How would you react to someone you love getting murdered? What would you do? In the book Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Will Holloman has to ask himself these questions. Two days before the book takes place, his brother Shawn gets shot. Will plans to follow his community's rules and get revenge for him. However, during the elevator trip out of his building he encounters six people who try to make him reconsider his choice. Out of these six people, the fourth person, his dad Mikey, had the most impact on his decision. Mikey shows Will that if he kills someone, his life and relationships will never be the same. Will experiences what looking death in the eye feels like when his father holds the gun to his head and cocks the hammer. Learning …show more content…
“Couldn’t kiss your mother, couldn’t kiss you boys good night. Just lay naked in the scummy bathtub, the cold porcelain keeping me from sleep, from nightmares”. (216) This quote describes how Mikey could not interact with his family after he murdered someone, all he could do was lay with his guilt and regret. This grief increases tenfold when he realizes that he killed the wrong guy. The second way Mikey was impactful on Will’s decision was when he held him at gunpoint. Will is aware of how close he is to death, and it scares him, “First time I had been that close to death. To the end”. (227) Afterwards, his father pulls him into a hug, to which Will screams and shoves him away. He tries to regain his composure, but ultimately fails due to the terror he’s feeling. He wishes the elevator would hurry up and get to L already so he can get off. The third way Mikey impacted Will was by admitting he shot the wrong guy. “”You ain’t kill Gee?” I asked, confused. “No, I did,” Pop confirmed, his voice crumbling. “But Gee didn’t kill Mark. Gee was just some young kid trying to be tough, trying to make a few friends, a few bucks, a flunky for the guy who killed Mark,” he explained.”” (219) Will asks why he killed him, to which Mikey says he didn’t know he wasn’t the right guy, because it had to be Gee. Will is disappointed in his dad for being a “misser” and not being like he