We All Fall Down

infobox Book |
name = We All Fall Down
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image_caption =
author = Robert Cormier
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country = United States
language = English
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genre = Thriller
publisher = Doubleday
release_date = October 1991
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
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isbn = ISBN 0-385-30501-X (first edition, hardback)
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"We All Fall Down" is a novel for young adults by Robert Cormier.

Plot

The story setting is in a small town in the United States called Burnside. Life changes for the Jerome family after a group of boys vandalize their house and knock a girl down the stairs. The Avenger, who has seen everything, plans his revenge on the vandals.

Plot summary

On the evening of April Fools' Day, Harry Flowers, Buddy Walker, Marty Sanders and Randy Pierce decide to amuse themselves by vandalizing a family home. Without breaking any windows, they manage to trash the furniture, urinate on the walls, and push a girl (Karen Jerome) down the cellar stairs when she arrives home earlier than expected. Karen falls into a coma, and the incident destroys the Jeromes' lives. Karen's parents and her siblings, Jane and Artie, are shocked and unable to understand who would be able to do such a terrible thing to them.

A middle-aged (although he believes himself to be eleven), mentally disturbed man who calls himself the Avenger watches the vandalism and promises himself that he will take revenge for the crimes when the time comes.

Then Harry Flowers is caught by the police, acting on a neighbor's memorization of Harry's license plate. Under questioning, Harry claims he acted alone and does not mention the involvement of Buddy, Marty, and Randy. He also claims that Jane Jerome personally gave him the key to the house, when she had actually lost it at a shopping mall.

Jane meets Buddy Walker, and they become a couple. Jane, however, is unaware that Buddy is one of the criminals who upset her life. Buddy, an alcoholic since he met Harry, has problems with not telling Jane the truth.

All is relatively well until the Avenger, who has been in love with Jane for a very long time, gets to know that Buddy is one of the vandals. He decides to kidnap and kill her. Jane manages to convince him of his insanity and he commits suicide.

Later Jane finds out the truth, and she ends her relationship with Buddy. Karen Jerome awakes from the coma, but she cannot remember what happened.

Characters

The main characters in "We All Fall Down" are Jane Jerome, Buddy Walker, and Micky Stallings. After the vandalism, the book separates into three discrete storylines: one from Jane's point of view, which reveals how she and her family feel after the trashing; one from Buddy's point of view, which reveals his problems, family, and friends; and one from the Avenger's point of view, which reveals his cruel past and plans and cares.

Jane Jerome

In the novel “We All Fall Down" the sixteen year old Jane Jerome is one of the main characters. She goes to High School and lives with her parents, her younger sister Karen and her younger brother Artie in Burnside.After the trashing early in the novel, Jane feels bad about arguing with her sister. A lot of thoughts come to her about her relationship to Karen. Due to the incident in the house Jane’s behaviour changes. She doesn’t feel as comfortable in her home or around her best friends Pattie and Leslie as before. After the police find one of the trashers, Harry Flowers, she is accused of giving him the key of their house. On account of this, Jane feels more lonely and desperate than ever before, affirmed by the mistrust of her father. Her life changes again when she meets Buddy, one of the thrashers, with whom she falls in love. She is happy and spends a lot of time with him. After different other factors that have already strongly influenced her life in the close past, she suddenly gets involved in another circumstance she cannot prevent. Mickey Stallings, known throughout the book as "The Avenger", captures her with help of Amos Dalton, and ties her up. Stallings plans to kill Jane, but Jane achieves the suicide of The Avenger himself. Stalling states in the conversation that Buddy was one of the thrashers which makes Jane feel even more upset. She then quits the relationship she has with him because of his background and also because he didn’t tell her what he had done. Her feelings for him were gone. In the end they meet a last time in a mall but their conversation doesn’t take long. While Buddy still has feelings for her Jane she isn’t interested in him anymore at all.

Buddy Walker

Buddy Walker is a 16 year old teen. This young teen appears to have it all; a happy family, looks, and most importantly friends. He goes out with Jane.This however, is not the case. While desperatly trying to cope with the incident of his father moving out, Buddy struggles to find comfort and support.Buddy finds 'comfort' and support amongst a groups of individuals. These individuals however, do not offer Walker true companionship, but instead offer him the temptation and solidation found within alcohol.

The Avenger (Mickey Stallings, Mickey Looney)

Mickey Stallings is a 41-year-old man, a gardener, and the neighbor of the Jeromes. Jane and Karen nicknamed him Mickey Looney, because he lives in his own world. He is mentally ill, and believes he is an 11-year-old boy called the "Avenger". When he really was eleven, he murdered a bully (Vaughn Masterson), and his grandfather, a former policeman. He was never caught because of his expert planning. Now, thirty years later, he is secretly in love with Jane and intends to hurt the boys who hurt her family. He creates the suspense in the novel and a potential threat to the main characters' lives. He commits suicide in the novel's climax, after kidnapping Jane.

Literary significance and criticism

Because of its frank language and adult themes, it is named one of the top 100 most challenged books from 1990 to 2000, by the American Library Association [ [http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm] ] , and has been banned from some libraries. [ [http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/oct/30/ban_spurs_giveaway/ http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/oct/30/ban_spurs_giveaway/] ]

ee also

*"The Chocolate War" also by Robert Cormier.

References