Love And Loss In Jason Reynolds's 'A Long Way Down'

Love and loss and how it shapes us all By the end of high school, 20 percent of students will experience the death and loss of someone close to them (VITAS). Loss is an inherent part of life, everyone will experience some form of it, the same goes for love, love is all around us, and without love, none of us would be here. Some of the best pieces of art the artists of our world have created came from love. Both of these concepts play a massive role in the process of how teenagers grow into functioning adults. Will experienced an extreme amount of loss and tragedy in his life, especially for how early on in his life, all of this loss has shaped who he is and who he will become. Juliet experienced a powerful love and this taught her a lot and

The book follows Will after his brother is killed by a gang member while out buying soap for his mother's eczema. While in his brother's room, he finds his gun in a drawer. The rules of gang life that Shawn has passed down will say “Don't cry, don't snitch, and take revenge”. The last one is the most important to Will at this moment, now he has a weapon all he has to do is find the person who killed his brother and kill him. Will is very young and timid, he is not sure if he's really ready to, or if he wants to end someone's life. Going over this question in his head over and over, he decided to get in the elevator of his eight-floor apartment to really think about it and make up his mind. Will was a very different young man before his brother died, before Shawn died Will didn't have revenge on his mind, after Shawn's death it's all his grief allows him to think about. Over the course of the story, “Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.” (Reynolds). This quote shows how much Will has changed, before he never cried, he thought it made you weak, but now he's embracing it and he realizes how important it is to cry as Will becomes more mature, less vengeful, and full

But it's not all sunshine and rainbows, it can completely change the way you view anything and everything. Juliet personifies this feeling perfectly. The capsules and monologues have been fighting for decades, maybe even centuries, a friendly relationship between the two houses is forbidden, so imagine how love between the two houses would be seen, it's strictly unheard of. A young, inexperienced, obedient, naive girl who has never known anything other than what her parents have taught her, meets a young adventure lover boy with a fondness for breaking the rules, an unstoppable turn of events has started and cannot be stopped. They both love each other with such a fire and passion that in only hours of meeting they are both infatuated and obsessed with each other. This love irreversibly changed Juliet, it was her entire coming of age, as she died shortly after even starting the coming of age process. Very soon after meeting the couple decide to get married, this decision shows how immature and naive they are. But their love helped her mature and grow as well. Romeo showed her that she didn't have to listen to everything her parents told and taught her, he showed her that she could have her own life. “Oh my sweet mother, don’t cast me away! Delay this marriage for a month, even a week.” Act 3, scene 5 (Shakespeare) This quote shows one of if not the first