Shawn's Footsteps In Long Way Down By Jason Reynolds

He realized he was lucky to live in a community without

He felt so bad and started to contemplate on what he was doing. That’s when he decided to change and to help the people who were still out

He deals with a conflict within himself. This deformation is not seen by the townspeople but he suffers greatly

He is satisfied with everything so far, he feels that his gang is his family. They did give him money helped out with people who gave him trouble and in return he became stronger than ever and the most loyal out of everyone. Although at night he sometimes he ponders about his life decisions, he use to be a

Instead he continues to torment his friends and family with his disappearance and eventually with his

This conflagration of emotions ignites a strong incentive for his dissonance to faith, all while he reluctantly refuses to completely give up a large portion of his identity. Shortly after witnessing the cruelty

Shaun had believed that Carlson Riggs killed his brother because of their past gang, ‘The Dark Suns’. Carlson Riggs was a part of the gang ‘The Dark Suns’, which is how he connected with Frick. Will got suspicious of this and asked Frick about Carlson Riggs, who Will believes shot his older brother Shawn because of the gang they were connected to at the time. Will then asked Frick if he knew Carlson Riggs or had any connection to him. He then proceeded to answer in a confused tone, “Who?”

For example when he states “I covered it with my too-big T-shirt, the name brand-hand-me-down from Shawn. Will is getting ready to enact his revenge on the person who killed his brother, but Will seems like the person to always play it safe. Still, now he’s taking on a big risk by going after Shawn’s killer, and eventually, he has to choose between getting revenge or breaking the cycle of violence. This supports the theme of the cycle of violence. Reynolds uses the theme to establish a serious tone for young adults

Will would have thought of this and then thought of how he kept saying “It had to be'' about Riggs. Maybe that was the point where Will made the decision to go home and not follow his fathers footsteps. This reminds me of how your parents always say don't do stupid things. Yet we always think about doing them. Almost all of the time we stray away from that stupid thing, because our parents are smarter and know better than us.

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).

He pulls out a gun on Will to show him what it would be like to be an innocent kid that is about to be killed. This makes Will feel scared and pushes away the gun, making him rethink his choice on whether he should kill the murderer. Pop claims ¨The rules are rules´´(217). This makes Will realize what he will have to go through as a consequence and how scared he will

Overnight he made a plan on how to kill Shawn’s killer, Riggs. In the morning he left his apartment with the gun and headed to the elevator. Will enters the elevator thinking he has everything planned out, but by the time he reaches the lobby a couple of visitors made him think differently.

The theme of Jason Reynold’s novel “Long Way Down” is that the continual repeating of mistakes and the repetitive nature of violence, shootings, and deaths in Will’s neighborhood must come to an end. It is the rules of the neighborhood that drive this horrible cycle of revenge and continue to destroy the living. The rules are no crying, no snitching, and revenge. The first rule, no crying, implies that one should not cry regardless of how challenging or sad the situation is. As for the second rule, no snitching means you won't inform the police or anyone else about anything you hear or see what’s wrong.

In the end he does not get what he wants, but he realizes that to become what he wanted one has to sell their soul, losing compassion for

William Mann Amanda Holida C period 06 April 2023 Bombarding forces impact our daily lives everyday and it is often our choice as to how we will handle these obstacles. Last week my literature group and I finished the novel Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. This is a story that takes place all in a minute time period in an elevator ride where the main character Will is facing the forces of his past. He experiences certain family members as well as friends enter the elevator as ghosts where they give him advice on his big decision.