In Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Will says, “ANOTHER THING ABOUT THE RULES. They weren’t meant to be broken. They were meant for the broken to follow.” But is this actually true? Long Way Down is a book about Will and how his older brother Shawn was shot dead. In his community there are three rules: No crying, no snitching, and always take revenge. Will, determined to kill his brother’s killer, goes into an elevator to find who he thinks killed Shawn. While in the elevator, he sees ghosts of people he once knew. They were all victims of The Rules. One person was his uncle who was shot. His father walks in and puts a gun to his head, and after some other people, Shawn himself walks into the elevator. He doesn’t say anything, cries in front …show more content…
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. When she was alive, Will saw her get shot. Will was planning to shoot someone, and he is reminded of how he saw someone close to him die by a gunshot. He could shoot someone and remember how he saw someone close to him die once too, and that is a reason why he won’t shoot Riggs, because of Dani. Shawn was also killed trying to follow the rules. When Uncle Mark died, Shawn thought that it was Frick who had killed him. Frick was trying to get into a gang by robbing Uncle Mark but accidentally killed him instead. Shawn kills Frick, and he dies later too. He realizes that this is a cycle of violence and that more and more people will be hurt just like he is. Will sees how The Rules have resulted in nothing but pain and
Thank You for Arguing, written by Jay Heinrichs is a novel written for the purpose of understanding, and employing rhetoric in one’s writing, speeches, and everyday life. Heinrich introduces different types of rhetoric used to persuade people, Heinrich cites examples of these to further explain his the different types of rhetoric. Throughout the introduction and first part Heinrich analyzes different types of rhetorical arguments, and further explains them by providing real life examples, Jay heinrichs establishes the importance of rhetoric in the introduction of Thank You for Arguing by exposing its rich history. heinrichs then goes on to explain how vital rhetoric is in everyday life by giving examples stemming from his own life. The uses
As a good friend Mike sees someone shooting at Dakota’s truck so Mike wants to help. Mike helped Dakota to get out of that problem and then the mysterious thing that Mike doesn’t tell anyone, tells
It becomes evident to Will that following in Shawn’s footsteps could have negative implications. The object that Will uses as a reminder of his brother shows Shawn’s flaws, “I wrapped my fingers [around the gun] / placing them over Shawn’s / little brother holding big brother’s hand” (Reynold 64). The relationship between the gun with both brothers and the brothers’ relationship to one another is made evident with Will’s actions. Will covering Shawn’s fingerprints with his own symbolizes his lack of preparedness to carry out the plan. Due to the fact that the gun brings back dreadful memories of an imperfect Shawn; Will decides not to follow his brother's path in an effort to end the cycle of violence that has perpetuated in his family.
Shawn’s father had conversation before Shawn interrogated his dad’s old friends. Shawn’s father asked Shawn to be respectful. Shawn responded with, “I will politely decline…” Shawn also doesn’t know when to stop joking, he jokes at very inappropriate situations like crime senses and while they are looking at the dead bodies. To prove this, Shawn said the following after a body was found with multiple stab wounds, “The puncture wounds, they are the key, they are giving me the impression that this crime could only have been committed by this guy.”
Will’s brother Shawn broke down crying which showed Will that it is okay to break the rules and that getting revenge isn't the best choice because of its many outcomes and possibilities. Will's father, Mikey Holloman, is one of the influences in his life on why he won't get revenge on his brother's death. Will's father enters the elevator with everyone else. He talks about how Uncle Mark
However, as Will descends in the elevator, he encounters the ghosts of those who have died in his community, including Shawn. Through these encounters, Will begins to question
In addition, Reynolds expanded on the concept of revenge by explaining, "If someone you love gets killed, / find the person who killed / them and kill them¨ (Reynolds 1-6). For example, on the fifth floor, Will learns that his Uncle Mark was a hustler and got shot by a competing rival. So his dad attempted to avenge Uncle Mark, but it turned out that he shot the wrong guy, and he joined his brother in the end, leaving his family without a loving father and husband. Ergo, Will has second
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.
1. No crying 2. No snitching and 3. The most important of them all… Seek revenge. So Will followed the rules.
‘’I was a coward. I went to the war’’ Pg187. In the short story, ‘’On The Rainy River’’ by Tim O’Brien, The protagonist faces a difficult life decision, he did not want to conform to society the way others wanted him to. He wanted to keep his personal beliefs. Tim O’Brien does not want to conform no matter how vital it is that he should.
When Grady is arrested for something he did not do, the world is entirely against him, and before he can escape the worst prison fight, he realizes, “It was too late to rise again,” (198). McCarthy shows the shift by steadily shifting the tone, making a gloomy situation steady fade into a fight for survival. This shift shows that Grady is losing his innocent self, while simultaneously accepting that life is out of his control. In this moment, John Grady is trapped against a wall, his neck almost being slit until he, “...brought his knife up from the floor and sank it into the chichillero’s heart,” (201). As he fights for his life, Grady experiences both a near death instance and a death that he caused, changing the way he views the world.
I got work to do. A job to do. Business to handle I, said”(Reynolds 100) this quotes shows the degree will took to following the three simple rules, He did not cry, He did not snitch and most importantly he’s on his way to try to get revenge. When Dani was in the elevator and saw that Will was trying to conceal a gun Dani asked Will “But you ever even shot a gun? She asked.
On page 212, Will’s dad says, “But I didn’t cry. Didn’t snitch./ Knew exactly who killed Mark./ Knew I could get him./ The Rules.” “The Rules” is a term used in the book and is what guides victims into revenge.
Violence can trigger emotions that cannot be undone which can lead to regret. Wes’s father wanted to teach Wes that violence is not tolerated especially a lady. For the other Wes, he never had a father to guide him to make the right decisions or reprimand when he was wrong. This is one of the key factors into why the other Wes got into trouble with violence and drugs. Even though the author did experience trouble with violence and drugs, he realized violence would lead to more violence.
In the poem, “Becoming and Going: An Oldsmobile Story” by Gerald Hill the speaker is traveling down a road in the Fort Qu’appelle Valley. He notices his father and his son are also driving down this road. The speaker then begins to list the two men’s characteristics. As he lists them we see that the father and the son have both similarities and differences in their personalities.