Mistaking revenge for justice can result in horrible consequences. In the Novel Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds a 15 year old African American boy named Will has to deal with the death of his older brother Shawn. Will’s brother had been shot and killed on his way back home from a grocery store. Where they are from they lived by these three rules. Will was taught the first one when he was eight by Shawn, no crying. The other two, no snitching and revenge, Shawn eventually taught him later on. Will did the best he could to follow these rules. Growing up he saw everyone following these rules and viewed them as normal. Although he was never put in the place where he had to follow rule number three, revenge. If someone you love gets killed, find the person who killed them and kill them. That's the revenge rule. Will knew these rules were not made to be broken. He also knew who killed Shawn and that he had to do something about it. Will found Shawn's hidden gun and took it. 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. …show more content…
Buck was like a father figure to Shawn. He taught Shawn the rules. Although, these rules were also the reason Buck was killed and is now only a ghost. As Will conversed with Buck he discovers that Buck was the one who gave Shawn that gun and that it’s missing a bullet. This means Shawn had used this bullet on someone for revenge. That one bullet cost Shawn’s life, and the next may do the same for Will. These rules had a bad impact on many lives in their neighborhood. They saw revenge as an act of justice. They believed it was the right thing to do. Which is why Will wanted to kill
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