We All Fall Down Essays

We All Fall Down Essays We All Fall Down Paper We All Fall Down Paper After the trashing of the Jerome household and the attack of their daughter Karen, the Jerome family knew their lives were never going to be the same. The purpose of composing a novel is to engage and entertain the responder through the use of a wide variety of forms, conventions and techniques allowing them to be drawn into completely different worlds. The novel We all fall down written by Robert Cormier and the song lyrics Cats in the cradle by Harry Chapin both present themes of redemption and fatherhood. Both composers use techniques such as effective punctuation, effective language and narrative perspectives to engage the reader. Throughout the novel We all fall down the theme of redemption is displayed through the narration of Buddy’s character. His continuous search for redemption becomes one of major concern. As one of the perpetrators in the trashing, he is always carrying a guilty conscience and the guilt of the trashing also undermines his relationship with Jane. Cormier constantly emphasises the trashing when Buddy and Jane are together causing Buddy to become evasive. â€Å"The first time Jane mentioned the word trashing, Buddy flinched; then turned away in self defence, his thoughts racing wildly as he anticipated what her next words would be. Buddy is continuously searching for redemption and asking for forgiveness, especially after Jane finds out about the invasion of her home. The use of similes and hyperbole reinforce the effect on Buddy when Jane told him she knew what he had done. â€Å"The impact of her knowledge struck him, like a giant mallet hitting a gong inside him, the vibration s echoing throughout his body. † This clearly and effectively illustrates the force of the consequences of his irresponsible act of violence in the beginning of the novel and the deception he has practised to cover up his guilt. Cormier has displayed a wide variety of conventions and features. Similarly, in Cats in the cradle, Chapin portrays the theme of redemption through the use of irony. At the beginning of the song, the son sees his dad as a role model and something he wants to become in the future. â€Å"I’m gonna be just like you dad† and by the end of the song, the father realises his son became just like him but unfortunately it’s not something to be proud of. â€Å"I said I’d like to see you if you don’t mind. He said I’d love to dad, if I can find the time. This is suggesting that the father is trying to make up for lost time but it’s too late as the tables have turned and that the son likely won’t have time for him. The novel presents a very dim view of fathers. Mr. Jerome fails to be a source of strength to his family after the trashing occurred. The invasion of his home defeats him and the result of that leaves him turning his anger in hi s daughter Jane. Mr. Jerome accused his daughter Jane of being the cause off the trashing as Harry Flowers stated that Jane gave him the key to the house. â€Å"For the first time since he arrived home, Jane’s father looked at her. Looked directly into her eyes, his own eyes flashing with-what? -anger? More than anger. She groped for the word and, to her horror, found it. Accusation. That’s what she saw in his eyes. † Cormier uses effective punctuation to show that Jane is looking for an answer. The use of one word sentences lets the reader know that she has found the answer. She feels shattered, anxious and the responder can empathise with Jane. Another example of an unsupportive father is Harry Flowers’ father. Harry doesn’t take responsibility for his own actions and relies on his father to pay his way out of his problems. His parents paid off the damages off the trashing and while doing so also paid off his son’s way out of responsibility. â€Å"When my father agreed to restitution, everybody went along, the judge and the cops The judge placed me on probation and my father paid up † Similarly, in Cats in the cradle, time changes and reverses the situation. Time has changed the attitude of the father towards his son. The first sentence of every verse shows that more time has passed therefore showing that the father isn’t on the receiving end of his son’s affection. My child arrived just the other day†, â€Å"My son turned ten just the other day†, â€Å"He came home from college just the other day†, â€Å"I’ve long since retired my son moved away†. This informs the responder that the father wasn’t there for his son overtime and when he was growing up. The emphasis on the line â€Å"When you comin home dad? † conveys the dangers of no communication and putting too much emphasis on work and money and not on spending quality time with the family. The structure of We all fall down is different from many novels. It doesn’t use chapters, but instead uses narrative perspectives and effective language to get across the themes and characters. This technique arouses curiosity and maintains the readers’ attention as it keeps them engaged and focused on what they are reading. There is a part 1 and part 2 which is a separation of some events that had happened. Part 2 is making right of what happened in part 1. The novel is told through the viewpoint of the three main characters Jane, Buddy and The Avenger. Each of them have a different perspective of the trashing and eventually these all come together. Throughout the novel Buddy’s language is colloquial slang and changes dramatically when talking about the effect alcohol has on him. His language becomes more educated and sophisticated. â€Å"Buddy discovered the marvellous methods of booze, the way it soothed and stroked, made hazy the harshness of things, made him – almost – happy. Languid, and feeling what the hell. † The use of commas engages the responder as it is a list telling the readers how happy alcohol makes him and they way it makes him feel. Cormier has used a broad range of different techniques and a unique structure to portray his themes and characters. Similarly, in Cats in the cradle, Chapin uses double narrative perspectives to present different points of view. It presents the words of the father and the words of the son who becomes just like the father, maybe worse as shown in the line â€Å"if I can find the time. † Through the texts We all fall down and Cats in the cradle both Cormier and Chapin use a wide variety of forms, conventions and ideas to draw the responder into the world of the texts. Through the use of techniques it is more evident how the themes of redemption and fatherhood apply in the texts and enables the responder to be drawn into distinctive worlds.