Acceptance Of The Rules In Long Way Down By Jason Reynolds

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

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