The Theme Of Revenge In 'Long Way Down'

Throughout the story of Long Way Down, there were several themes shown that had a significant impact on the story. Some of the recurring themes in this story are revenge and loyalty; the real question is, How have these themes affected the characters? Revenge plays a huge part in this story because the premise of this story is Will being motivated by his brother’s death, wanting to seek revenge and get justice for his family. Though, with every new character that enters the elevator, Will rethinks about getting revenge and overthinks his decisions. Each character gives him advice trying to convince him to not go through with getting revenge. These characters also warn him of the consequences that would happen if he went through with committing the murder to get revenge. The author was trying to teach that revenge and loyalty are important things but should be used logically and shouldn’t be taken advantage of.

The three rules are, no crying, no snitching, and revenge. The three rules are meant to be passed down, for example, Buck passed them to Shawn and Shawn passed them to Will. In Jason Reynold's novel Long Way Down it states, “If someone you love gets killed, find the person who killed them and kill them” (33). Since Will has always gone by the rules, he immediately knew what to do when his brother was shot. He was bloodthirsty and his emotions fueled the fire in his heart, wanting to get revenge by killing his brother’s killer. In Jason Reynold's novel Long Way Down, it states, “Another thing about the rules. They weren't meant to be broken. They were made for the broken to follow” (35). This quote essentially means that no one ever breaks “The Rules” because the only people who follow them are broken