All Summer In A Day By Ray Bradbury

Whenever a conflict arises, everyone seems quick to put the blame on one person, not stopping to think how everyone might have made choices that led them to that specific situation. In “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury, the classmates ostracize Margot since they blame her for a problem that wasn’t her fault. In “Let You Down” NF, the narrator, believes that the problem is completely his fault, but he soon realizes that he isn’t the only one responsible. In both “All Summer in a Day” and “Let You Down,” we learn to that before jumping to the conclusion that one person is to blame, consider the whole picture.

To start off, a common theme in both pieces is to look at the whole picture before blaming one person. In “All Summer in a Day,”
In “All Summer in a Day,” the children blame Margot. Once they realized that she was never in the wrong, it’s evident they are guilt-stricken: “They stood as if someone had driven them, like so many stakes, into the floor. They looked at each other and then looked away. They glanced out at the world that was raining now and raining and raining steadily. They could not meet each other’s glances. Their faces were solemn and pale. They looked at their hands and feet, their faces down.” (Bradbury 4). After seeing the repercussions of their actions, their feelings are interpreted in the form of guilt, since they were blinded by jealousy, and could not see the scope of the situation. Conversely, in “Let You Down,” NF blames himself for the state of his dysfunctional relationship with a girl. Later on, however, he realizes that in this situation, the girl is just as culpable as he is, and if she accepted that, they might have been able to move on. “…you don't wanna make this work, you just wanna make this worse. Want me to listen to you, but you don't ever hear my words. You don't wanna know my hurt, yet. Let me guess, you want an apology, probably. How can we keep going at a rate like this? We can't, so I guess I'ma have to leave,” (NF). When NF realizes that she contributed to the situation just as much as he did, he doesn’t feel guilty, like the students from “All Summer in a Day,” it’s almost as if he feels outraged. From “All Summer in a Day,” the students blamed Margot, and felt guilty when they realized how wrong they were. From “Let You Down,” NF blamed himself, and felt outraged when he realized that he wasn’t the only one that was