”Revenge is not a good thing. Revenge is like politics: one thing always leads to another until bad has become worse, and worse has become worst” (Jonas Jonasson). The book Long Way Down, the main character Will, has to follow three rules. No crying. No snitching, and always get revenge. Will’s brother was murdered and he wants to get revenge on the person who killed his brother, Shawn. He then goes in the elevator that leads to the lobby of his apartment complex. Which leads to Will seeing ghosts. Although some may argue that Long Way Down should end by Will following the rules, the best ending for this story is Will breaks the rules. Will makes many different interactions with people who he knew that died. They each made …show more content…
The rules are taught at a young age, so everyone is aware of them. However, Will wants to go and get revenge since his brother was killed. “Another thing about the rules/ They weren’t meant to be broken. They were meant for the broken to follow” (Reynolds 35). The broken are meant to follow the rule to get revenge. One doesn’t want to see blood on the outside of a family member or a close person. “but if the blood inside you is on the inside of someone else, you never want to see it on the outside of them” (Reynolds 5). The amount of sorrow and sadness when one sees a family member get killed. Overall, seeing a loved one die, getting revenge is something that is required in the book. Therefore Will is going to follow the rules and get …show more content…
He doesn’t have any experience with killing people or following the last rule. In the elevator, Frick explains to Will how Shawn sticks to the rules. “What does this have to do with Shawn?/ I asked./ Shawn stuck to The Rules,/ Frick replied./ you mean. I swallowed./ You mean he . . . he . . ./ I struggled to get it out./ Now Buck put the finger gun against Frick’s chest and repeated,/ Bang-bang” (Reynolds 267). Frick emphasizes the way Shawn went to follow the rules. This may have worried Will more and would cause him to break the rules. Furthermore, Shawn enters the elevator. He doesn’t say a word to Will until the elevator door opens. “. . . finally spoke to me. / Just two words, like a joke he’d been saving” (Reynolds 305). “You coming?” (Reynolds 6). Will tells Shawn about the stuff that is happening while he is gone and how he is going to kill the person who killed Shawn. In summary, Will becomes worried and is unsure if he should go and get revenge, which will then lead to him breaking the
Will is trying to follow these rules, but he runs into problems when people give him reasons not to. Mikey Holloman (dad) has the biggest impact with stating important things; for example, he makes Will question if he has the right person; what if someone comes for him after killing this guy? Will he be able to handle it? Mikey also uses his own experience for getting revenge for his brother’s murder; he tells Will how he was 100% sure he had the right person but ended up killing an innocent person. They
Will Shawn’s experiences and guidance help Will, or will it lead him astray? The first reason why Shawn has the biggest impact on Will is because he’s an older brother/father figure to Will. For example, a quote in the book states “ Shawn was my big brother, my best friend, my protector. He was the only one who always looked out for me, no matter what” (Reynolds, 21).
Revenge isn’t always the best decision to go through. This book is called Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. Talks about a character named Will and his brother Shawn's death, and Will’s plotting to get revenge for his brother's death. He talks to people who could influence his decision on revenge. However, he won’t get revenge because of his fathers mistake.
At this point in the book Will's elevator has gone to the lobby and Shawn asks him this. “You Coming?” (Reynolds 306). This evidence compliments how Shawn invites Will to death. At this point in the book Will had just gotten home after Shawn died.
Will at the start of the story wanted to find a sense of belonging but doubted that he could find it. For example, when Charles asked him to join the basketball team he denied him at first saying “I 'm not good enough to play” Harleen
One day, she got killed by a nearby shootout while they were playing, which ultimately altered Will's entire childhood and life. It impelled Shawn to teach him about the "rules "and adulthood because his childhood was already beginning to collapse on itself. The reason is that he just witnessed his best friend dying in front of him and described it as, "Her eyes wide, / the brightness dimming. / Her mouth, open.
Revenge is a never-ending cycle that leads to the demise of an individual. In the book Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds when the narrator, Will, is seeking revenge after the death of his brother. Will receives advice on his choice from people who are presumed to be deceased and have came back to life. Although many characters in Long Way Down impact Will, the most significant character he encounters is Mikey Holoman because he alters Will's decision to get revenge. Mickey Holloman was most influential in Will's decision because he represented the endless cycle of revenge.
In the novel, Will claims “POP STOOD OVER ME,/the gun pressed against/the side of my face./Was the first time I had/ever had one to my head./First time I had been that/close to death. To the end. ”After experiencing what it was like to be at gunpoint, Will might begin to realize that if he decides to follow the rules and kill Riggs, someone might also follow the rules to avenge Riggs. This experience might cause him to change his mind about following the rules so that he doesn’t have to deal with the consequences of it, which is being
However, with most readers having no major revenge experiences such as the one in the story or some extreme cases in general, it is somewhat hard for the average reader to relate
Shawn introduced the rules to Will since he experienced something traumatic firsthand, hoping this would prepare him for the if inevitable outcome of taking revenge for a loved one. Although Will did not take revenge for Dani, the rules finally applied to Will when Shawn was murdered in front of Will. Gun violence played a major role in the way Will copes with situations and the way he makes rational decisions as a teenager that is exposed to frequent gun abuse that happens in his
In the elevator, Will says, “Please don’t say you’ve come to take me./ Please don’t say I’m dead./ Please” (Reynolds, 89). Even though he is planning to kill someone, Will still fears death. He is afraid he has died because the person he is talking to has long been dead. Will then says, “What’s taking this stupid thing so long?/ I asked, pounding the door as hard as my heart was pounding inside me” (Reynolds, 96).
One big way to improve Will’s communication is to deal with the relationship violence that occurred to him. Sean started this for him in the scene where he tried to get Will to see that his upbringing was not his fault. This was a big step for Will to understand himself and how he should see his relationships. Through Sean, Will also learned some emotional understanding of himself. Emotional understanding will allow him to have emotional competence.
During the film Will demonstrates anger as well as irritability in a short tempered manner. In a particular scene, Will becomes overwhelmed with anger after encountering an old classmate who bullied him in preschool. Such anger and irritability caused Will’s mind to become blocked during the violent act in which Will also assaults an office. The incident ultimately leads Will unraveling the root of the
When Jack finally voices his abhor for the rules, he starts a downward slope for the rest of the boys to follow. “'Bollocks to the rules! … and beat and beat—!'” (Golding 91). Jack's disregard for the rules here foreshadows him abandoning Ralph's rules altogether and forming his own tribe. When Jack's new tribe finally establishes itself, he abandons many of the morals Ralph had.
Revenge can be a horrible emotion; it can sometimes lead people to do horrible things. By definition, Revenge means to get retribution for a wrongdoing done to you. In my opinion, revenge is mostly caused by fear and the overwhelming feeling of payback Throughout history, revenge, or vengeance, has been altered by several cultures and religions, and even the American culture. Though it often leads one to perform criminal acts, Howard argues that it is a necessary component in the functioning of society. He points out that revenge is a threat that acts as a disincentive to undeserved violence.