Mistaking Revenge For Justice In Long Way Down By Jason Reynolds

This angered Dylan and he put a gun on Will’s head. This shows Dylan was violent because he put a gun on Will’s head and was ready to kill him. The final place where the characters showed violence was when the people start attacking the new neighbors house. They start breaking things and they set the house on fire. This shows violence because the people are attacking a house and killing the people in it.

As Will heads back to Toronto after his mother's funeral, Harlen meets him at the airport to pursued him to start a photography business in Medicine River. Clouded with emotions after his mother's funeral, Will "[silps] from melancholy to depression" (75), and refuses Harlen's business proposal. He has no plans in returning to Medicine River and he throws away the folder from Harlen. However, Will was unable to find a job in Toronto, so he decides to take the opportunity to start a new life in Medicine River. By starting a business in Medicine River, he is obligated to stay and live in the town to make a living.

Mallory Benincaso English 2B 1/4/23 Crime and Punishment in Long Way Down The purpose of this essay is to discuss the nature of a crime, the subsequent punishment, and who is truly affected by it in Jason Reynolds’ Long Way Down using the first person point of view. Using Shawn’s point of view, we will discover the environment in which people can become a victim or an aggressor within a community. We will also explore why he would commit a crime to that degree and his perspective of taking accountability of that crime. Additionally, we will learn his perspective of serving justice using his own words, actions, and beliefs.

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).

This helped Will because “Only five cigarettes. Shawn hadn’t lit one” (Reynolds 303) This evidence shows why Will won't get revenge because people gave him cloudy thoughts while Shawn hadn’t. This leads Will to realize he doesn’t have to kill Carlson Riggs. Shawn passes ‘the rules’ of the neighborhood down to his little brother Will.

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

His brother Shawn died following those rules, so why should Will have the onus of taking revenge for him and have that target on his back? Besides, he didn’t make The Rules and multiple members of his family died following them. Up until his brother’s death, the third rule hadn’t meant anything to him. Now Will decides between continuing the path of violence and revenge created by generations before him, or breaking that chain and setting

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.

Taught to him by our pop.” (pg.204) In this quote, we are hearing Mike, Will’s father talk. He says that when his own brother was killed he listened to the rules and decided to get revenge. Most importantly we see that these rules are learned, these men don’t make them up and follow them.

1. No crying 2. No snitching and 3. The most important of them all… Seek revenge. So Will followed the rules.

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

Mikey also says, “The Rules/ Taught to me by Mark./ Taught to him by our pop” (Reynolds, 212). After Mark’s killing, Mikey remembered The Rules he was taught. Since The Rules were expected to be followed, Mikey’s first instinct was needing to get revenge. Gang intimidation heavily influenced decisions made by Will’s community, and this included his own

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