This plot is one like no other. It combines the supernatural and the regular world, into an impactful novel in verse, that discusses empowering motifs such as gun violence and community influence on personal identity. In the novel Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds the protagonist, Will Holloman, had a brother, Shawn, who recently died due to gun violence. Will lives in an immensely toxic community, where violence is encouraged, and where brutal murders are normalized. In Will's community, there are three unwritten rules that must be followed by everyone. These rules not only force the perpetrator to do heartless things, but also, they are completely irrational. Will has a suspect, Carlson Riggs, from the gang, the Dark Suns, who he believes shot …show more content…
Throughout the novel, Will utilizes several anagrams to express how he is feeling, as well as to describe the things he is starting to understand. However, a certain anagram stands out, as it strongly connects with the way a person becomes a part of the cycle of violence, in his community. When the elevator reaches Floor 5, Will’s uncle, Mark, gets on. Shortly after talking with his uncle, Will comes up with an anagram: “COOL = LOCO” (Reynolds 163). This anagram is a strong depiction about how people in Will’s community become a part of the cycle of violence. Although this process may start off innocent, it leads to craziness and chaos, as the word, loco, implies. Through this anagram, Will is trying to say that the people that he perceived as being “cool” were those who followed unreasonable societal norms. For instance, previously in the novel, Will mentioned that he looked up to those who always abided by The Rules and who exhibited traits of toxic masculinity. However, as the story progresses, we figure out that these communal expectations were completely unreasonable, so this anagram reflects on that. It reveals that those who followed The Rules, who Will had initially thought were cool, are in reality, crazy. They are crazy for thinking that these rules were reasonable and should be followed. This ties into the cycle of violence, because it describes its origin. The people in Will’s community who are often perceived as “cool'' or the ideal societal member, follow irrational societal expectations, and therefore, they are crazy. These people are often the ones to partake in lots of violence and then become a part of the cycle of violence. This comes to show that the cycle of violence in Will’s community is fueled by such people, who are thought to be role models but are
What if the world’s most notorious serial killer...was your dad? Jazz’s dad has cursed Jazz with the fate to be a killer like his father but his friends and the sheriff help Jazz with his predicament. Jazz helps the Sheriff solve some mysterious murders in Lobo’s Nod, the killer is copying Jazz’s dad and recommitting his murders himself. Teens should be able to I hunt Killers because this book teaches them the importance of friendship, loyalty to family and doing what a person believes is right.
Throughout the movie characters were violent and attacked each other. For example, when Dylan is talking to the other neighbors about getting weapons, Will accuses him of scaring people and overreacting. Then Dylan attacks Will with a broken beer bottle. This shows violence because Dylan attics Will and tries to kill him. Another, scene where characters are violent is after Will tells tells his friends that he told the new neighbors not to come outside.
Syme craves the movement for the destruction of words. While Syme converses with Winston, he reasons “If you have a word like ‘good’, what need is there for a word like ‘bad’? ‘Ungood’ will do just as well -- better…” (Orwell 1).
This also relates to Bergmann’s quote in the beginning of this essay, as this ongoing drug trade changes how the young people in the society view the length of natural life and timely death. Gun violence directly cuts off the future life and aspirations for the criminal and the victim, as one’s life is cut short by death while the other’s is cut short by life in jail. This endemic gun violence and the early deaths and prison sentences create a scenario where as Bergmann describes “there are few living models of the drug-hustling adult to which young drug dealers turn in Detroit.” This is also present in Dude’s own life as his own brother’s life is cut short by his life long prison sentence as a direct cause of the drug trade. This instead causes him to take part in this same trade.
People in society have become unhappy with their lives, finding the solution with the idea of violence. When people think of no way of finding happiness, they plan to commit suicide. Using violence, people hurt themselves and eventually kill themselves. The news reporters investigate that the shooter behind the deadly rampage "apparently committed suicide after exchanging gun fires with officers" (Kravarik and Sidner 1). The man who kills for fun did not have a happy life.
Sometimes, human beings can become murderers or monsters to each other when driven by their inner feelings. In the play "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," a normal neighborhood in the USA, we can see how suspicion among the residents leads to cruelty toward one another. It starts with a resident's car starting up without him there, and suspicion rises to the point where people start yelling, throwing things, and even shooting. Through suspicion, blame, and violence, we can see how human beings can act irrationally and self-destruct when they are driven by fear or panic.
Nicholas Kuehn Mrs. Shiffer Language Arts 8 16 February 2022 After trying to avenge his brother Will ends up dying and seeing his dead relatives. In the novel Long Way Down the main character Will's brother is shot and killed. Will goes to seek revenge for him, he thinks A guy named Riggs killed Shawn. As he’s on the elevator to leave his apartment he sees many of his dead relatives.
Everyone, convinced that the leader possesses the only true thoughts, chooses to abandon their own thinking and ideas in order to blindly follow whoever is “right”. People even forget basic morals and compassion when stuck in mob mentality, with a specific example being the townspeople in “M”. Once the murderer is found and cornered into a trial, he delivers a monologue in which he states that he does not want to murder these children and remembers nothing about his actions until he sees them in the newspapers. He adds that he feels pursued by the “ghosts of mothers” and that he feels chased by himself. While some people in the crowd nod their heads, seemingly realizing that this man is not a monster, but rather just ill and in need of help, others still start yelling that he should be killed and pay for his crimes and eventually everyone joins in.
The Rules./ (Reynolds 30).” This vivid imagery shows the emotional stress and internal conflict that Will is facing. I like when Reynolds describes “tiny fists punching the back of my eyes” because
Moreover, this level of brutality and psychotic mentality is common, maybe even accepted as the norm in this world. On the contrary, it rarely exists in the real word and can only be seen in television shows like The Walking Dead. This shows that what used to be criminal acts has quickly transformed into a common way of survival. Additionally, human
For example, Will’s father was meant to follow The Rules and avenge Uncle Mark by killing his killer. He ended up killing the wrong person, and later dying at a payphone. His story shows Will that he may also not know the right person who actually killed Shawn and end up going through what his father did. The Rules caused him to be angry and violent, and how this cycle of violence won’t end as long as The Rules are still in place. Dani, who was Will’s childhood friend, also was in the elevator.
Often times, mindless conformity leads to senseless violence that could have been avoided with just a little more thought. In order to justify hateful and exclusive acts, the actions of people in minorities are often taken
Even though his brother was too deep into drug and gang culture to escape, “[he] wanted Wes to be nothing like him” (72). Yet, Wes was consumed by the, “… same game that had consumed [his brother] and put a bullet or two in him,” and had never known anything in his family outside of drugs and gang violence, so drugs and gangs were the only expectation Wes had, the only place he saw himself fitting into (58). Ultimately, the expectations of those
Randy Pausch once said “Treat the disease, not the symptom.” In the article written by Alex Kotlowitz titled “Blocking the Transmission of Violence. He discusses about the lives of several people. These people are Martin Torres, Zale Hoddenbach, and an organization called Ceasefire. The article talks about the murder of Martin’s nephew Emilio, Martin Torres wants revenge for the unjust death of Emilio.
Hap, Loman is “gonna beat this racket” and come out “number one man” in order to prove that his father “did not vain” Willy excels in his command of tasteless cant popular in the 1930’s. “Well, bottoms up! And keep your pores open!” Willy says, saluting her girl-friend. His sorrowful laments are stock phrases “where are you guys, where are you?”