readers of Cormiers work. Other than the initial opening scene of the trashing, the suspense is wrought in a purely psychological manner, playing out rather like a literary game of chess as characters make sudden reveals and the three narrative threads asymptotically approach each other. Because the plot itself is weighted so very heavily towards the psychological and the intellectual, theres a weight and a complexity of depth to it that encourages the reader to consider and reconsider the various characters actions and motivations, all of which are found wanting in some way: it is this, no doubt, that lends the book its title.
As the book unfolds and certain key plot points are revealed, Cormier forces the reader to consider, as mentioned earlier, notions of agency and predestination, and therefore of responsibility. The trashing, it turns out, was not a break-in as such, as Harry Flowers was in possession of a key to the Jeromes home. The trashing, then, was not something premeditated or targeted, but almost, in a sense, the inevitable outcome of opportunity. To what degree, then, Cormier asks (as does Jane, whose fault it is that Flowers manages to get hold of the key), is the trashing the fault and responsibility of Flowers and his gang? It is a chilling concept, and one that is further explored throughout the book as Jane and Buddy begin a romantic relationship. This relationship, too, however, is borne out of chance, occurring because Buddy, his conscience troubling him, seeks out Jane. The two meet when Buddy falls at the mall (in, of course, a literal manifestation of his moral digression), and Jane assists him in what Buddy tries to see as an act of forgiveness. None of this, of course, could have happened were it not for Janes oversight with the key, and for the trashing itself. One cant help but wonder throughout their relationship to what degree Jane is aware of Buddys true nature, of the character that lurks beneath his platitudinous exterior: Jane is crippled by guilt over the trashing and her sisters subsequent condition, and punishes herself by isolating herself from her friends and by becoming increasingly withdrawn, and its fair to assume that her often problematic relationship with Buddy is another form of self-imposed punishment. Theres a sense of universal, inescapable guilt, and no matter the direction a character takes, theyre doomed, to fall in some way.
Using only the most spare approach to language, Cormier carefully paints his characters and situations in shades of grey, and even the most apparently awful of the characters, such as Harry Flowers (whose name is reminiscent, for me at least, of Harry Lime, villain in The Third Man), are allowed to step back from their villainous ways and take some sort of redemptive action. Cormier works to ensure that his characters motivations are complex enough that it can be difficult to cast them as inarguably right or wrong, and theres a sense of ambiguity and ambivalence in every scenario that adds tremendous dramatic weight to the book. This sense is further heightened by the presence of the Avenger, a character who, emotionally and morally infantile, passes judgement on the various characters and their actions to chilling result. Curiously, this juxtaposition serves, rather than to deride the other characters for their behaviour, to actually bestow upon them a sense of maturity: while they may be acting in ways that are morally ambiguous and ethically grey, they at least have the emotional awareness to be able to reflect upon and fight with these issues, unlike the Avenger, whose responses are simplistic, uncomplicated, and final. I have to say, however, that while I understand the purpose of the Avenger, I felt that his presence was largely unnecessary, and at times rather implausible, and worked to slow down an otherwise quick-moving and suspenseful plot; the twist relating to this character is also tough to swallow, particularly coming where it does in the novel.
Conclusions
My experiences as a reader of Cormier have thus far been positive, and without exception Ive emerged from his novels changed in some way. While We All Fall Down fall slightly short of the utterly superlative I Am The Cheese and The Chocolate War, its a welcome addition to Cormiers famously challenging oeuvre. Young and older readers alike will take a lot from this slim little volume.
Rating: 
With thanks to Erin at Erin Reads for the review copy.
See also our review of I Am the Cheese.
Purchase We All Fall Down [Amazon | Book Depository UK | Book Depository USA]
Hmm I read Chocolate War and I am the Cheese at school, I actually think the premise of this one sounds more interesting than either of those. Might keep my eye out for it. Thanks for teh review
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Thanks for visiting, Shelley Rae! It is a fascinating premise: it has an almost A Clockwork Orange-like sensibility. The idea that such horrible events occur as a result of opportunity is fascinating, and Cormier does a fabulous job of getting inside his characters heads. I think youll enjoy it, particularly if youve enjoyed Cormiers other work.