When reading The Fall, some interesting themes occur throughout the plot, such as guilt and judgment. Exploring the theme of guilt, blame goes hand-in-hand with it. Through Jean-Baptiste's narrative, a recurring theme is that all individuals are guilty, regardless of what he or she has or has not done. He even boldly states that everyone deserves blame for being a murderer, whether by accident or negligence - such as allowing someone else to die. An interesting fact to note is the time period at which this novel was written - immediately after World War II - which can explain the attitude expressed above.
Another theme which derives from guilt and blame is judgment - mainly, the hypocrisy of judgment. By assuming all individuals are guilty, is it not hypocritical for a guilty person to accuse another individual of being guilty? However, as shown throughout the novel, people tend to be judgmental by nature, whether the judging is of others or of the self. Jean-Baptiste's story shows the innate fear of humans to be judged by others; however, it is not just the end result of judging humans despise, but the actual process which occurs during judging that causes disgust.
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