Well, of course, we will all encounter novels, films, or anything else in life that doesn't particularly hit us personally at the time. But sometimes, you may carry the themes and lessons learned with you forever and you will be surprised when something happens that makes you say, "Hey, it's just like in that book...".

This is what Cormier is hoping to do in "We All Fall Down." He is exploring the issue of violence: what causes it, who are victims of it, and what motivates people to act in a socially unacceptable way.

Cormier "addresses problems which most of today's teenagers have encountered in one way or another. Vandalism and violence play an important role in everyday life of youth, be it at home, at school, at leisure, or in visual media. Although these problems do not exist for all young people at the same intensity because of different economic and social backgrounds, they nevertheless provide important subjects for analyzing society.

In We All Fall Down Cormier dramatizes the issue of vandalism and violence in a well-to-do, upper middle-class neighborhood rather than in an inner-city setting.

His characters are convincing and represent the consciousness of many young adults...Cormier again and again leads his reader to the question of why somebody could commit acts of violence, and at the same time provides different motives for such behavior.